TechTV Seeks Broader Brand Awareness
By MONICA HOGAN -- Multichannel News, 1/22/2001
TechTV is telling television viewers: Don't just sit there, but learn something while you watch TV. Tag lines for its recent winter campaign included, "Because your children have better things to do than help you print."
Last week, TechTV said it completed the first phase of its transition to a new consumer brand. The technology-oriented cable network, formerly called ZDTV, ran a television and outdoor ad campaign this winter in key markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Detroit.
A billboard at the entrance of the New York's Lincoln Tunnel called TechTV "a great way to unwind after a hard telecommute." The network also scored ad space on a large scaffold in Grand Central Terminal, which measures 10 feet high and more than 300 feet long, director of consumer marketing Pam Hudson said.
The banner there features five messages tailored for the New York crowd, including "Don't be a techno-schmo" and "Now you can say you know everything," she said.
Humor was an important component of the ads, Hudson said.
"We realized our audience is a tech-savvy but witty audience," she said, adding the network's primary target is males aged 18 to 49.
"It's an audience we want to broaden," Hudson added.
In addition to outdoor ads, TechTV used on-air spots and ads on key networks such as ESPN, CNN and CNBC, which are also aimed at its target audience.
The DMAs selected for the campaign were chosen not just for their consumer demographics, but to attract attention from potential advertisers and cable MSOs, Hudson said.
TechTV last week said it added several key advertisers to its roster during fourth-quarter 2000, including Cisco Systems Inc., General Motors Corp. and TiVo Inc.
The network is evaluating the results of the recent campaign to determine which markets to add to the advertising roster later this year.
San Francisco-based ad agency Tonic360 helped create the TechTV campaign.
Though its on-air talent may be less widely known than those found on sports or entertainment networks, TechTV has already attracted groupies of its own, as was proven at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where TechTV had a large presence. The network aired several live shows from the convention floor. Scores of show attendees lined up to get a seat in the audience.
CES-goers also flocked to the TechTV booth for autographs from the on-air talent, Hudson said. "It was very inspiring."
The reaction from the CES crowds may lead the network to add more regular audience participation elements to its shows, TechTV senior vice president of programming and production Greg Debrin said in Las Vegas.
The network is nearing the 23-million-subscriber mark.
