UPN and WB successor CW, the broadcast network named after parents CBS and Time Warner, will be officially launched on Sept. 20 - and the parent companies are going all out with an ad campaign to make sure everyone knows about their new baby.
The CW branding campaign, with the tagline "Free to be" and hip, bright-green colors, is already running on TV and radio, in print, online (cwtv.com) and outdoor, primarily targeting the 18-34 demo, writes the New York Times. The estimated $50 million campaign to create an identity for CW and its programs (including Smallville, Gilmore Girls and W.W.E. Friday Night Smackdown) is being created internally and by agency Troika. That value includes commercial time on the network and local CW stations.
"This audience doesn't want to be advertised to, and doesn't want to be told what to do," CW EVP for marketing and brand strategy Rick Haskins is quoted as saying. Hence "Free to be." Branding a network is important because consumers can now watch individual shows on a variety of media, particularly online, according to execs.
The campaign pairs the "Free to be" theme with words and phrases that relate to the network's primetime series; for example, the ads for Chris Rock sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" carry the headline "Free to be funny."
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