MTV Networks Emphasizes Innovation at Upfront Presentation

NEW YORK, May 9: The theme
of MTV Networks’ Upfront presentation to advertisers in New York yesterday was
“Return on Innovation,” as the Viacom unit showcased the breadth of its multiplatform
brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Logo, among others.

The event, held at the
Nokia Theater Times Square in New York City, featured guest appearances by the
likes of Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart and
Stephen Colbert, as well as performances by John Legend, Sarah Silverman,
JabbaWockeeZ from MTV’s Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew and the cast of the hit Broadway musical
Legally Blonde.

“MTV Networks is a
creative engine, and today there are literally no borders, no boundaries for
creativity,” said Judy McGrath, the chairman and CEO of MTV Networks. “We’re
taking our content and our audience and moving with them freely across every
screen. Our fans aren’t merely consuming our content—they’re more
invested and engaged in our brands than ever. It all starts with hits, and
we’ve seriously pumped up the creative and financial capital we’re putting into
generating hit content.”

The presentation
emphasized MTVN’s efforts to develop innovative marketing partnerships across a
range of platforms, working with clients on new formats, product integration
and co-creating advertising. Through its Digital Fusion unit, MTVN also
provides advertisers with custom-built digital marketing solutions, including
websites, online games and widgets. “It’s a new world we’re working in,”
McGrath continued. “We’re putting our creative energy to work for marketers and
reinventing commercial time as content time.”

The event also featured
the presentation of MTV Networks’ “Multi-Screen Engagement Case Study” by Hank
Close, the company’s president of U.S. ad sales. The research revolved around
the MTV hit The Hills.
“Advancing technologies are altering consumers’ relationships with brands, and
we make it our business to focus on consumer behavior and input,” said Close.
“Multi-screen measurement is a core competency at MTVN. In this landmark study,
we found that television is still the biggest driver of brand awareness, and
that multiplatform media campaigns perform at double to triple the
effectiveness of a single media platform.”

The research found that 50
percent of viewers who watch only the TV show report a strong emotional
connection to The Hills, while
76 percent of viewers who watch it on-air and also go online in search of
related content report a strong emotional connection. Close to 90 percent of
viewers who go online or who have avatars in the show’s virtual world claimed a
strong connection to the brand. In addition, more than 75 percent of viewers who
watched The Hills on television
recognized a TV ad, but that number jumped nearly 10 percent among viewers who
interacted with content from the same sponsor on MTV.com or in Virtual Hills.

Close also announced a new
partnership with Marketing Evolution, a custom market research and consulting
firm. Through the partnership, MTVN will be the first media company to offer
clients “Effectiveness Targeting,” a suite of measurement solutions based on
Marketing Evolution’s data analysis and marketing effectiveness metrics.

“Our partnership with
Marketing Evolution will allow marketers, for the first time, to see exactly
how our brands can deliver on attributes ranging from awareness to
word-of-mouth,” said Close. “Effectiveness Targeting represents a major breakthrough
in marketing accountability. Nothing like this exists in the market today.”

—By Mansha Daswani