Fox is offering advertisers free primetime commercials to talk about their socially conscious corporate initiatives.
The new MVP program — Mission, Vision Purpose — would help advertisers “really amplify what their corporate purpose is and give them time on our Fox platforms to tell their story,” Suzanne Sullivan, executive VP of ad sales at Fox, told Broadcasting+Cable.
The program is being pitched as part of upfront packages, but Sullivan said that a company with a budget to spend in scatter could get started sooner than that and demonstrate the program’s benefits.
The corporate message could be sustainability for a food or restaurant company, a tech company supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or ecological awareness for an automaker’s electric vehicles.
Sullivan notes that commercials in primetime are expensive. “It’s difficult for companies to spend money behind these kinds of corporate purpose-driven messages,” she said. Most clients use their commercial time to build brands and sell products and services.
The free ads Fox is offering won’t have product-sell messages and Fox will sell only one MVP package per quarter.
To get the free ads, current Fox advertisers would have to increase their spending on the network. New advertisers bringing fresh money to Fox could also get free ads under the MVP program. “There are quite a few advertisers that are fairly big in this space who actually don’t spend with us right now,” she said. “So we’re really targeting them as well.”
Under the MVP program, advertisers would provide their corporate messages and Fox would give them prominent placement in prime time in its Fast Break pods–the first, minute long break at the beginning of a show. Fox would put the spot in an appropriate series contextually. For example a message about sustainability would air in a show like MasterChef or Hell’s Kitchen.
The company’s message would also appear on Fox’s digital platforms, including the Fox Now app, Fox VOD and Fox’s inventory on Hulu.
Sullivan called Fox the best place to run these types of messages. She pointed out that according to Nielsen, Fox entertainment reached 50% of socially conscious adults and 33% of socially conscious members of Gen Z and millennials.
Fox’s programming is also the right environment because Fox got top marks for inclusive storytelling and cast diversity from Nielsen’s Gracenote unit.
Fox does its own promotion of causes, with its TV For All Program that employs characters and talent from its shows in promotions for HIspanic Heritage Month, Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Last year, Wells Fargo sponsored Fox’s Hispanic Heritage Month programming.
Fox also supports the ANA’s See Her initiative designed to improve the portrayal of women in media. Last year, Fox’s “She’s a Hero” campaign featured female health workers in promos that ran during The Resident and was sponsored by Bank of America. Starting next week, Fox will be featuring female chefs in spots that will run in Next Level Chef in a new effort again sponsored by Bank of America. ■
