Sampling new shows through experiential marketing seems to be a trend this fall.

For the debut of Pan Am, CTV toured the country with a mock jetliner, showcasing clips of the new aviation-inspired show, and this weekend Citytv will follow suit as it rolls in a solar-powered tour bus to promote and sample its new sci-fi drama, Terra Nova.

The “Journey to Terra Nova” bus is owned by Fox in the US, and has been on a city tour south of the border since the end of July. Its last and only Canadian stop will be in Toronto on Oct. 1 at Yonge-Dundas Square. It comes equipped with a green screen studio whereby visitors can have their image digitally inserted into select scenes from the show and uploaded to Facebook.

Koreen Ott, director of marketing, Entertainment, Rogers Media, tells MiC that the channel approached Fox to use the bus after finding out about the initiative.

“We always work closely with our distributors to understand their marketing tactics and see what would fit for our campaigns in Canada,” she says. “This was just a great interactive experience that we really wanted to leverage.”

Although Terra Nova aired for the first time last night, Ott says the network will create further buzz for the show at this weekend’s art festival, Nuit Blanche.

“Citytv is a sponsor of Nuit Blanche and there will be tons of people out and about,” she says. “We are going right into the evening so we can catch those people who are coming into the square during the festival.”

The show, which is targeted to adults aged 25 to 54, will also be supported by an extensive traditional media buy including print, TV, billboards, online and radio, implemented by OMD Media with the creative done in-house at Citytv, says Ott.