ABC Family is ramping up its commercial retention strategy in 2008-09, pitching media buyers on Nikki in the City, a new short-form content initiative that will marry an ongoing narrative about a young woman’s romantic life with sponsor integrations.Each 30-second interstitial will allow ABC Family viewers to catch up with Nikki, a boy-crazy young tastemaker who prides herself on being ahead of the curve when it comes to pop culture and fashion. She’s also rather acquisitive, which makes the character a brand ambassador of sorts for clients who choose to have their products integrated within a given Nikki segment.
In keeping with ABC Family’s self-described “tease and release” retention tactics, each Nikki story will be open-ended, thereby enticing viewers to stick around for the next installment. One sample execution has Nikki fumbling over a co-worker’s invitation to accompany him to see something called Hidden Sahara Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey; another places a cell phone purchase within the context of her choosing between a slacker dude and a suit.
(Introduced in last year’s upfront presentation, the tease and release strategy aligns clients with teasers and coming attractions, with an eye toward keeping viewers on-board for the commercial pod. The net kicked off the initiative this winter, signing Garnier Fructis on to sponsor teases for future episodes of Kyle XY.)
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