NBC Cable executives outlined Tuesday the multipronged local marketing
support materials made available to cable affiliates for its upcoming Olympic
Games coverage.
Detailing the CD-ROM kit mailed to affiliates in August, vice president of
marketing Mark Hotz said the materials will enable operators to co-brand tie-in
promotion materials, support their digital-cable and broadband-service rollouts,
bolster their community image via an effort tied to Cable in the Classroom and
generate local ad sales.
The materials in the kit -- everything from cross-channel and radio spots to
direct-mail pieces and print ads -- are immediately customizable by MSOs, other
affiliates and interconnects, according to Hotz.
NBC Cable is also offering a 'Bring Home the Gold Sweepstakes,' in
conjunction with Visa International, which Hotz said 'does a tremendous amount
of in-store promotion' in support of its credit card.
NBC, he added, will piggyback on Visa's presence in those 250,000-plus retail
sites with posters saying, 'Watch NBC's The Complete Olympics.'
Whenever the U.S. team wins a gold medal, a random drawing selects a Visa
customer to win $10,000, he said.
Vice president of affiliate ad sales and promotion Brian Hunt pointed out
that such a sweepstakes -- which could not be mounted in time for the Sydney,
Australia, Summer Olympics -- was high on the wish lists of most cable
affiliates for 2002.
Director of marketing and communications Erica Conaty said NBC Cable will
again offer a 'Visions of Glory' educational tie-in campaign. This one will be
greatly expanded from last year's, with 85,000 classrooms spanning grades one
through 12 expected to participate, she estimated.
Cox Communications Inc., Adelphia Communications Corp. and Charter
Communications Inc. are among the MSOs already committed to the 'Visions'
program, according to the NBC executives.
NBC Cable president David Zaslav felt that domestic-originated Olympics tend
to be 'traditionally very patriotic events' that generate greater attention and
audience ratings than Olympics outside of the United States, as most recently
evidenced by the Summer Games in Atlanta during 1996.
