HAMILTON – It spent good money securing the Canadian conventional TV broadcast rights for James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Avatar, so it made sense for independent Hamilton broadcaster CHCH to leave no marketing and communications stone unturned leading up to – and during – the broadcast Sunday evening.
The company says it pulled in more than 1.7 million viewers nationally for Avatar, according to the BBM overnight ratings from its Canadian broadcast premiere. It’s the highest rated movie CHCH has shown in the past two years, with ratings “46% higher than the next highest rated movie for the key 25-54 buying demo,” reads the press release.
The broadcaster made the most of Avatar by promoting the broadcast through an extensive advertising campaign that included digital outdoor boards, online takeovers, and special print executions in commuter dailies; media relations; social media; and street teams in Toronto and Hamilton, which gave passers-by a chance to pose with Na’vi ambassadors in make-up (pictured). “Earning CHCH Twitter trending status during the broadcast, the promotion also included an on-air twitter campaign to engage viewers by tweeting #CHCHAvatar for a chance to win a music system from Sonos,” says the press release.
In fact, each time CHCH reminded viewers about its contest (after each commercial break), activity on Twitter exploded.
“We viewed Avatar as a blockbuster television event that would continue to reinforce CHCH as a movie and entertainment destination,” said Rhonda Messieh, marketing manager for CHCH, in the release. “CHCH has a history of showing big films including the broadcast premiere of the Godfather, and Avatar is just the latest in this line.”
The media buy was handled by Gaggi Media, public relations from The iPR Group, the street-level promotion by Fresh Events, and social media internally. Campaign creative (including the photo below of reporters Kate Carnegie and Adam Atkinson) was developed in-house.
