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September 16, 2005
A trend in the works?
Another TV show is mounting a word of mouth/grassroots campaign for its launch. This time it's for an NBC show called "Three Wishes," starring singer Amy Grant.
The show's producers have followed the first cardinal rule for this marketing milieu: Design word of mouth into the product. Grant travels to a different city each and grants three wishes to needy families or community groups, just like Oprah, the queen of word of mouth megahubs.
NBC has also picked up a few items from the marketing playbook of "The Purpose Driven Life:" As the New York Times explains it: "The show sent more than 7,000 DVD's of the show's first episode to ministers and other clergy members, along with a recorded message to their congregants from Ms. Grant. ("At its core, 'Three Wishes' is faith in action," she tells them.)"
Building a grassroots coalition for a TV show, a product, a service or a cause is a lot different than plastering airwaves, bus stops or front doors with marketing messages. It's not necessarily harder or more complex than all of the work that goes into a mainstream media ad campaign (work that's often complex and nuanced), it's just vastly different. I would argue that few, if any, ad agencies that support large organizations have the theology, knowledge or skills to mount a grassroots evangelism campaign.
And that's a key point: So few large organizations actually mount grassroots campaigns that when they do, it generates coverage in the New York Times. Whether "Three Wishes" is any good is another story.
Other blogs that reference A trend in the works?:
» Grant Grants like a Giant Genie from RealityBlogs.com
Last March we told you about a new reality show starring Amy Grant called Three Wishes. The NBC show travels town to town with Grant "Granting" wishes to fortunate people (maybe she'll go to New Orleans?). Anyway, I just read... [Read More]
» Grant Grants like a Giant Genie from RealityBlogs.com
Last March we told you about a new reality show starring Amy Grant called Three Wishes. The NBC show travels town to town with Grant "Granting" wishes to fortunate people (maybe she'll go to New Orleans?). Anyway, I just read... [Read More]
» testanchor925 from testanchor46
testcomment123 [Read More]
"NBC has also picked up a few items from the marketing playbook of "The Purpose Driven Life""
Does that mean that if the show's a success NBC will claim it was a sovereign act of God?
LOL. Weirder things, but not many, have happened on TV.
Grassroots coalition is the order of the day for TV networks. Consumers don't want to be passive viewers anymore. They want to get involved, interact, dissent, vote and what have you.
TV networks can't afford a "spray and pray" strategy anymore.
My wife and I love watching the
three wishes show on nbc
I do not know if this is the right source
to put forth this opinion on
Lee Huntington
I do not agree with you sivaraman, personally I want to be totally passive in front of my TV.
