Think Family Guy, think sandwich? Subway is certainly hoping that the fanbase for Canwest’s top-rated animated show on Global TV and TVtropolis will jump to that conclusion.
The Canadian arm of the US sandwich chain has hooked up with Canwest Broadcasting to offer 100 specialized video clips for mobile phone users.
Available free of charge to any mobile platform user who texts ‘Stewie’ to 456225, the one- to two-minute video clips – categorized through such titles as ‘Stewie World Domination’ and ‘Everyone Hates Meg’ – will be available through April 28.
For its part, Subway will have a prominent presence within the mobile clips.
‘Within the Family Guy mobile experience itself, you’ll see things like pre-roll for Subway Restaurants before every clip, the Subway banner ads and branding integrated within that video application,’ Paul Burns, Canwest’s VP of digital media tells MiC. He declined to provide specific numbers on viewer activity thus far.
‘The idea was [to tie] the brand to this experience in as relevant a way as possible throughout the entire campaign.’
The multi-platform promotional campaign – created with Carat Canada – kicked off on Jan. 28 via TVTropolis and continues on Global Television and online at GlobalTV.com.
‘We have a dedicated page and show experience on GlobalTV.com to the Family Guy mobile offering,’ says Burns. ‘It explains how you get the content on your mobile device. Within that experience, it gives you a preview of what you might expect to get on the Family Guy mobile.’
The campaign extends to online, where ads are running across the entire network, he adds, with promo spots embedded on TVtropolis and Global.
Burns is hoping that Subway’s exclusive sponsorship of the show, which airs Sundays on Global, may work with other sponsors and other properties. ‘There is a whole gamut of other programming options that might make sense for other sponsors,’ he says.
‘With the level of content integration, I think you’ve got to be careful about how to pick and choose a partner. Subway seemed to make sense for Family Guy, [they] fit together really nicely, so with other programming we’d want to be a bit selective with how other brands get aired with content. It’s always an ongoing discussion.’
