Creative Online Ads Highlight TCM’s Summer Movie Festival

Net Buys Spots On Search Engines, Newspaper Sites to Boost Viewership

By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 8/4/2008 2:04:00 PM

Don't be surprised if you see a banner on your preferred Web search site bearing such titillating headlines as “Casino Owner Fakes Own Death” or “Business Mogul's Wife Seduces College Student.”

They're not news teases but digital media promotions for the sixth annual “Summer Under the Stars Movie Festival” playing this month on Turner Classic Movies. During the programming schedule, the network each day focuses of the work of a particular performer, and packages those collections in specialized ways.

For instance, there will be a Fred Astaire-Gene Kelly dance-off airing on Aug. 16 and 17; and Spencer Tracey's work will follow that of Katherine Hepburn's on Aug. 30 and 31, respectively.

The ads, in headline form, describe the plot of featured movies. For instance, the quotes above tout Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth; and The Graduate,  respectively. The network has purchased ads on sites from Google and Yahoo to the Huffington Post and Salon.com as well as on several newspaper Web sites.

TCM schedules the programming stunt each summer to “deepen the relationship” with the lovers of its brand, network officials said.