| Introduction
G4Tech-TV
is the MTV
of the Video Game Generation!
Cheat! Pringles Gamers
Guide is a Pringles-branded, G4-produced program,
that gives viewers the best cheats and strategies for beating
their favorite games. It is a leading example of today’s
new form of product integration in a world where getting your
brand seen isn’t as easy as just buying television spots
and print ads.
Click for TV show clip
How the Partnership Started
In January 2002, Account Executives
from GREY Advertising sought out Brent Stafford and Michael
Malone to create an innovative branded entertainment opportunity
to build targeted exposure and drive sales for the Pringles
brand. Mr. Stafford, renowned for his knowledge of the television
and videogame industries, knew that Pringles was the “chip
of choice” for young adult video gamers and he began
searching for a TV programming opportunity to exploit this
consumer insight.
In July 2002, working directly
with Procter & Gamble, Stafford & Malone built a multi-dimensional,
multi-million dollar, multi-year marketing partnership between
Pringles and G4 – TV 4 Gamers. The deal was category
exclusive and further built Pringles as the gamer’s
chip of choice.
Show Theme
Cheat! Pringles Gamers
Guide is G4’s half-hour show that helps
keep gamers ahead of the game. It is the source for strategies,
secrets and cheats for viewer’s favorite video games.
Each show covers a variety of different games with strategic
walk-throughs, by revealing easter eggs and, of course, dishing
out the cheat codes
- Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide
is the centerpiece of the Pringles/ G4 Programming Partnership
- The show features a customized, animated
opening that incorporates the Pringles “Mr. P”
character. The program’s tone and manner are consistent
with the brand’s positioning
- Pringles receives verbal mentions throughout
the show, including each time it comes in and out of a commercial
break
Product Placement
Product placement on set reinforces
the Pringles brand personality and emotional benefits:
- Pringles cans, multipacks and Pringles
mini cans
- Pringles animated images on the plasma
screens and television monitors on set
Pop-ularity Poll
Based entirely on the feedback
of Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide
viewers, The Pringles Pop-ularity Poll is a recurring, Pringles-branded
segment within the show that takes place at the end of the
second act of each episode. Visitors to the Cheat! Pringles
Gamers Guide webpage vote on their favorite cheats, the most
popular of which is featured in the Pringles Pop-ularity Poll
- Viewer interaction and determination of
the results make the Pringles Pop-ularity Poll’s branded
elements more meaningful
- The recurring nature of the segment keeps
the branding at top-of-mind
- Pringles-branded graphics throughout
segment with customized animations that reinforce the Pringles
brand positioning
Cheat! Sheets
Pringles partnership with G4 is
continued outside of the Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide show
with Pringles Cheat! Sheets — two minute interstitials
that highlight a particular cheat or walk-though from the
show.
They feature:
- Pringles-branded animated opens and closes
to the interstitial
- Pringles-branded graphics on lower third
of screen throughout interstitials
- Particularly popular or hard to find
cheats that young adults crave
- Each interstitial is two minutes long,
and outside of the Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide programming
- Pringles Cheat! Sheets run ten times
per week throughout key day-parts
Click the bellow title to view
QuickTime video clips (High)
Cheat! Sheets
Cheat! Sheets animation (coming
soon)
G4 Website Info
The Cheat! Pringles
Gamers Guide section of G4’s website focused
on extending the Pringles brand and included an emphasis on
driving the Pringles Newsletter – “Pringles Power-Ups”
– signups.
Pringles branding and ad placement
throughout:
- Dynamic cheat database. It changes to
focus on games covered in the next episode of Cheat! Pringles
Gamers Guide
- Pringles Power-Ups Newsletter sign-up
function, directly from the Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide
page
- Dynamic flash ads for Pringles games
that drive users to www.Pringles.com
- A massive Pringles cheat database that
automatically shares cheats and data with Pringles.com
Pringles Website Info
Cheat! Pringles Gamers Guide content
included:
- Pringles Cheat! Sheets encoded and streamed
for web viewing
- A cheat database provided by G4 to make
Pringles.com a gaming destination
- Pringles Pop-ularity Poll and Power-Up's
E-mail Newsletter published and updated to give web users
and viewers direct interaction with Cheat! Pringles Gamers
Guide
- Dynamically updated “Now Playing
on G4” and “In the next episode of Cheat! Pringles
Gamers Guide” content
Marketing
Off Air Marketing
G4 Messaging on Pringles Packaging:
- 140MM cans of Pringles included G4 branding
and messaging on the “membrane” – the
flavor seal at the top of the can
- 6MM club packs of Pringles carried full
G4 messaging including tune-in. Equaling 22MM impressions
for G4. The Club Pack, was a new P&G priority
and was sold in food wholesalers and warehouses across the
U.S.
Pringles & G4: A Shining Example
The strategic marketing partnership
between Pringles and G4 is a leading example of today’s
new media style marketing. It integrated the Pringles
brand with a rising network focused on precisely the targeted
demographic while staying true to the core values and brand
goals that Pringles had set.
This partnership reached across
the channel, on-air and off, to keep the Pringles brand in
the hearts and minds of today’s gamers.
In a speech to media, marketing,
music and brand executives, Steve Heyer, CEO and President
of Coca-Cola recently said,
“All of us in
the game... those who make television shows, video games,
music and movies ... those who build brands... and those who
help connect those brands with consumers through the elements
of popular culture need to establish enhanced relationships
with one another in an effort to deliver unique experiences
to the consumer.”
The partnership
between Pringles and G4 delivered this kind of enhanced relationship
and is a shining example of the new paradigm of product and
brand integration.
Pringles® is
a registered trademark of The Procter & Gamble Company.
This program was
executed under a consulting contract between Shaky Egg Communications
Inc. and Alliance. |
