WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, for one night only, the stars will align and the celebrities, the performances and the surprises will be out of this world. "It's All In The Stars." That's the slogan at the heart of BET's extensive, multi-million dollar national marketing campaign, designed to draw blockbuster ratings to the network's biggest night of the year.
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Valued at $8 million, the multi-platform strategy includes national television ads on BET and other Viacom-owned networks featuring first-time BET AWARDS host Damon Wayans in a series of hilarious spots, radio buys and print ads in top African American publications, as well as outdoor and transit advertising; local cable; online promos; network contests; an extensive media relations campaign involving high-profile celebrity honorees and nominees; a mobile fan promotion; exclusive broadband programming; a grassroots effort utilizing movie theaters, beauty and barber shops and dance clubs; and several new innovative initiatives for national advertisers and sponsors.
This year's slogan -- "It's All In The Stars" -- will ring true on June 27th as BET AWARDS '06 telecasts live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT (tape delayed to the Pacific and Mountain time zones). Megastar appearances include Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, T.I., Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Harry Belafonte, Chaka Khan, and many more. Coming off the unprecedented ratings success of last year's BET AWARDS '05, which was the #1 awards show in all of cable television with a 5.1. Nielsen rating (6.6 million viewers), BET is confident that the "It's All In The Stars" campaign will generate even larger numbers.
"Each year, we've infused our marketing campaign with exciting graphics, infectious energy, engaging themes, and creative in-market approaches," said Kelli Lawson, BET Executive Vice President for Corporate Marketing. "This year's campaign builds off the success of past campaigns by adding more viral and grassroots efforts than ever. We're confident that the multi-platform approach will help the BET AWARDS continue its reign as the #1 awards show on television with our audience."
Television Campaign
The on-air campaign was conceived by BET's own Creative Services team, and is anchored by a series of hilarious spots featuring host Damon Wayans. Directed by Bernard Dixon, the spots were produced by Mocean. In "Back to My Roots," Wayans explains how his decision to host the BET AWARDS was driven by his desire to reconnect with Black culture -- but he's shown doing the exact opposite. Another features Wayans losing his composure at a press conference when an annoying reporter starts nagging him about doing a "Homie the Clown" impression, one of his most memorable characters from "In Living Color."
The Wayans promos start rolling out on BET, BET J, BET.com, and BET on Blast on Saturday, June 10. The entire Viacom family will support the show with promos running on MTV/MTV2, VH1, TV Land, LOGO and The N a week prior to the show's premiere. Full-blown laundry list spots will be aired during UPN's Monday night sitcom block on June 26.
And if you're flying across the country any time soon, you can see a full 3-minute segment on American Airlines during the "CBS Eye on American" in- flight video in June. The feature highlights the "Top 10 Awards Show Moments" from the past 5 years.
Radio (Network and Spot)
Radio spots are running in the top 40 African-American markets and on nationally syndicated shows hosted by Russ Parr, Doug Banks, Wendy Williams, Steve Harvey and BET's Big Tigger. In addition, BET is executing radio fly- away promotions in 30 markets, giving away "BET AWARDS winning weekends" to lucky listeners, as well as trivia contests with gift pack giveaways.
BET has also invited 40 radio outlets, including nationally syndicated outlets, to broadcast from the BET AWARDS '06 Radio Remote Room on Monday, June 26 and Tuesday, June 27. Stations will simulcast live onsite interviews with BET AWARDS nominees, performers, presenters and other celebrities during rehearsals in preparation for the live telecast Tuesday night.
Print & Out-of-Home
Full-page, four-color ads featuring BET AWARDS-emblazoned floodlights beaming across a star-studded night sky will appear in national publications including: JET, Essence, Ebony, Vibe and XXL in the June and July issues.
Transit ads will run on buses in 9 major markets, and outdoor billboards will be seen in LA, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Orlando, Tampa and Columbia. Additional out-of-home placements include New York Metro Lights display boards in Manhattan and billboards in Times Square.
Ultimate Fan Sweepstakes
The BET Ultimate Fan Sweepstakes kicked off on April 17 and will award one lucky viewer and a guest a VIP trip to the BET Awards '06, $2,500 in spending cash, and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to co-present the Viewer's Choice Award with Big Tigger and Julissa. Over 3500 members of the BET.com online community entered the contest. Four finalists for BET's top "fan-atic" will get to see their videos demonstrating why they should be the BET AWARDS '06 Ultimate Fan air on 106 & Park from June 5-9 while viewers vote their fate online. The grand prize winner will be announced on June 12, and will be flown to Los Angeles for the experience of a lifetime.
