Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S9E01 - Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel: Marketing TV Shows

Episode Date: January 2, 2020

This week, we step into the highly competitive world of Television Marketing. Between Netflix, Amazon and Crave, the marketing of TV shows has become a rat-race. And in a world where we can watch anything anytime, luring viewers back each week calls for some outside the box marketing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. You're so king in it. You're going to love it in an instant. Your teeth look whiter than no nose. You're not you when you're hungry. You're a good hand with a heart.

You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. There is an aspect of television shows that I have always admired. It's not celebrated often and the reviews rarely mention it. Yet, the people who create this particular feature of TV programs are incredibly skilled. And that is skilled at the creation of opening titles. One of the most gifted creators of opening titles was Howard Anderson Jr. To reel off his accomplishments in this bite-sized art form is to list most of the great TV shows of all time.

Anderson created the opening titles for I Love Lucy, Dragnet, and The Untouchables. He created the opening to The Andy Griffith Show, The Mod Squad, My Three Sons, My Favorite Martian, and The Twilight Zone. He created two different openings for The Dick Van Dyke Show, one where Van Dyke tripped over the footstool, and one where he didn't.

So innovative. Think about that partial list of TV shows for a moment. If you are of a certain vintage, like moi, you can picture each and every one of those opening sequences for each and every one of those shows. Howard Anderson also created one of my favorite opening titles of all time. Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed.

Anderson's opening titles always set the table, and the setting was always perfect. With the Beverly Hillbillies, he summed up the entire premise in 52 seconds. The tone was always spot on, whether it was for a serious show like The Twilight Zone, or the zany humor of Get Smart. I remember watching the opening of Get Smart every week, never getting tired of it. And again, there were two different openings where Maxwell Smart did or didn't get his nose stuck in the closing doors. Howard Anderson also created the opening titles for this little show you may remember. Space, a final frontier. It's an extraordinary resume. We can hum or recite almost every one.

He created the much copied and muchparodied opening for this sitcom. Here's the story of a lovely lady Who is bringing up three very lovely girls Howard Anderson considers his crowning achievement to be the opening titles for a TV show that had a big influence on me as a young man in the early 70s. It helped send me on a lifetime pursuit of the martial arts. Kung Fu, starring David Carradine, a solitary Shaolin monk walking across the desert as the sun sets,

a hunted man, alone but never lonely. Anderson also created the opening for Charlie's Angels, Little House on the Prairie, Dallas, The Love Boat, The Waltons, The A-Team, Dynasty,

and the opening sequence for a bar where everybody knows your name. To me, opening titles are a subtle yet powerful form of marketing. They set a tone for the brand, the brand being the TV show. Those opening titles served a purpose, to ignite a desire, a desire to see the show, to pull you in from another room, to trigger warm feelings and associations, to be utterly unique in a very busy category. Anderson laid the groundwork for the opening titles for many shows to come, including Mad Men, Dexter, Six Feet Under, and the drive through the Jersey Turnpike Tony Soprano did every week. Howard Anderson Jr. sold those shows to us with his memorable and creative

opening sequences, and we happily made the purchase. Television is a microcosm for the world of marketing. Lots of different brands fighting for the public's attention. That attention attracts an audience. That audience attracts advertisers. That advertising money supports the production of the program. Because there is so much competition on television, and now with streaming services like Netflix and Amazon,

the marketing of TV shows has become intense and highly creative. The trick to marketing TV shows is to go where no TV show has gone before. You're under the influence. It has been said that pop culture in the 1960s was dominated by the three Bs, Bond, Beatles, and Batman. As a kid in the 1960s, I loved Batman, so the news of a twice-weekly Batman show was thrilling. But when the show premiered on ABC in 1966, it wasn't exactly what we thought it was going to be. It was campy. And Batman didn't have muscles. As actor Adam West would say many years later, they had filmed a serious Batman pilot, but two test screenings fell flat. So they decided to do a tongue-in-cheek approach instead.

