Artie Scheff knew a two-part miniseries called Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids might be perceived as — can we say it? — a bit of a snoozer.
But The History Channel’s senior vp-marketing was confidant that the right amount of buzz could not only attract network loyalists but new, younger viewers to the series, which aired over the Memorial Day weekend.
Promotion agency Clarion Marketing & Communications, Greenwich, CT, began working in late 2000 on the core concept, a Live Like a King watch-and-win game. The effort featured a multi-colored decoder gamepiece participants would hold up to their TV sets to see if they’d won. The prize pool boasted 100 trips for two to the pyramid-shaped Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas for a private concert with 1980s pop band The Bangles (of “Walk Like An Egyptian” fame).
“It was pretty easy to say ‘yes’ when we were approached,” recalls Tom Bruny, the hotel’s director of marketing. “It was the right opportunity and the right fit.”
A phalanx of partners were recruited to help distribute gamepieces. Sunglass Hut International handed them out in stores, America West Airlines delivered them through headset bags, and the Luxor offered them in lobby displays. Decoders were also given away through ads in TV Guide and Biography magazine and via The History Channel’s Time Machine mobile tour.
Miami-based Sunglass Hut’s 1,500 locations hung signage featuring Rayban-wearing Egyptians and carrying tune-in and game info. Phoenix-based America West added a “making-of” special to in-flight programming. Waltham, MA-based Terra Lycos — whose thentagline, “Dig Deeper,” fit perfectly with the program — provided banner ads and tweaked its search engine display so historychannel.com came first in all queries for “pyramids” or “Egypt.” Efforts began in April, six weeks before the series aired.
“This promotion was extended into so many venues, but everything worked together as a larger, singular marketing campaign,” says Scheff. “We had a good feeling about this program as things rolled out.”
In addition to the watch-and-win component, players could match images on their gamecards with symbols at historychannel.com to win other prizes and passes to the Luxor event. TV and radio spots supported.
“We don’t normally get involved in national promotions, but this program had such a presence that we wanted to be a part of it,” says Jami Bourdo, manager of marketing and promotion for America West.
To rally cable affiliates, History Channel offered customizable game overlays and a variety of collateral. Elsewhere, 27,000 educational kits were mailed to public and high school libraries encouraging them to set up displays; participants could mail in photos of their creations for a chance at winning a Beyond the Pyramids video set or a grand-prize computer system.
Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids scored a 2.24 rating, more than twice what History Channel normally gets and 40 percent above goal as 70 affiliates took part in the promotion.
The unique distribution network delivered some 22 million decoder gamepieces and produced 68 million overall impressions. That gave History Channel $7.5 million in media value and a 14-to-1 return on the campaign’s $798,000 price tag.
“Anyone can buy a media plan,” says Scheff. “These types of programs take a smaller amount of money and make 10 times the noise.”
And who can snooze through that kind of noise?
Supporting Cast
Artie Scheff, Judy Klein Frimer, The History Channel
Marc Weilheimer, Clarion
Mark Baratto, Sunglass Hut
Jami Bourdo, America West Airlines
Tom Bruny, Luxor Hotel
Jessica Cohen-Lutzner, Lycos
Network
