Bravo Media will partner with Crunch fitness centers to launch a customized fitness program for the network's new creative competition series, Step It Up &Dance, officials said Monday.
The deal marks the first partnership between the two companies and leverages Bravo's programming with Crunch's exclusive fitness classes. The partnership is part of Bravo Media's overall marketing strategy of creating a multiplatform, interactive campaign that captures the Bravo audience both in and out of home. Step It Up & Dance, hosted by Elizabeth Berkley, airs Thursdays at 10 p.m.
Beginning in April, Crunch will present “Bravo's Step It Up & Dance Class." The class will be offered in Crunch locations nationwide and will follow the dance styles featured in each week's episode.
Class participants will be encouraged to tune-in to the series for background on each dance style in preparation for the class. The Crunch classes will include a range of dance styles including hip-hop and freestyle, burlesque, step, lyrical, Broadway and Latin.
In addition to the Crunch partnership, Bravo will create exclusive online content for BravoTV.com and launch an extensive online campaign that will incorporate interactive banner ads and viral videos.
The banner ads will allow users to select different dance styles and test their expertise on dance steps ranging from hip-hop to swing. The viral marketing will infuse a video widget, which will preview exclusive clips of the show that can be placed across all social networking platforms and blogs.
Throughout the season, BravoTV.com will also stream video "dance-alongs" featuring the show's contestants and the choreographers featured on the series. The dancers will teach the choreography and different techniques used during the show's weekly challenges.
Also, in their weekly blogs, available only on BravoTV.com, each of the dancers will dish on the behind the scenes drama of the series and their own personal take on the challenges, the judges, and the show's other contestants.
Whether it's a music video one week or a Vegas spectacular the next, Step It Up & Dance will feature weekly challenges in which 12 dancers from around the country audition for a range of parts, designed to showcase their versatility and moves.
As the competition gets fierce and contestants are eliminated, only one person will get the final "call back" and the chance to become the ultimate dancer, winning $100,000.
