Showcase chauffeurs in premium fall TV lineup

From pushing boundaries to chauffeuring people home, the new Showcase campaign has it all. The lofty effort, called 'Showcase at 10,' drives home three messages: Showcase pushes boundaries; Showcase has premium, risqué shows; and, the shows are on nightly at 10 p.m. Most notably, Showcase is branding a fleet of five black Chrysler 300s, to be used as makeshift taxis to rush people home - for free - in time to catch Showcase's 10 p.m. lineup. The cars will be equipped with TVs running promo reels for the fall lineup, which includes premium cable shows picked up from HBO and Showtime like Rescue Me, Weeds and The L Word.

'The main objective is to get people to make an appointment at 10 p.m.,' explains director of marketing Muriel Solomon. 'We're hoping people will talk about the fleet...and that radio stations will pick up on it.'
By Annette Bourdeau
August 30, 2005

From pushing boundaries to chauffeuring people home, the new Showcase campaign has it all. The lofty effort, called ‘Showcase at 10,’ drives home three messages: Showcase pushes boundaries; Showcase has premium, risqué shows; and, the shows are on nightly at 10 p.m. Most notably, Showcase is branding a fleet of five black Chrysler 300s, to be used as makeshift taxis to rush people home – for free – in time to catch Showcase’s 10 p.m. lineup. The cars will be equipped with TVs running promo reels for the fall lineup, which includes premium cable shows picked up from HBO and Showtime like Rescue Me, Weeds and The L Word.

‘The main objective is to get people to make an appointment at 10 p.m.,’ explains director of marketing Muriel Solomon. ‘We’re hoping people will talk about the fleet…and that radio stations will pick up on it.’

The innovative guerilla tactic was developed with Montreal-based Gearwerx Experiential Marketing, and will hit the streets of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa beginning next week. The fleet will serve viewers between 8 and 10p.m., three nights a week for six weeks. By day, the cars will cruise around town as mobile billboards.

Supporting elements include O-O-H, print, radio, on-air, and online (www.showcase.ca) executions. In September, Showcase will dominate Toronto’s busy Yonge/Bloor subway station, including turnstiles, floor decals and platform posters. ‘It’s one of the big ‘wows’ of the campaign,’ says Solomon.

Other ‘wow’ factors include: 15-second spots in elevators in downtown Toronto and Vancouver office towers; 30-second promos on video screens at Esso fuel pumps; and, a large presence at Toronto’s Labour Day music event Beachfest, for which Showcase is a primary sponsor, and will be offering families rides home from the event in its branded fleet.

The print ads will run in commuter papers, alt-weeklies and magazines in six markets – Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

Creative for the campaign was a collaborative effort between the in-house Alliance Atlantis Creative Services team, and Toronto-based FCB Canada. All media buys were secured by AA’s in-house media team.