Showtime Pushed 'Tara’ Hard
Multimedia Campaign Matches 'Project's Pedigree'
by Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/18/2009 7:00:00 PM
It's been hard for anyone to miss the fact that Jan. 18 is the debut of Showtime’s The United States of Tara. The premium network has backed the series with one of its largest promotional campaigns ever.
Executives said the push was justified by the pedigree of the project, starring Toni Collette, written by Oscar-winning Juno scribe Diablo Cody and produced by Steven Spielberg. They would not detail the dollar cost of the campaign, but noted that the network partnered with 60 destinations to preview The Tudors while the tonnage for Tara included 100 entertainment and blogging sites from TV.com and YouTube to Gawker and TVGuide.com.
Print marketing also included a lenticular, which shifted through the multiple identities played by Collette, placed in trade publications (including Multichannel News), as well as Rolling Stone, Us Weekly and other consumer magazines.
Vice president of program marketing and advertising Sharon Allen said the broad campaign is an effort to attract audiences away from broadcast shows and returning basic cable series. Previews have become one of the network’s most cost-efficient strategies, but it’s not the only tool, she said.
The first episode will remain on VOD through Jan. 21 and offered on sho.com through the end of June, Allen said. That lets viewers catch up as the “water-cooler” buzz builds.
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