The National Cable & Telecommunications Association kicked off a new marketing campaign Monday aimed at improving the cable industry’s reputation on Capitol Hill.
The campaign, called “A Great American Success Story,” is only currently running on local TV and cable networks in the Washington, D.C., area. The NCTA said it will eventually expand the campaign to additional undisclosed cities, and cable operators and national networks will set aside cross-channel advertising inventory to run the pro-cable commercials.
Political advertising firm Strategic Perceptions -- which produces commercials mostly for Republican political candidates, and which has done work previously for new NCTA CEO Kyle McSlarrow -- handled the campaign.
The firm has produced a 30-second, a one-minute and a six-minute version of the spots, which can be viewed online (www.ncta.com/cable-innovates). The spots show how cable evolved from retransmitting a few local broadcast signals to selling advanced products such as telephone service, and they take subtle shots at cable’s telco competitors.
The spots are breaking as lawmakers are considering a possible rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
