The Director of Online Marketing for this entertainment company talks about the challenges of advertising programming vs. subscription services.
As Director of Online Marketing, Jordan Berman is responsible for directing the online marketing and advertising efforts for Showtime Networks Inc. His key objective is to drive subscriber acquisition while bolstering subscriber retention and tune-in. He delivers on these objectives by developing programs related to online ordering, paid online advertising, online promotions, affiliate networks, email marketing, co-branded marketing with cable and satellite operators, and search results in collaboration with Showtime's online entertainment destination (SHO.com) and new technology initiatives (Showtime On Demand, HDTV, etc). We talked with Berman recently to learn more about his initiatives.
Meet Jordan at the iMedia Brand Summit, September 21 – 24 in New Mexico.
iMedia Connection: What’s one of the most successful campaigns your company has executed recently, and what made it successful?
Berman: Recently we ran a campaign for “Family Business,” a Showtime Late Night original series. It’s a reality show focused on the life of Adam Glasser, aka Seymore Butts, king of adult entertainment. We ran a big, integrated campaign that leveraged traditional and online media to build a buzz and drive people to watch the premiere. For the online component, we did a media buy at FHM, Nerve, Maxim Online, and iFilm that contained integrated content such as personals for the cast of the show, video trailers and a family business aptitude test, which tested viewers’ knowledge of the adult entertainment business. We also had a good amount of content at our site, SHO.com. Our male target responded to the advertising, which was a bit cheeky. Traffic was high both to our site as well as to the external mini sites. We generated significant buzz and the ratings were very strong on premiere night.
We also have a big campaign under way right now for the original series “Dead Like Me,” a show in which a young woman killed in a freak accident gets the job of grim reaper in the after life. We’ve partnered with Monster.com to run a promotion that features a “Job To Die For” Sweepstakes, in which the grand prize winner will receive a walk-on-role in a future episode of the show and $10,000. We started the promotion in mid-June and it’s running through September 15. We’ve promoted the sweepstakes on a number of different sites, such as IGN, IMdB, UGO, etc.
iMedia Connection: What lessons have you learned from these campaigns?
Berman: The biggest lesson is the importance of having the online campaign really tie in with the offline efforts going on. Our New Media group works very closely with the traditional group to make sure all the messaging consumers get from all media is consistent and what visitors experience on the Website reinforces what’s happening offline.
iMedia Connection: What does your company have planned in order to approach the interactive space in different and unique ways?
Berman: One of the big things is to continue to monitor the growth of broadband for the purposes of streaming video content so consumers can get a taste of our programming. Broadband for a while had slow growth rate, but this past year it has kind of exploded as cable operators and others have gotten more aggressive. So we’re going to look at ways to leverage that. We’re a video company, so we want to see what we can do to bring that to the Web.
Another thing we’re working on is facilitating direct transactions so consumers can order, activate and upgrade Showtime subscriptions via the Net as opposed to having to pick up the phone and call their cable or satellite providers. We’ve got our work cut out for us.
iMedia Connection: What are the vexing issues facing your company and online advertising/marketing, in general?
Berman: One is the challenge of allocating budgets between online and traditional media outlets. Everyone in the online area is trying to figure out how best to apportion the dollars. I have seen some interesting research, such as the IAB’s Cross-media Optimization studies, that has done a good job of illustrating how online can complement offline media and is definitely helping with this challenge.
Another challenge is determining how Showtime can track and measure the impact of online to tune-in to the television. How does online impact ratings? There’s always a push to better understand the relationship there.
A third challenge is related to what I already mentioned about not currently having a direct relationship with the consumer because they make transactions with their cable operators. We’re looking for ways to accurately and effectively measure response from our advertising to consumers actually upgrading to our service.
A final challenge is how to impact retention. Ultimately, we want to create relationships with consumers, get them to go to the Website, keep them informed through emails, and get them to continue to subscribe to Showtime in the future.
iMedia Connection: You mentioned the difficulty in tracking the impact of online advertising on subscriptions and upgrades. How do you determine if online advertising is contributing to your company's overall sales goals?
Berman: We have certain programs and promotions specifically to drive an increase in upgrades, many that we do in cooperation with cable operators. For example, we’ll do email marketing to a cable operator’s in-house list. We find that tracking there is more accurate.
iMedia Connection: So how would you say online is doing in contributing to sales goals?
Berman: We’re seeing good results from a number of programs, especially when we have an aggressive offer. For example, during the first quarter we had a program where if you subscribed you were eligible for a $50 gift card to The Home Depot. We had a strong response from that. The traffic to the special offers section of our website provides a good proxy for sales lift. Consumers can download special offer coupons and register for programming information.
iMedia Connection: How have your goals in the online world changed from last year to this year?
Berman: From an acquisition perspective, we’re getting more aggressive about using the Internet to promote special offers, especially in conjunction with cable and satellite operators. We’re finding that a lot of operators are starting to get more engaged with the Internet as high speed efforts grow. They’re starting to look to leverage the Internet and so as the Net becomes a higher priority with distributors, there are more opportunities to put cooperative efforts in place.
In addition, we’re putting more focus on building a registered user database which allows us to keep our subscribers aware of new programming but in addition enables us to market to them to upgrade, order video-on-demand and things like that.
iMedia Connection: Does your company plan on increasing its spending on interactive media, and when do you expect interactive to take a larger share of the total marketing budget?
Berman: As the Internet becomes a more important medium to subscribers, our budgets will respond accordingly.
iMedia Connection: How do you perceive rich media? Do you think the benefits make up for the cost?
Berman: We’ve done quite a bit with rich media, streaming programs, using Flash animation and so on. We feel that for an entertainment company like Showtime, we need to be as entertaining as possible with our advertising as well.
iMedia Connection: How do you evaluate different sites for media placement?
Berman: We work with our agencies’ experts, looking at how a site’s audience compares relative to our target for a particular show. Targets will vary based on the show, whether it be a sci-fi, relationship-focused or broad-based show like “Dead Like Me.” In addition to specific visitor profiles, we look for sites that can bring new ideas to the table, be creative in how to market, program and so on.
iMedia Connection: Have you tested out any of the emerging technologies such as wireless, iTV etc?
Berman: We have a business development group which has as a primary goal the development of new technologies, so Showtime is certainly active in this.
iMedia Connection: What knowledge can you impart to traditional advertisers that may be hesitant to enter into the online space?
Berman: My advice: Take a look at best practices -- there have been some very well-done studies about who’s doing what online. Benchmark your industry as well as go outside your industry to see what people are doing. Also, pick good creative and media partners that can basically implement some programs to test. At the end of the day, it’s about being willing to try new things, analyze, optimize and move forward.