Bravo Trades ‘360’ Approach for ‘4D’

New York -- “We hereby decree, 360 is over,” Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick said Wednesday, addressing a roomful of marketing executives gathered at the New York Hilton here for the 2007 Promax/BDA conference.

“What we’re really talking about now for Bravo, because of the consumers we’re reaching out to get, is the ‘4D model,’” she added.

Zalaznick said that after more than two years of working on the 360-degree approach -- which supported traditional television with content delivery via iPod, mobile, broadband, DVD, wireless-application protocol and video-on-demand -- the network will aim to surround consumers with content via integrated multiplatform options.

Bravo’s rebranded 4D effort includes traditional “one-way advertising”; “interactive advertising” via Internet; an “experiential” dimension of virtual spaces and multiple mediums creating a tangible Bravo world; and the “personal” dimension enabled by individual digital identities and social-networking sites.

“People seem very comfortable living within a cyclone of a brand,” Zalaznick said.

On the flip side, the network also promotes within. Vice president of brand strategy and creative director Jane Olson said that besides encouraging employees to use the technologies daily and understand how they work, they have featured spots with the talent from various shows interacting digitally.

She added that what began as a single ad spot promoting Bravotv.com evolved to 50% of all ads directing traffic to the site.

Video-mashup functions, as well as the Andy Cohen blog and live Web show, have also driven use and gained the brand sponsorship on those platforms.

To that end, the Web portion of the network’s advertising budget has now grown to 25%-30% depending on the show, usually at the expense of the print budget.

As for the future, Zalaznick said traditional TV continues to drive other platforms, but she expected to make significant gains with the Bravo Web site via mobile over the next few years, adding, “The more places we put it, the more places they take it.”

The presentation by Zalaznick and her digital team was also chock-full of plugs for Top Chef 3 Miami, which premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m.