New Campaigns

Client: TCI Communications, Englewood, Colo. Agency: Jordan McGrath Case & Partners, New York Creative Director/Art Director: Tom Wambach Creative Director/Copywriter: Michael Vines Group Director: Rick Bodge Producer: Geraldine Symon Director: Michael Patrick Jann Production Company: HKM, New York TCI Digital Cable introduces the tagline "It's smarter" in a pair of humorous 30-second TV spots touting its digital cable TV service as superior to satellite TV. The intent is to convince current TCI subscribers to upgrade to the digital service rather than switching to satellite-based systems. In one new spot, a bald man in a snappy suit is interrogated by cops in a scene familiar to viewers of serial crime dramas. When one hard-boiled detective demands to know to what form of TV service the poker-faced perpetrator subscribes, the suspect defensively replies that he owns "a dish." From this the detective concludes that the man cannot possibly be a criminal mastermind, and starts to harangue him for failing to take advantage of TCI's service because it costs less and provides local channels without a separate antenna. In another spot, a sharp-dressed man is breezing through a job interview until he tells his prospective employer that he owns a satellite dish. This revelation effectively kills the man's shot at the job. Budgets for the effort were undisclosed, but TCI spent roughly $50 million on all of its advertising last year, according to Competitive Media Reporting. Previous work employed no tagline and focused less on the disadvantages of satellite TV. The new campaign broke on TCI-owned cable systems last week, but the future of TCI as a stand-alone brand remains uncertain. AT&T recently agreed to purchase the nation's largest cable operator for $37.3 billion, and, if the transaction is approved, the TCI name may be scrapped. --Hank Kim Client: MSG Metro Channels, New York Agency: Della Femina/Jeary and Partners, New York Creative Director: Jerry Della Femina Associate Creative Director/ Art Director: Mark Fredericks Copywriter: Jim Parry Della Femina/Jeary and Partners uses a heavy dose of snide humor to introduce MSG Metro Channels, three New York-themed cable channels, to the tri-state area. The new channels--subsidiaries of the programming arm of Cablevision Systems--will appear consecutively on cable lineups and include a traffic and weather channel, a local entertainment channel and a learning channel. The $3 million campaign consists of three 15-second TV spots, two radio spots, and a bevy of print and outdoor and transit ads, including a blanketing of New York's Pennsylvania Station for all of September, said Michael Jeary, agency president. The ads drip with sarcasm. One outdoor ad reads, "If the market crashes, we'll tell you where all the best windows and ledges are." Another: "We'll tell you the best singles bars, wedding caterers, and divorce lawyers." The tagline is: "What to know, where to go and how to get there." The print ads, which broke last week in local newspapers including The New York Times, the New York Post and the New York Daily News, play off the same theme. One features a black-and-white shot of a man putting a golf ball into an open manhole cover. The copy explains: "Because there may be life beyond the New York metro area but frankly, who really cares?" The commercials, which were being shot last week, use the same approach. "It's really a New York thing," said Mark Fredericks, associate creative director. "It's not going to play in Peoria." The TV ads will begin running in September on cable channels, Jeary said. The channels began broadcasting Aug. 5. While they are available on Cablevision Systems, which cover most of Long Island, the channels are not yet available on the Time Warner cable system, which covers most of New York City. Consumers are encouraged to call their cable operator to receive the MSG Metro Channels. The agency won the account after a review of undisclosed agencies in June. --Justin Dini

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