ROAD SHOW

SHELLY GABERT

On the road again, I just can't wait to be on the road again ...

That seems to be the marketing philosophy for many cable networks who have invested in traveling promotional trucks to put their message on wheels.

Once considered a guerilla tactic, the trucks have become a standard part of the programmers' marketing plans.

While traveling the nation's highways, these rolling billboards make thousands of impressions on viewers. Once parked at a sporting event, state fair or retailer, they allow programmers to team up with cable operators to reach out to consumers in communities across the country.

"Think globally, act locally is the marketing strategy for most networks," says Jim Babchak, director-marketing for CMT. "Everyone recognizes localization as the way to go, and one of the best ways to support a community is through the truck."

He adds, "Our fleet of promotional trucks helps us brand CMT, partner with MSOs on a local level and allows us to stay closely in touch with our consumers on a one-on-one basis."

CMT and C-SPAN were two of the first networks to put a promotional truck on the road back in 1993. Two years later, BET's Music Mobile Stage was launched, and Animal Planet Rescue took to the road in 1998.

TNN launched a promotional truck in 1999, and this past September ESPN showcased ESPN The Truck at the Eastern Cable Show in Baltimore.

One of the first traveling promotional vehicles was The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, which was a huge success.

C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb's inspiration, however, came from the classic children's book, The Magic School Bus. The bus could travel underwater or in the air to take its readers on a journey of discovery, entertainment and learning.

"Brian believed the bus would give our network a personality, when we really didn't have one at that time," says Steve Roth, manager-community relations for the C-SPAN School Bus program.

C-SPAN's traveling School Bus is yellow, but the original 45-foot truck was an $800,000 custom-made classroom and television production studio on wheels. That bus and a second one, launched in 1996, travel to between 500 and 700 events a year, promoting programming and C-SPAN in the Classroom. So far, C-SPAN's buses have been the focus of 1,035 vignettes featuring local communities appearing on the channel.

For Babchak, the CMT trucks serve as wonderful ambassadors for the network. Its six promotional trucks appear at 1,200 events per year, including the New York State Fair and Taste of Chicago, and accompany CMT-sponsored concert tours. The tour performers this year were The Dixie Chicks and Trisha Yearwood, and CMT produces cross-channel spots touting the local operators as the co-sponsor of the concerts.

With the music blaring, the CMT Bonanza has a carnival atmosphere, offering visitors a variety of games and activities to earn prizes. It also showcases digital cable and high-speed modem capabilities.

"The truck allows us to display the products so potential customers can see and touch them," Babchak says. "We can drive new product tiers, subscriber retention, demo new products and services, and support the operator's local ad sales. We can set up our event either internally or externally. It can be as simple as a visit to the MSO, where we pull the truck out front and sponsor a lunch or breakfast for the employees. We are educating the CSRs about our programming as well as rewarding them for the good job they have done."

Local events go a long way in support of the operator's ad sales. At one event, one of the CMT trucks parked at a car dealer and teamed with the operator and a local radio station, which helped drive traffic to the site. CMT has helped generate more than $1 million in incremental income for local cable affiliate ad sales.

While TNN has operated a merchandising truck for years, the two promotional trucks will help MTV Networks re-brand The National Network and its major sports programming, including Professional Bull Riding, Arena Football, World of Outlaws sprint car racing, ASA stock car racing, NASCAR and WWF.

"We not only show Arena Football on one of the TV monitors in the truck, but we also can promote the fact that it's televised weekly on TNN," says Brian Hughes, SVP-sports and outdoors for TNN.

National sponsors sometimes lend their name and funding to provide extra clout as well as natural community tie-ins to some programmers' trucks.

Animal Planet and the American Humane Association teamed up on Animal Planet Rescue, an 80-foot disaster relief vehicle. The vehicle is sponsored in part by Pfizer Animal Health, Bel-Rea Institute and Chevy Truck.

ESPN The Truck is sponsored by the National Football League and, more specifically, its youth programs, which are aimed at benefiting young men and women across the country.

The Truck, which went on the road in October after a ribbon cutting at the ESPN Zone on Times Square in New York, allows for a hands-on experience at numerous stations in the 53-foot mobile unit. There's a replica SportsCenter desk where a visitor can receive a souvenir videotape of him- or herself as the anchor or have his/her face placed on the cover of ESPN the Magazine. The truck also markets pay-per-view products and ESPN.com.

