| NBCUniversal/SciFi CHANNEL admits to using Fake Blogs, misleading Google Adwords, false Infomercials, and Viral Marketing tactics to Hijack Web Surfers.  A marketing PRESS RELEASE by NBC corporation admits that NBCU/SciFi CHANNEL used fake blog posts, viral techniques, and intentionally buying up misleading Google Adwords in order to get viewers to watch the channel. NBC employees bragged about tricking viewers in a memo on its website meant to be seen mainly by their commercial marketing advertisers. NBC called this misleading and hijacking of viewers their idea of an 'inventive' promotional campaign. Almost as if they were expecting to win some kind of award for the novelty of tricking people on the web. Viewership of Sci Fi channel has decreased due to the poor quality of NBC Universal SciFi channel programming and the recent cancellation of some of the better quality shows in favor of a programming director's push toward cheap 'reality' shows on Scifi channel. So it appears as if they will stop at little, including buying up misleading Google Adwords in order to capture unsuspecting web surfers to prop up declining Sci fi channel nielsen ratings.  NBC Universal Sci Fi Channel: "SCI FI SERIES SUPPORTED BY INVECTIVE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN" Published: August 15, 2006  PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY: Granados, Maureen, Coordinator - SCI FI Publicity Division: SCI FI Phone: (212) 664-4143 Fax: (212) 703-8533 Email: maureen.granados@nbcuni.com SCIFI MEMO TITLE: "Faux Info-Mercials; Search Engine and Blog Viral Marketing; Image and Tune-In Promos Cleverly Combine For A Distinctively Innovative Promotion" SCIFI MEMO: NEW YORK -- August 15, 2006 SCI FI Channel's newest scripted series, airing Tuesdays @ 9pm ET/PT, is supported by an array of innovative marketing tactics designed to capitalize on the uniqueness of this one-of-a-kind series. 'Eureka' is a remote Pacific Northwest hamlet whose inhabitants just happen to be geniuses with a penchant for wild and sometimes dangerous inventions. For years, the government has been relocating the world's geniuses to the picturesque town, where the nation's greatest thinkers secretly usher in the next generation of scientific breakthroughs. But 'Eureka' is more than just a destination. Along side cast members Colin Ferguson ('The Opposite of Sex'), Salli Richardson-Whitfield ('Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'), and Debrah Farentino ('CSI: Miami'), the town of 'Eureka' holds its own as a character in this unique show, where inventions play supporting roles that drive the plot of each weekly episode. With its fresh, smart and modern spin on the whole sci-fi fantasy genre, 'Eureka''s fun-filled community of quirky characters are the perfect vehicle to entice a broader and more mainstream audience to sample the network for the first time, said Dave Howe, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SCI FI. The 'Made in Eureka' campaign leverages today's multimedia technologies to introduce an even broader audience to the creative innovations that distinguish this exciting new series, comments Adam Stotsky, Senior Vice President, Marketing, SCI FI. By imagining a wild range of genius-inspired innovations, we created a fully integrated campaign designed to give viewers a declassified glimpse into what's so special about 'Eureka.' Off-air spoof info-mercials starring real-life QVC Queen of the Info-mercial, Pat Murphy Stark, showcase various [fake] products [supposedly] developed in 'Eureka.' The spots [lead viewers to place phonecalls] to 1-866-40EUREKA and [lead computer users to go] to www.MadeinEureka.com where shoppers acquaint themselves with an array of cutting edge, future-forward [fake] inventions such as the Cryo Kennel, for quick -freezing pets during extended vacations, and custom-made Plasma Screen Interior Walls, for that drive-in experience at home. Attempts to purchase any of the 'Eureka' engineered products result in being entered into a national consumer sweepstakes to win the real-life next generation of HD/DVD players, the Sony HDTV and Blue-ray player. The ads air on Comedy Central, Spike, E! Entertainment Television and The History Channel, and in some cases, are strategically scheduled in between other info-mercials. Radio spots also reinforce the Made in Eureka campaign. In collaboration with search engines Google and Yahoo, the network purchased key words such