Online
"It's All In The Stars" will be all over the web throughout the month of June. On June 1, BET launched the BET AWARDS '06 microsite, which includes live streams, nominee chats, exclusive photos and other content, as well as contests and Viewer's Choice voting. A BET AWARDS '06 blog will run from June 25-27, and with the recent launch of BET's new video broadband channel BET On Blast, the network plans to stream red carpet arrivals during the live 106 & Park pre-show as well as backstage interviews. Additionally, "Roll Play Back" will highlight big moments throughout the night.
Among the webcasts on BET On Blast are BET Awards 5 Years: 6 Moments on June 9; Red Carpet Highlights on June 13; "It's All In The Stars" Nomination Video on June 19; Radio Remote Room scenes on June 26 and a behind-the-scenes highlights show on June 26.
Real time voting during the telecast will allow viewers to give opinions on the best dressed celebrities of the evening and other awards that will be featured during BET News' BLACK CARPET LOUNGE live post show.
Additionally, viewers will have the opportunity to win an exclusive BET Awards '06 Celebrity Gift Bag by watching the show to find out the winner of the Viewer's Choice Award and then logging onto BET.com to enter the contest. The contest will be promoted on-air, on BET.com and through grassroots efforts.
Myspace.com will feature an interactive BET Awards page. Promo banners and video streams will also appear on AOL Black Voices, Black Planet, EUR Web and other selected sites.
BET Mobile
Viewer's Choice voting also has a BET Mobile tie-in sponsored by Verizon Wireless and began on June 1. Artists will be interacting with the BET AWARDS '06 Mobile Fan Club community by sending text messages, real-time show updates, and pictures of their BET AWARDS preparations such as rehearsals, practicing their acceptance speech and wardrobe selection. Artists such as T.I., Chris Brown, Yung Joc and LeToya will be communicating with fans while preparing for the Awards and hanging out in LA.
Grassroots Marketing
BET is hitting the streets to generate even more excitement with several programs designed to touch viewers where they live:
* The BET AWARDS '06 Ice Cream Truck will feature celebrities handing out
free "ROCKET POPS" and other promotional items in New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles from June 22-
26.
* Barber shops and beauty salons nationwide will showcase BET AWARDS
branded capes, aprons and promo reels for their shops beginning June
15. These salons are cultural centers known to be 'ground zero' when
it comes to generating buzz and word-of-mouth awareness about what's
hip and relevant to the African American community.
* For shop-a-holics, BET is hitting 33 malls nationwide with promo reels
playing from centrally located kiosks. This promotion, in conjunction
with Comcast, hits the BET viewing audience in one of their favorite
destinations.
* Wal-Mart is featuring BET Awards promos on Walmart-TV, banners on
WalMart.com, and an insert in newspapers in over 40 million newspapers
nationwide.
* Footlocker, Footaction and Champs stores are running promo spots and
showcasing the shows' nominees with graphics that run during their
music videos. Shoppers will also receive various BET promotional items
from May 26 to June 27.
* The BET College marketing rep program recruited students from 29
colleges and universities across the country to drive awareness for BET
programming on their local campuses. An important element of the
overall grassroots campaign, BET awarded a fantastic grand prize to one
hard-working rep: Linnea Nelson of Howard University. Nelson received
a trip to Los Angeles, where she will join the BET staff in the Radio
Remote room as an intern during the BET AWARDS '06 as a bonus for
consistently executing creative and original grassroots promotions
throughout the program. Her innovative Viewers' Choice voting campaign
at a local high school sealed the deal.
* BET Awards street teams will infiltrate local hotspots and large
gatherings around the country with picket signs, t-shirts and other
giveaways from June 24-27.
Media Relations
BET kicked off its media campaign with a press conference, satellite tour, movie-style junket and radio tour to announce this year's nominees on May 16. Celebrities and executives participating in the announcement included host Damon Wayans, Lifetime Achievement honoree Chaka Khan, hip hop legend Busta Rhymes, Oscar-winning rap group Three 6 Mafia, new R&B sensation Ne-Yo, R&B diva Keyshia Cole, BET President of Entertainment Reginald Hudlin and Stephen Hill, BET executive vice president for entertainment and music programming and BET AWARDS executive producer. Chris Brown was the spokesperson for the satellite media tour and radio tour which generated coverage in outlets across the country.
Additional elements of the campaign include continuous rollout of news surrounding special honorees, talent updates, and interactive strategies leading to the live telecast. Onsite, BET will offer a best-in-class media center to accommodate over 600 members of the press covering the show, as well as a star-studded red carpet arrivals event featuring a parade of A-list celebrities.
BET AWARDS '06 premieres "LIVE" on BET on Tuesday, June 27 at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT with a tape delay in Pacific and Mountain Time Zones. Encore telecasts are set for Friday, June 30th at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT; Tuesday, July 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT. Key sponsors include Pepsi, P&G, Wal-Mart, Southwest, General Motors and McDonald's.
ABOUT BET NETWORKS
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA; VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 80 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks -- BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; and BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices.
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