"We have four goals we want to accomplish with ESPN The Truck," says E.J. Conlin, VP-affiliate sales and marketing for ESPN. "We want to provide value to the affiliates by helping them sell new business and assisting local ad sales, and we want to provide value to our rights holder NFL and, of course, to our fans. We want all those groups to be able to share in the power of the ESPN brand."

At an event in Tampa, Fla., more than 1,000 people visited the truck and were exposed to Time Warner's digital product and Road Runner service. The local media turned out for a piece, and there was also a live radio remote from the truck.

Like CMT's vehicle, ESPN The Truck features high-speed cable modems so that the affiliate's customers can try the service during their visit.

Networks that don't have those capabilities promote the operator's products as well as provide extra incentives for signing up.

Animal Planet Rescue offers giveaways to people who sign up for digital service, and those people are eligible for a drawing to win a six-foot stuffed crocodile.

When BET's mobile soundstage participates in tailgate parties for Black College Football Games, it offers a promotion making the first 2,000 customers who sign up for digital cable eligible for a drawing to win six months of free cable.

"Analog shelf space is very valuable," says Jodi Rubin, VP-affiliate marketing for Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Travel Channel and Discovery Health. "So, if our affiliates are going to give us shelf space, we want to help the cable operators sell broadband."

Animal Planet Rescue has traveled to 40 markets, interacted with 100,000 consumers and participated in seven full-scale disaster relief missions. Equipped with 40 tons of specialized animal rescue and relief equipment, the vehicle provides living quarters for up to eight people.

When it's not out saving animals, the rescue vehicle is showcased through community events at which consumers tour the vehicle and learn about fire safety and safety tips for pets. It also has balloon artists and face painters on hand. An affiliate marketing kit helps operators involved in other organizations, and the network drives traffic through cross channel, ad slicks, radio promotion and flyers.

"There are so many events out there for people to choose, what we're trying to do is break through the clutter in a heavily co-branded event," says Rubin.

BET's strategy is to appear at events that already draw huge crowds so they can maximize their promotional value. This year's BET's Music in Motion mobile soundstage traveled to 15 events, such as Harlem Week and a Comcast Customer Appreciation Day in Detroit.

"BET has always utilized street marketing to tell our story and partner with the cable operators. We haven't had the budget to do billboards, radio, national spot television, so we go directly to the people," says Clint Evans, VP-affiliate marketing and sales.

BET showcases local bands and musicians along with national talent at each event. According to Evans, the music focus allows them to bridge the gap between all cultures and brings out entire families to the events.

"Music In Motion also delivers family values," says Curtis Simon, EVP-affiliate marketing and sales. "Typically we appeal to the 12-24 demographic, but these events draw people from all age groups, and that's important to be able to show the operators. We also want to expose new people to the channel."

In addition to connecting with a new audience, these truck events provide useful feedback for the programmers to use in developing or enhancing promotions. CMT asks visitors to fill out cards to rate the service and voice their satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The cards also ask for e-mail addresses, which CMT will use to send out periodical updates on new programming or promotions.

"We get truck reports regularly, and we have made changes due to the feedback," Babchak says. "While CMT used to offer a mix of 60/40 new and old music, the questionnaires revealed that the majority of people preferred a 50/50 mix. We've made those programming changes."

Linking the truck to programming is another way programmers can increase viewership. CMT has a digital camera on the truck, so taped song requests from visitors can be sent back to the studio and used during the show Request Line.

C-SPAN has been one of the most successful programmers to use local ties and audiences in their programming.

Rolling into St. Louis for the last presidential debate at Washington University, C-SPAN teamed up with AT&T Broadband to bring in Pattonville High School students not only to tour the bus, but participate in a discussion after the debates, which was aired on the network. The event also featured a reception for teachers to learn more about incorporating C-SPAN curricula into their classroom.

"The event was a huge success. Pattonville was really excited about the event, and it was a great marketing and public relations effort," says Neal Gilb, education project coordinator at AT&T Broadband. "C-SPAN is wonderful to work with; they really go the extra miles for you. They want to make sure that when they come to your town, that their activities fit the need of your community."

Like the award-winning Magic School Bus, which spawned a series of books, an animated television show, a Web site and a traveling Magic School Bus, C-SPAN's bus and the other networks' promotional trucks offer the flexibility and mobility to incorporate all facets of a network's outreach and educational efforts at one time.

"We are constantly looking for ways to market our programming and partner with our cable affiliates, but we have been hard pressed to come up with a better way to reach our goals," Roth says.