E! rolls out fall domination campaign

The marketing tease is on in Toronto and Vancouver for CanWest's official launch of its entertainment net's first season.

CanWest MediaWorks launched a massive multi-city and multi-tiered teaser campaign yesterday aimed at introducing Canada to the E! brand and pushing some fall primetime shows. The campaign spans out-of-home, radio and print, and hits the streets with a teaser that leads to a ‘full reveal’ timed to coincide with E!’s official launch on September 7.

CanWest MediaWorks SVP marketing Walter Levitt tells MiC the campaign is really a multi-layered approach to promoting the fall season. ‘We obviously need to establish the brand in Canada, and we need to establish that a channel position is changing on September 7,’ he says. ‘Beyond the brand-building, there’s a layer that’s more tactical in nature and is about driving audiences to specific shows, with different programs featured in different ways.’

Shows like Bionic Woman, Deal or No Deal, E! News with Ryan Seacrest, The Simple Life, Dr. 90210 – which are core to building the brand – are part of the domination campaign. Promotion for other new shows, such as Cashmere Mafia, won’t feature as prominently at this time due to later premiere dates.

OOH creative will kick off with a teaser and sneak peek campaign, highlighting the net and its primetime franchises, which runs through September 6. The E! teaser campaign will take over Toronto’s York and Yonge Street downtown tunnels starting August 27. Subway domination at Toronto’s Eglinton and St. George stations will launch September 3.

The transition to the ‘full reveal’ of the net and its programs will hit all creative locations on Sept. 7 – E!’s official launch day. Other OOH executions will take over the Sears board at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, digital and static boards along the Gardiner Expressway and hundreds of billboards across the GTA.

The campaign’s print executions will include ‘wrapping’ the Toronto Star with E! creative on Saturday, Sept. 8 and dominating the free daily Metro throughout the Toronto International Film Festival.

The net’s radio and street marketing campaign launched yesterday with a city-wide, three-week ‘Spot the E!’ contest as part of a partnership with Z103.5 FM. A 12-foot 3D E! will pop up around Toronto, while on-air promos will drive listeners to watch for it, log on to the station’s website and fill out a ballot for prize packs and invites to the Sept. 7 launch party.

Street teams will hand out posters to support the initiative, as well as awareness of the launch. Radio campaigns in other markets will launch on Sept. 10 and run throughout the fall.

E!’s marketing department in Calgary developed all creative and media plans.

Click here for MiC‘s coverage of CanWest MediaWorks’ premiere date announcements.