when advertising to advertisers invades the public sphere

When Advertising to When Advertising to Advertisers Invades Advertisers Invades the Public Spherethe Public Sphere

Picture it. April 2008. The Great Recession is well underway and network upfronts are a few short weeks away.

In a climate where the unemployment rate is steadily increasing and consumers are tightening their belts, how does a network tout the spending power of its audience to potential advertisers?

If you’re a network exec at Bravo or Oxygen, there’s no need to worry. Your audience consists of Affluencers, trenders, spenders and recommenders.

During the 2008 upfronts, Bravo and Oxygen launched campaigns to rave about the spending power of their audiences.

In a bold move, they took their message beyond the pages of trade magazines like Ad Age.

They took their message to the streets in the form of subway ads.

2008 Upfront Ad

2008 Upfront Ad

Pardon the blurriness. This subway poster communicates the following:

• High recall

• Intent to purchase

• Word of mouth

• Pays attention

• Engaging content + Cable’s best audience = POWERFUL ROI

What other straphangers had to

say•“Wow. Every once in awhile, you get to

see behind the curtain.” – Rxb

•“Media buyers live in my nabe?” – carynsolly

2009 Upfront Ad

2009 Upfront Ad

During the 2010 upfronts, Bravo and Oxygen tweaked their ads by minimizing the emphasis on shopping.

2010 Upfront Ad

In 2010, Bravo kept it low-key with smaller ads

and focused on its programming content.

2010 Upfront Ad

Image via: carynsolly

Text

That’s a huge difference from its 2007 ad in which Affluencers are portrayed as multi-tasking compulsive shoppers.

Who would want to be an old, dowdy Lifetimer when you can be a stylish member of

Generation O?

These frames were taken from an Oxygen banner ad featured on Gawker.

For more examples…

•Advertising to Advertisers Flickr set

•Advertising to Advertisers Tumblr blog

Further reading…

•Turning the “Bravo audience into a brand unto itself…” via: The ARF

•Rob Walker’s The Product Is You

Presentation by: Gladys Santiago

Blog: Product Displacement

Twitter: @gladyssantiago

Flickr: Photostream