Brand Weaver
It’s the epitome of what the entertainment business calls a “three-screen” show — meaning TV, computer and mobile phone.
When DEA agent Lucky Chance takes off in his Dodge Challenger in cable network TNT’s upcoming advertising microseries, he’ll be reviving a classic car and driving on the leading edge of a new promotional genre.
Debuting next month, TNT’s “Lucky Chance” is the first of two commercial Webisodes TNT will air this year. TNT sees the 20 two-minute episodes as the first season of a doubleheader product integration disguised as a short-form crime thriller.
Its embedded two-week run in prime-time series “Bones” and “Law & Order” will take Lucky for a ride as he tries to collect $50 million for a mob boss who’s blackmailing him. And TNT is expecting that viewers will look forward to next season’s sequel to the series. “We hope to have multiple seasons of this thing. We’re firmly committed to the microseries concept,” says Linda Yaccarino, Turner Entertainment executive vice president of ad sales and marketing.
“Lucky Chance” will hit TNT.com and mobile screens after its July 22 debut. TNT is also collaborating with broadband partners to push the episodes to a larger audience.
The next microseries, set for the fourth-quarter, will follow the same multi-screen formula. Turner is also in conversations on other microseries projects for TBS.
Advertisers also like the multi-screen exposure. “The ability to exist on a number of screens extends the life cycle for the advertiser,” she adds.
Yaccarino views “Lucky Chance” as the latest evolution of the mini-series in the TV ad space. As microseries go, it oozes with intrigue. Hero Chance gets framed by L.A. crime boss Frankie Cash, who sends Chance on a race across state lines to retrieve and deliver $50 million in four days.
Between receiving cues on his Blackberry about his route on the unwelcome errand from the blackmailing mobster, Chance has some quality drive time in his Challenger (let’s not forget who’s sponsoring) to sort out how to clear his name and nail the corrupt DEA agent who betrayed him.
“Lucky Chance” follows on the heels of last year’s “Love Bites,” three-minute short takes of a 13-episode romantic comedy promoting Sunsilk shampoo that debuted during sister network’s TBS’ female-skewing “Love Bugs” series.
Yaccarino sees enduring potential to weave several brands into the microseries as the tangled storyline of the exploits of Agent Chance unwinds. “It’s another piece of original content that grabs viewers and holds on to them,” Yaccarino says. “This is short-form, but extending it to other screens is a chance to make it available to as many consumers as possible.”
Lucky’s fight with Frankie will presumably be left with enough loose ends to push him to log more miles on his Challenger’s odometer, more minutes on AT&T mobile (another sponsor) devices, and maybe bring some quick service restaurants, convenience stores or motel chains into the microseries landscape.
The narrative of the microseries informed Full Circle’s choice of product categories. “We knew it had to be a muscle car and we knew he had to get directions from afar,” Riesenberg says.
This time, Riesenberg sees a winning dramatic formula driven by the conflict between a solitary DEA agent who lives with a pet tortoise and a diabolical crime lord who lavishes attention on his pet cockatoo. “If these characters really catch on, I even foresee a long-form series or a movie,” he says. An extended run would be serialized advertising completing a developmental cycle back to the origins of early TV sitcoms and variety shows that carried branded titles and cast actors as pitchmen.
