Scot Safon On the UP-side of Network Brand Marketing

EB Mossamp160 We know UPtv has a strong brand position as quotUpliftingquot but how is the new brand campaign taking it to the next levelScot Safonamp160amp160This campaign was largely driven by the idea that there39s too much anger in the world and audiences had specifically told us they39d craved a content destination that would just be optimistic a havenamp160 With shows like Gilmore Girls and Home Improvement and Bringing Up Bates they just liked the vibe and the toneamp160 That really was what we had been betting on for years that we could be more of a contrast to so much of what we are seeing on TV and social mediaamp160 So we built a campaign around promising to uplift expressed with emojis that evolved from anger to joy promising that we39d quotFix Your Face AmericaquotMossamp160amp160How did that go down within the company and with audiencesSafonamp160 We were a little nervous about that line wondering quotIs it too aggressive to say to people 39You need to fix your face39quotamp160 Would they understand it as an empathetic and encouraging thing rather than a judgmental thingamp160 So we started testing the campaign formally and got a tremendous responseamp160 Consumers said things like quotI think it39s totally right for you to sayquot and quotIt goes along with your programsquot amp160It39s just the way we were hoping people would take thisamp160 And then right after we premiered the campaign a viewer on our Facebook page posted quotThank you UPtv for fixing my face every Wednesday nightquotWe39re still in the early phases of building it into the fabric of the network in terms of packaging and promotion the early stages of a rebrand actually but it39s been niceamp160 It39s not too soft an idea but actually a quite strong idea right nowMossamp160amp160What other legs will this campaign have for the next phaseamp160 Where else will the emojis appearSafonamp160 That39s a great question because clearly it has to be an initiative based in social mediaamp160 Emojis are a social media construct for how people express all the emotions they don39t know how to show otherwise so our brand wants to encourage more upbeat emojis We39re targeting early summer for this when our quotlife39s biggest momentquot showsamp160like Crazy Beautiful Weddings and Our Wedding Storyamp160come backamp160 We also have a bunch of original movies premiering and some big acquisitions coming upMossamp160amp160There are so many emojis today that allow for variations or avatars that reflect gender and race optionsamp160 Are you going to do variations within your campaignSafonamp160 This is something that we have talked about in a lot of depthamp160 And believe me it39s a strange meeting deconstructing the semiotics of an emojiamp160 We39re going to see where this goes but the sort of orangey generic emojis are meant to be universal in the representation of age gender or raceamp160 We39ve also been very careful that it doesn39t become a happy face campaignamp160 That retro happy face was more of a feel good quottellingquot people to put on a happy face amp160a little like quotshut your mind off and just smilequotamp160 But we want this to be about feeling optimistic entertained and upliftedMossamp160amp160And where do you go with the campaignSafonamp160amp160We had a lot of fun with the spot we just premiered around the show Expecting where we went into other emojis that are just adorableamp160 It looks totally like a part of this campaign yet it shows that we39re going for the emotional value of each one of these little pictograms and how they39re deployed and their intentionamp160 As we move forward we39ll tie the campaign more to specific programing or holidays or to reflect the lives of our audienceamp160 We39re really challenging ourselves to explore what the emojis really are and what they might meanMossamp160amp160Another extension will be a programming quotUplifting Seal of Approvalquot of sortsSafonamp160 That39s a phase two or phase three thing that content will be something certified as upliftingamp160 We39ve started a ratings system on our movies evaluating each premiere on certain uplifting categories like quotyou can watch it togetherquot or quotyou39ll laughquotamp160 We know that this is a bigger idea and we39ve got more stuff to comeamp160 We want to be experts on upliftingApropos his background in news Safon suggests that a web destination could be a place for a more authoritative and encouraging editorial stance from UPtv about what39s uplifting and where to find it like naming the ten most uplifting cities in America or even say the most uplifting news story of the weekClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Scot Safon On the UP-side of Network Brand Marketing

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E.B. Moss

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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Scot Safon On the UP-side of Network Brand Marketing

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