It kinda worked. Soon, Batman was a top-rated show with 14 million viewers per episode. And long before there was a Star Wars, Batman became one of the biggest marketing machines in Hollywood history. T-shirts, lunchboxes, Halloween costumes, magazines, corgi toys, action figures, puzzles, models, posters, and much, much more rang up millions of dollars in sales. But one of the most interesting ways the Batman TV show was marketed was through songs. Multiple records were issued to an adoring fan base. Here's Adam West singing about Batman. Citizens, this is not Santa Claus. It's not the Tooth Fairy.

This is Batman speaking. With this record, I'm bringing you something a little extra. Here's a song called Boy Wonder, I Love You, featuring Burt Ward as Robin, written and produced by none other than Frank Zappa. Boy Wonder, I love you Ward as Robin, written and produced by none other than Frank Zappa. Boy, wonder, I love you. Boy, wonder, I love you.

Hi, kid. Not to be outdone, arch enemy The Penguin, a.k.a. Burgess Meredith, put out this record. When the night is dark and you're fast asleep, somewhere in Gotham, I quietly creep. Then came a tune from The Riddler, written by Mel Torme. Riddle me this! What, tell me, what, tell me,

what's the difference between an elephant and a flea? All that marketing worked as Batman became the hottest show on TV in 1966. Kids loved the toys. Adults loved the silly humor. Because it aired twice weekly, both episodes would show up

in the top ten most watched list every week. Batman was nominated for three Emmy Awards. Like a media meteor, it burned bright and brief. Three seasons later, ratings began to fall and it was eventually canceled. It's still fondly remembered and gets a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But for that bubble in time, we loved it and knew where to find Batman every week. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Rolling Stone magazine calls it the best television show of all time. The Writers Guild of America voted it number one in its 101 best written TV series of all time list. It was the first series on a cable network to win a primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Yes, The Sopranos changed everything. To begin with, it ushered in a second golden era of television. Created by David Chase in 1999,

the storytelling was epic and finely detailed. It felt like an incredible motion picture, except it was 85 hours long. That long arc showed screenwriters that television could dive into waters deeper than cinema, that storylines could be challenging and could unravel slowly. Soon, the best film writers began moving

across the street to television studios. The character of Tony Soprano, a mob boss who suffered panic attacks, would usher in an era of deeply conflicted antiheroes. There would be no Walter White from Breaking Bad without Tony Soprano. It could be argued the Sopranos made it possible for The Wire, Dexter, Mad Men, and Deadwood. And importantly, the Sopranos elevated HBO for all time. It went from a boxing and movie cable

channel to become one of the foremost destinations for highly acclaimed drama. So, when the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos rolled around in 2019, HBO wanted to entice people to watch the series again and celebrate the milestone. The problem was The Sopranos had been off the air for seven years. The task was to find a way to bring it back into the pop culture conversation with zero production dollars and zero media dollars. When you have no media budget, you have to work with what you have. And HBO had a Twitter account.

One of the memorable aspects of the Sopranos, and mob life in general, was the use of nicknames, like Polly Walnuts, and Johnny Cha-Cha, and Sal Big Pussy Bonpensero. So HBO came up with a fun way to generate buzz on Twitter. They did it by sending out a single tweet. It said,

In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos, we're handing out nicknames today. Who wants one? It's easier if you tell us your first name. And that was it. In just a few hours, HBO received 24,000 responses. HBO and its agency assembled a creative team and responded in real time.

For example, Wendy's restaurants tweeted, They call me Wendy. HBO responded with the nickname, Square Patty. So funny. When Tinder tweeted, Hi, HBO responded with, Wesley Swipes.

The New York City Library asked for a nickname and was given, Dewey the System Decimal. When celebrities jumped into the mix, the promotion exploded. Tennis star Roger Federer tweeted saying, I'm Roger. HBO said, no, you're the Feds. CNN's Jake Tapper was christened Newsboy. Stephen Colbert became Stevie Buffay. And when Twitter founder Jack Dorsey jumped in on the fun, HBO nicknamed him Jackie No Edits. The promotion lasted one single day, 24,000 responses.

