It takes a lot of passion, patience and perseverance to turn a TV show into a brand, Michael Quast told attendees during his “TV at the Hub” session at Marketing Week’s Media Day this morning.
Quast, vice-president, development, The Holmes Group, was speaking about Mike Holmes and his succession of brands (books, DVDs, clothing, spin-off specials, endorsements and as of Nov. 23 a magazine) all of which spawned from the HGTV Canada series Holmes on Homes, now in its seventh season.
However, success only came by overcoming a few challenges, said Quast. It didn’t happen in a straight line and “multiple decisions on multiple fronts were needed.”
“The idea that television is about advertising is hard to wrap your head around, when your creative energies are completely focused on making a show a network will buy,” he said.
Most TV producers are not in the market to sell anything, he said.
“The show they are producing is simply the means to tell a good story,” he said. “The show is ‘The Thing,’ it’s what matters most.”
Branding or marketing of that show is usually only thought about when it comes time to sell advertising into it, and then only as a necessary evil. But there is now pressure on broadcasters to find new and creative ways to offer value on the ad buy for several reasons including new technology like PVRs.
“That means there is more pressure for the storytelling to include integrated images or references to commercial products,” he said. “In other words, to include additional brand stories that can compete with the main story.”
If TV producers tell a good story, “the brands that have attached themselves feel they’ve reached a wide enough audience to renew the series in the case of the network, or renew the buy in the case of an agency or retailer,” he said.
So how does a television show push through the mass of competing stories and brand messages to become a brand itself that marketers want a part of?
“It needs a compelling message or value... then it needs to build a business model around that brand message, because television alone is not a business that can sustain any brand for the long haul,” he said.
In fact, far from being the end goal, the TV show should just be viewed as a tool to sell the brand. “There needs to be a business model that develops a brand product or series of products that the show can sell.”
Independence for the brand is key, he said. Most networks try to control as many residual rights because they worry their investments won’t pay big enough dividends in a world of diminishing ad revenue, especially if the show becomes a big hit and the host is “free to race off and exploit every non television deal available,” he said.
But by becoming a recognizable brand, the viewer has two entry points: the network and the series brand. “To my mind that increases the odds the consumers wil connect with the network in the first place…and then by association the network wins” he said.
