A year-long integration deal between Johnson’s and Canwest Broadcasting will see the baby skincare company double its TV-based advertising as it rises to a peak in the fall.
The agreement will change Slice’s mid-day time slots, starting in the fall, by adding a ‘Johnson’s Baby Block’ of programming such as The Mom Show, Birth Stories and Birth Days (weekdays 2-4 pm ET). The Discovery Health Channel will feature targeted baby programming with shows like The Mom Show, House of Babies, John and Kate Plus 8, Maternity Ward and Desperate Midwives.
Johnsons continues to inject custom vignettes and segments into programming such as The Mom Show on Slice. The integration deal also includes commercial production with TV host personalities and a series of 18 two-minute vignettes called ‘The Baby Diaries.’ The vignettes showcase the lives of a new mother and her baby and will air during the new season of The Mom Show, which launches September 8 at 2 pm ET.
The boost over Johnson’s 2007 TV ad spend also includes a traditional ad buy across HGTV and Food Network. The deal was arranged by J3, M2 Universal’s dedicated division for the Johnson’s account. It took effect at the beginning of the year and runs until the end of 2008.
‘All of the assets that we’re creating out of the partnership are being re-purposed on BabyCenter.ca, which is owned by Johnson’s,’ says Darryl Nicholson, VP managing director on the Johnson’s account with J3. ‘It’s a swap of assets, because on BabyCenter.ca, we promote The Mom Show. The whole promotion runs across the specialty networks’ sites, and really the anchor of the program is The Mom Show. There’s organic product placement. We’ve had the editor of BabyCenter.ca on the show to talk about baby care. It’s a totally integrated, 360-degree partnership.’
This month, the series went to shoot in Calgary at a mall, where a few thousand moms showed up to sit through the show, and Johnson’s was integrated into those episodes. Why Calgary? Nicholson says it’s because that city is having one of the larger baby booms in Canada right now. Naturally, a ‘cutest baby in Calgary’ contest was part of the mix.
Since the partnership began, Nicholson says awareness of BabyCenter.ca has grown 10%. He adds it is one of the top baby portals in the country, partly due to an ongoing dialogue with moms. When you find out your pregnant, you can register for a regular connection to content that will walk you through the stages of the pregnancy.
Canwest EVP sales Errol Da-Ré says the deal will use ‘our proprietary research capabilities’ to give Johnson ‘key metrics during various phases of the campaign, which will be critical in terms of delivering measurable results.’ Johnson’s senior brand manager Nancy Murphy says the decision to work with Canwest’s specialty nets will allow the brand to reach ‘our core consumer in a relevant environment.’
