Shaw Media is promoting the Aug. 27 launch of Lifetime Canada with a multiplatform campaign targeting women aged 25 to 45.

The majority of the campaign creative (developed and placed by Shaw’s in-house marketing team) revolves around two of the channel’s shows, Dance Moms and The Client List, as well as ads that overlay images of the stars from the channel’s other series and movies.

“The strategy of showcasing both tactical and image creative is unique to a channel launch campaign and introduces consumers to the wide range of programming available on the service,” Jamie Schouela, VP, marketing, Shaw Media, tells MiC. “Although we think the channel will appeal to a broad audience, the launch campaign targets females and placement is primarily in women-friendly environments, combining both mass reach and targeted placements.”

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available for the launch of the channel and throughout the channel’s free three-month preview, he says, adding that Canadian winery brand Jackson-Triggs is the first launch partner for the channel.

Large OOH placements will begin to roll-out this week in high-traffic locations, including a subway domination of Toronto’s St. George station and a highway billboard on the Gardiner Expressway, as well as billboards in Burnaby’s Metropolis at Metrotown and in the Toronto Eaton Centre.

There are also online and mobile ads running on female-skewing sites which include Babycenter.ca, The Weather Network, Allrecipes.ca and Shopcatch.ca.

The print element of the campaign will include double-page flex form and full-page ads in commuter publications including Metro, 24 Hours, and Tonight.

The brand will also kick off an experiential component (developed by Mosaic) in the form of a Dance Moms-themed contest, inviting visitors of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) from Aug. 24 to 26 to learn a choreographed dance for the chance to win a back-to-school shopping spree.

Schouela says that the nature of the dance reality series lends itself well to an experiential promotion and that the contest aims to extend the reach of the campaign and “get Canadians interacting with the Lifetime brand in a fun and meaningful way.”