As Game Show Network gears up for its March 15 relaunch as GSN, the Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corp.-backed network is rolling out two local promotions partly designed to help brand the new moniker.
The network plans to kick off a "GSN Gimme Games" promotion this week, which includes a local ad-sales campaign for cable affiliates. Separately, GSN said it would run a "Get Schooled Games Tour," where it will award $110,000 to students who can use the money for college tuition.
"The goals of both campaigns are to really tie in with the launch of GSN, the network for games," said GSN senior vice president of marketing Dena Kaplan. The network is spending under $5 million combined on both campaigns, she added.
GSN partnered with Comcast Corp. for the Get Schooled Games Tour, and it plans to send Evan Marriott, the host of new series Fake-A-Date, to 10 Comcast markets that carry GSN. Banc of America put up the $110,000 that will be awarded to college students.
Get Schooled Games will kick off on March 13 in Albuquerque, N.M., and travel to other Comcast markets through May 22, including Dallas, Miami, Boston, Baltimore, Seattle, Las Vegas and Denver.
Cable affiliates that participate in Gimme Games were asked to run 200 cross-channel promos and 200 tune-in spots, Kaplan said. The 30-second promos include a 10-second tag that operators can sell to local advertisers.
GSN will award one viewer a trip for two to Monte Carlo, which GSN called the "international gaming capital of the world."
