For the first time in the Lifestyle Group at NBC, I am creating a proactive pilot/new franchise program at E! whereby (in concert with the E! News team) I have developed custom, cross-category, advertiser-friendly content for potential sale in the Upfront season. Using the "If You Build It, They Will Come" analogy, to entice advertisers, the E! News team has agreed to produce these custom segments whether sold or not; when an advertiser sees we are behind our content 100%, and will air it whether or not it attracts advertising dollars, the concepts tend to sell-out quickly! Like, a Snapbreak for Absolut! We had barely sent out a sizzle on the opportunity to re-define a sponsored commercial break experience, and Absolut came on-board for The GRAMMYs. MIc Drop Alert!
At VH1, Music Bite and Mash Up Lab are examples of custom ideas (on a budget) that have been included in Upfront decks as potential advertiser franchises. In addition to everyday business, I take the initiative with my team every January through March to brainstorm on cool new creative with cross-platform legs, and in the past two years proactively and successfully lobbied for a budget to cover the creation of these ideas to showcase to advertisers as custom turnkey content they can exclusively own; these two examples incorporated actual advertisers that Sales thought we could target. Most pilots are produced "generically."
Currently, I'm gearing up to shoot two pilots with social influencers who 1) cook and 2) give make-up tips; VH1 has upcoming new shows/seasons that I'd like advertisers to consider buying custom for: "Celebrity Food Fight" and "Love & Hip Hop."