A&E Ramps Up 'Glades' Promotion

Scripted dramas on A&E have been few and far between, so when it came time to promote The Glades, its new procedural drama premiering July 11, the cable net pulled out all the stops. The campaign is the most robust consumer ad spend in the network's history and integrates the campaign's theme, "Sunny with a chance of homicide," in out-of-home, TV, radio, print and digital.With more networks premiering more new programming during the summer, A&E had to make sure its new show would get noticed and sampled."We're in an arms race," said Guy Slattery, svp of marketing for A&E. "This is one of our biggest pushes. The cable landscape is increasingly crowded and consumers have more options. In summer, we have to go out really big and really loud."A&E hasn't had a lot of success with scripted drama. The Cleaner (2008 and 2009) and The Beast (2009-10) had only brief runs before they were canceled. "It's a space we want to be in, but it's also the most competitive because it requires the most commitment from the viewer," Slattery said. Leading the summer media push, handled by Horizon Media, was out of home, which began May 1 in National Cinemedia's First Look pre-show with a 2:30 minute "behind the scenes" segment plus a :30 second trailer and in-lobby posters in select theaters.Traditional out-of-home billboards and posters are already popping up in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Tampa and Houston; transit advertising in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta; mall advertising across AdSpace Digital Mall's network in 10 markets. Over the July 4 weekend, aerial banners will fly over beaches in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tampa, Fla. (where much of The Glades is filmed) with street teams handing out The Glades beach towels and pilot script books, first unveiled in a recent promotion with Barnes and Noble."Out-of-home is about raising awareness of the title, but once consumers have seen that then radio and TV spots kick in," Slattery said.TV spots, which heavy up as the premiere gets closer, begin Monday (June 28) on network TV and cable, and local broadcast and local cable spots targeting viewers to procedurals such as Lie To Me, Criminal Minds and The Mentalist. Radio tune-in spots on network radio and spot radio begin after July 4 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Tampa, creatively tying-into weather reports in a nod to The Glades tagline. No campaign these days would be complete without a raft of digital tie-ins and social media and The Glades is no exception with a Facebook fan page, iPhone and Droid TVGuide.com app takeovers. More weather tie-ins will appear as a homepage takeover unit on weather.com and iPhone's weather app.Print ads are scheduled for TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, People magazine, Star, and US Weekly.BIGSMACKtv and Cold Open developed creative for the campaign. —with additional reporting by Anthony Crupi

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A&E Ramps Up 'Glades' Promotion

Katy Bachman

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