The Brandcast

There are only two months left until the May television upfront presentations, and with this comes increasing pressure on TV and Cable networks to innovate, impress and improve ad deliveries. Past performances in this arena have met with success - multimedia platform buys are becoming more popular, and according to recent reports, product placement is at an all time high. However, as the years pass and technology advances, the push to become even more effective compels network executives to campaign harder than ever for ad dollars.

VH1 is at the forefront of the game this year, launching a new “Pod-Buster” venture that they hope will lead to greater consumer engagement on the whole. The approach is equal parts inventive and aggressive, fusing 15 and 30 second commercial spots with network related content to create 3 - 3 1/2 minute blocks referred to as “Showstoppers.” Knowing that it is necessary to test the idea against a true audience, VH1 experimented with different versions, all the while using clients who had agreed to participate for free. Early VH1 studies on the effectiveness of these pod-busters prove promising. Nearly half of viewers polled admitted they were more engaged and entertained with the Showstoppers than they typically are with traditional commercial breaks.

VH1, a network with heavy emphasis on pop culture programming, is a seamless fit for this innovative approach. (Sister network MTV would also fare well with a similar experiment) The Showstopper technique may not be as successful with older-skewing or news-based cable networks, or with the larger television networks that rely on delivering big ratings to gain as much revenue as possible out of their ad breaks. What VH1 has taught us, though, is that revamping the traditional pod is possible. It is far from an easy road, of course. It requires trial and error to see what fits for the network as well as the core demographic. It requires effectiveness studies, and a heck of a good sell. In short, VH1’s test proves that networks can push the envelope and work harder for our marketing dollars - and for that, I salute them.