NBC will soon play the role of fairy godmother to boost viewership of its new fall series Three Wishes.
During the week of Sept. 12, the network will travel to 15 markets and grant Three Wishes— at various retailers and one at a local charity in each market. NBC will surprise shoppers and restaurant patrons by picking up the tab at select retailers, including grocery stores and restaurants.
The campaign is part of NBC’s newest grassroots effort to reach consumers in an engaging way and create buzz around a new series.
As part of the campaign, NBC will pay retailers with stickered $1 bills, which cashiers will then distribute to customers with their change. The sticker will drive recipients to a Three Wishes section on the NBC Web site NBC.com/Three_Wishes and encourage consumers to use the marked dollars to fulfill another person’s wish to coincide with the show’s theme.
NBC will reserve the third wish for a local charity, giving that charity a $2,500 check to purchase items on its own wish list.
“It’s about touching people individually and creating and weaving a magical web of support and community around these individual wishes,” said Barbara Blangiardi, VP- marketing and special projects for the NBC Agency. “We thought this grassroots program that…demonstrated and exemplified the [purpose] of the show was the kind of thing we wanted to do.”
The network will hit New York City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Denver on Sept. 12; Philadelphia, Sacramento, CA, Milwaukee, Nashville and Salt Lake City on Sept. 14; and Buffalo, NY, Los Angeles, Des Moines, ID, Baltimore, MD and Spokane, WA, on Sept. 16.
Following the campaign, NBC plans to track how consumers are using their Three Wishes dollars. The network will create a section on its Web site asking consumers how they received the dollars and how they used them to grant someone else’s wish, Blangiardi said.
NBC executives and others working on the promotion have high hopes the dollar bills will have a life of their own.
“We are using the stickered dollar bills so the currency will get into the marketplace. And [we want to] encourage people to use that money to do something for someone else,” Blangiardi said. “This is a unique execution for us.”
In Three Wishes, Amy Grant will lead a team of experts to small towns across the country to help make people’s dreams and wishes come true. Consumers can sign up to have a wish granted by logging on to NBC.com.
Three Wishes premieres at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 23 on NBC. P.r. and online materials support. Los Angeles-based Impact and Marketing Promotions handles.
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