Through the Wire
by Todd Spangler, George Vernadakis and Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 3/16/2009 2:00:00 AM
Chirpy Ads Win Over Comcast-Hater
Is there anything that could make a cable company seem adorable in 60 seconds?
Comcast’s new “Dream Big” campaign — featuring a catchy jingle, guitar-strumming squirrels, bouncing astronauts, dancing penguins and other bubbly cartoon flourishes — did for Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield.
Garfield, you will recall, is the guy who became so incredibly cheesed off at Comcast that he created a Web site, ComcastMustDie.com, devoted to shaming the MSO into improving its customer service.
The grumpy media maven last week pronounced the initial Comcast “Dream Big” ad derivative but successful.
“Remember, this isn’t a nice, eco-friendly hybrid they’re jingling goofily about. It isn’t ice cream or circuses or Day-Glo condoms,” Garfield wrote in his column last week. “It’s the freakin’ cable company, which — after all the singing is done — you can’t help feeling better about.”
The campaign, which debuted March 2, was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and includes TV, print, outdoor, radio and online elements. Comcast is not disclosing the ad spend for “Dream Big.”
The TV ads feature ordinary-looking people in “Comcast Town” extolling the benefits of the MSO’s services (high-speed Internet, HD, on-demand, sports, etc.) in a sort of monotone chant, ending with the spelling out of C-O-M-C-A-S-T.
The spots can be viewed at ComcastTown.com, which also offers downloads of the jingle’s sheet music and lyrics. The music in the ads is an original composition created by a company called Stimmung and the lyrics were composed by Goodby copywriters. The spots were directed by Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes, who were nominated for an Academy Award this year for the animated short “This Way Up” (www.thiswayupmovie.com).
(Wonder) Women On Family, Economy
The economy and the state of the industry took a back seat to family matters as this year’s Wonder Women took the stage last week in New York. Co-sponsored by Multichannel News and the New York chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications, the luncheon saluted 11 women in cable and telecommunications and attracted about 830 attendees to the ballroom at the New York Hilton.
In the baby department, a very pregnant Campbell Brown co-hosted the event, where Comcast honoree Jen Gaiski announced to the crowd that her own family was expanding now that she was 16 weeks pregnant. “With a baby boy, to round out the Gaiski tribe,” which already includes a 2-year-old daughter, she said.
Time Warner Cable’s Joan Gillman thanked her kids for teaching her that “perseverance has great rewards.” Canoe Ventures’ Vicki Lins quoted her 2-year-old’s sage advice — “Happy Day, Mommy” — and her husband’s advice, “Never miss a good opportunity to be quiet.”
Univision’s Alina Falcon credited her mother with being her greatest inspiration because “she chose not to teach me to cook.” To which Falcon’s longtime friend and colleague Maria Elena Salinas, who was also co-host, remarked: “I didn’t learn how to cook either, but I learned how to bring home the bacon.”
TLC’s Eileen O’Neill fondly remembered her late dad, and how we once gave her a Hallmark card whose sentiment she found funny and profound: “Cover Yours, Kick Theirs.”
Cox’s Kathy Payne spoke of a blessed life, “until it seemed my luck had run out” and her father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. But with the right care and a positive attitude, Payne was happy to say he was in a rehab hospital, well beyond the original forecast.
“In honor of my father and the quest for significance,” Payne said, “carpe diem.”
Fearnet’s Diane Robina gave a shout out to the mother of them all, TV’s Donna Reed, saying it was Reed and a case of the flu that launched her career. While watching Nick at Nite, Robina caught a spot for a TV trivia contest that she went on to win — the prize was a scheduling job at the network.
While no significant others took the stage, their presence was clearly felt. Showtime’s Gwen Marcus beamed as she spoke of having married her partner of 26 years, A&E’s Nancy Alpert, last fall. “Our industry values diversity,” Marcus said. “Thank you for making us feel so welcome.”
Perhaps the funniest family story was Marcus’s account of how her mom, “in one of her less supportive moments,” reacted to the styled photo that was projected as she took the podium.
“It’s so glamorous,” Marcus recalled her mother saying. “It looks nothing like you.”
UBS’ Bourkoff Dashes Up Ladder
Aryeh Bourkoff has been promoted at UBS — again.
The former debt and equity analyst is now joint global head of media and communications investment banking at the lender, sharing the position with London-based Mark Lewisohn. They replace former division head Jeff Sine, to whom New York-based Bourkoff had reported.
Bourkoff — a Wire favorite since his days as a hard-working debt analyst — has risen rapidly. He became vice chairman of telecom investment banking at UBS in 2007 and since then has seemed to be part of every media deal going, including Cablevision Systems buying Sundance Channel for $496 million.
Lately he’s been advising on Charter Communications’ proposed $21-billion restructuring and Young Broadcasting’s pending $835 million restructuring. He also counseled Liberty Media on its $530-million investment in Sirius XM Radio and Macrovision Solutions on the $255-million sale of TV Guide Network to Lionsgate.
Other pending deals involving Bourkoff are a $250-million private equity placement for 3b Networks and Verizon Wireless’s $17-billion bridge facility to finance buying Alltel.
That’s what we call keeping busy in a down economy.
No related content found.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