The HBO team managed to coin over 200 nicknames in real time. 100% of the 200 people who received a Sopranos nickname retweeted the result. The Twitter campaign garnered over 300 million media impressions. And again, media dollars spent? Zero. While most of the coverage of the Sopranos' anniversary was reverential, this promotion was fun. As a result, it got the most traction. And if you were a Sopranos fan, you know how the final episode ended. The HBO team ended the Twitter promotion the same way.

The final tweet just said, The end, with an all-black frame. The age of binge viewing poses a tricky marketing problem. When the series Narcos hit the air in 2015, it chronicled the cocaine underworld and the true-life criminal exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the Cali drug cartel. But because the episodes were made available for viewing all at once, Netflix had no idea if viewers were just starting the series or were halfway through it. In other words, the advertising couldn't give away any plot points for fear of spoilers. So, the advertising team came up with a very smart

solution. Netflix decided to promote the new series by educating the viewing audience on the enormity of the cocaine problem worldwide. One of the first ideas was to put thought-provoking advertising in the washrooms of clubs and bars, where people in the 90s would have been sampling the drug cartel's product. So, transparent stickers were put on urinals and toilet paper dispensers that said things like, quote, The sticker also showed a photo of a rolled-up dollar bill and some white powder. Drink coasters were distributed in bars that said,

need a great pickup line? And showed two lines of cocaine in the words, Narcos on Netflix. Netflix launched a contaminated currency campaign that told viewers 90% of American dollar bills and 50% of euros contain traces of cocaine. They also launched an Instagram campaign to post fascinating cocaine facts. One said the cartel hired scientists to liquefy cocaine to soak it into paint, denim and plastics in order to move it across borders. Another said the cartels stuffed cocaine into dead fish to mask the smell from drug-sniffing dogs. When season three of Narcos rolled around, Netflix launched its Coconomics campaign on social media. The idea was to explain the economics of the cocaine trade.

For example, Netflix posted stats that said every three hours the Cali cartel would make $917,000. The aim was to give potential viewers staggering facts about the drug cartel to ignite interest in the show. Because this was such a rich area to explore, it allowed Netflix to create over 300 different pieces of advertising content, avoiding what the marketing business calls content fatigue. Much of the Narcos' dialogue contained Spanish slang, so fans on social media began treating the series as a free Spanish course. Netflix picked up on that and created a series of videos

with cast members teaching people Spanish phrases from the show. Maricadas, ágale. Malditos malparidos. It's something pretty common in Spanish. The videos got 12 million views, a 40% increase in followers, and over 50 million people were reached. All of this marketing brought incredible attention to Narcos without ever having to reveal plot points. After only three months, Narcos had over 2 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And it became the most mentioned original Netflix series on social media ever. But stranger things have happened.

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Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. If you're enjoying this episode, why not dip into our archives, available wherever you download your pods. Go to terryoreilly.ca for a master episode list. His disappearance leads the residents of the town to uncover the secrets of a government lab masquerading as a power and light facility, portals to another world, and unnerving supernatural forces. One of the most prominent aspects of Stranger Things is that it takes place in the 1980s. That 80s nostalgia begins with the show's theme song, written in an 80s vibe with ominous synth sounds. Most of the songs used in the show are big hits from the 80s, which prompted Spotify to offer Stranger Things playlists. The 80s setting allows Netflix to create some very inventive marketing ideas. For instance, the central character, a young girl named Eleven,

is telekinetically gifted. She is also addicted to egos in the show. So when Netflix ran a commercial in the Super Bowl, it began with a few seconds from a classic ego ad from the 80s. Look at my ego. You like my ego.