as flat screen and HD DVD to "literally highjack web surfers", delivering them directly to www.MadeinEureka.com, where shoppers soon realize they've entered a new dimension in online shopping. Faux info-mercials and related-banner ads with Made in Eureka product descriptions also run within a host of blog sites, popular among tech enthusiasts, such as medagadget and The Daily WTF. The ads [by NBCUNI Sci-fi channel for the fake products] also appear within highly trafficked technology blogs, like Engadget and Gizmodo, which concurrently runs a Made in Eureka contest where contestants submit invention ideas to rival those of the citizens of 'Eureka.' In addition to on-air tune-in spots, specially designed concept promos drive tune-in while skillfully introducing viewers to this extraordinary town of intellectually curious inventors where literally anything can happen. Steven Diller of MJZ productions directed the spots with special effects by a52 productions. --Cloud-- A beautiful day is spoiled by the antics of a devious child with a weather-altering remote control. --A New Home in Eureka-- A ball rolled onto a field suddenly opens up into a fully finished pre-fab home. --Boat-- When an urgent phone call cuts short a day on the seas the boat simply lifts out of the water to reveal an elaborate mechanism of walking legs that quickly deliver the fisherman to shore. --Skateboards and Basketball-- Moody teenagers jealously eye a basketball court until a series of skateboard ramps emerges from the asphalt. Print and on-air creative executions utilize carefully placed keyholes and over-the-white-picket-fence framing to evoke a feeling of eavesdropping on the strange inhabitants of this bizarre town. Advertising efforts entail the full range of media including TV, radio, print, and online buys. But even traditional marketing comes with a SCI FI twist as 150 lenticular (or hologram) Bus Shelters across New York and Los Angeles enable people to experience 'Eureka''s Main Street in 3-D. [SciFi channel's PR claim:] SCI FI Channel is a television network where what if is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. " The NBC Universal SciFi Employees Responsible for issuing this fake ad campaign are as follows. Email them or phone them to express whether you appreciate fake blog posts and being hijacked or not: Sallie Schoneboom (212) 664-3467 sallie.schoneboom@nbcuni.com Rachel Cruz (212) 664-6407 Rachel.Cruz@nbcuni.com |
The above public Press Release is from © 2006 NBC Universal, Inc.
Bonnie Hammer = President Sci Fi channel - bonnie.hammer@nbcuni.com
Mark Stern = Vice President of Programming - mark.stern@nbcuni.com
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THE MEMO WAS RELEASED BY NBC SCIFI CHANNEL:
http://www.nbcumv.com/scifi/release_detail.nbc/scifi-20060815000000-scifi039snewse.html
END NBC UNIVERSAL SCIFI CHANNEL PRESS RELEASE.
THIS ARTICLE REVEALED FOR EDUCATIONAL NON-COMMERCIAL NEWS JOURNALISM REPORTING AND CRITIQUE UNDER FAIR USE U.S.C.O. SECTION 109 FL-102. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
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Comments: 5
ratings at nbc and the sci fi network must be really bad that they cant have their shows stand on their own merit and they need to resort to tricking people in order to get viewers
But I guess the point of this is not to do with that Eureka show at all, the point is that they are probaly doing this sleazy tactics behind many of their worse cheaper shows, because a lot of the good quality shows are either canceled or left, except only a couple now, and all the rest of the stuff on sci fi channel is really cheaply produced and bad I dont even want to watch that place anymore and now that I learn that they are doing this even with the mediocre ones it doesn't make me feel like watching much of any of that place anymore.
Which is fine because all the better sci fi is on other channels anyway. or I just buy the DVD. But now I gotta watch when I surf not just for sleazy weird mortgage or pill link names but now I can't trust clicking on NBC or scifi.com anymore or now gonna have them filling blogs and google with misleading urls and words. Its sad when a place gets so desperate they got to go in to tricking kids and people on the net to get anyone to watch. Looks like its time to pack it up or for a change in Management then they could have a lot of fun things again like they used to. Not now.
thnx for this info. good1