Eleven! Ego itself capitalized on the association by releasing Eggo recipes tied to the season's episodes. Netflix also partnered with Microsoft to bring back Windows One, the first version of the software that made the company so valuable back in 1985. The app also included Stranger Things games and videos. In season three, two characters work at an ice cream parlor in a downtown mall. So, Netflix partnered with Baskin-Robbins to create flavors based on the show. For example, there was an Eleven's Heaven, named for the Eleven character, which had a waffle cone to honor her love of Eggos.

Stranger Things partnered with retailer Target to offer branded merchandise, including DVDs disguised as 80s-style VHS tapes. So smart. Nike tied into the show by offering a line of vintage sneakers. One of the most interesting 80s tie-ins involved Coke. As you may remember,

Coke introduced New Coke in 1985. It has since been called one of the biggest marketing blunders of all time. But New Coke is back, at least temporarily. Fans could purchase a Coke glass with the Stranger Things logo

as well as two cans of new Coke. Partnering with brands like Coke, Nike and Target was a very smart strategy because it helped promote the show in channels Netflix couldn't reach by itself. All of this marketing

gave Stranger Things a huge boost in attention. The third season was viewed by 40.7 million in the first four days of its release. A record for Netflix. One of my favorite television shows from the past few years was Dexter. For those who haven't seen it, it was about a serial killer named Dexter who had a code of conduct. He was a serial killer who only killed other serial killers. And by day, Dexter worked as a blood specialist for the Miami Police Department. Such an interesting premise.

To advertise the show, blood was a big theme. In one promotion, Showtime, the network that carried Dexter, set up fountains that spewed red water in 14 different cities, complete with yellow crime scene tape surrounding them. Then, Showtime came up with an idea that raised a few eyebrows. To launch the second season of Dexter, Showtime created a Dexter hit list. After typing in your name and uploading a headshot of yourself to this website,

you could then enter a friend's name. Your friend would then receive an email link to a video of what looked like a real police press conference. In the video, the journalists and detectives began their Q&A session using information that corresponds perfectly with the info you provided. All the while, a projection screen behind the police depicted crime scene footage, as well as a piece of scrap paper that appeared to be the serial killer's hit list, with your friend's name being the last one not scratched off. Then, when a detective is asked

who their prime suspect was, the photo of your uploaded face popped up on the screen. It was all so well done, it not only attracted global media coverage, it generated complaints from some very nervous people who thought they were really on a serial killer's hit list, which then spurred calls for a real police intervention into the entire campaign. While the promotions were definitely controversial, they were also perfectly in keeping with the gruesome but entertaining theme of Dexter. The result?

The best ever ratings for a Dexter season launch. As with all the TV shows we talked about today, Dexter's marketing department understood the golden rule of advertising. To succeed, you've got to cut through the clutter. When Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston took to the stage at the most recent Emmys,

he said something that can't be denied. He said, Television has never been this damn good. If you're not watching or streaming the abundance of excellent TV shows right now, you're missing out on the second golden era of television. As a matter of fact, there is too much good television and not enough time. That's why TV shows need marketing. Just like in any category of brands, there are too many choices out there. That means TV shows need to attract attention. They need to tell you their unique story in a memorable way, to pull you in

from another room, to convince you to stick with the show over the long haul. Because unlike movies that aim for a big opening weekend, TV shows need an ongoing relationship. And that calls for unusual marketing. So the actors on Narcos teach you Spanish. Dexter inserts you into the middle of a press conference. Stranger Things pulls you into an 80s nostalgia trip. The Sopranos give you a mob nickname

in real time. And Batman sings all the way to the bank. Each one an inventive way to keep you coming back at the same bat-time, same bat-channel. Each one way to keep you coming back at the same bat time, same bat channel. Each one crafted to keep you firmly under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly.

Sound Engineer, Keith Ullman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Research, Callie O'Reilly. If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy Movie Merchandising, Season 5, Episode 8. You'll find it in our archives wherever you download your favorite podcasts. See you next week. Void where prohibited. Reasonable facts similarly accepted. Must be 18 years or older. Supplies are limited. I have no idea what I'm saying. See store for details. Bet MGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League

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