• by Wayne Friedman , March 9, 2009

NBC's next big late-night marketing effort is now underway with a massive on-air campaign that kicked off Monday for Conan O'Brien's move as host in "The Tonight Show."

NBC is rolling out its first marketing wave with a series of on-air spots for O'Brien featuring some 10 different performers in 15 TV spots. Conan starts up as the new host of "The Tonight Show" on June 1.

"This campaign is a celebrity endorsement of a different kind," says Adam Stotsky, president of entertainment marketing for The NBC Agency.

Performers in the campaign--including Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Martha Stewart, Jason Bateman, Nathan Lane, Paul Rudd, Megan Mullally, Ice-T and John Mayer--will be making a quasi-endorsement of O'Brien as if he were a consumer product.

--Tina Fey: "If your Conan lasts for more than four hours, please consult a doctor."

--Adam Sandler: "We love Conan because he removes the smell."

--Paul Rudd: "I take Conan because it keeps me focused. Sharp enough to take a clean punch to the face."

"It's a way for us to appropriate the endorsement of these celebrities without being so upfront and obvious about it," says Stotsky.

A not-so-subtle message in this campaign, he says, is that these entertainers will be making regular appearances on his show.

"We are going to try to reclaim that kind of show-biz cred--to position the show as the must-stop, first-stop, the pinnacle of any entertainer's career," he says.

Print, digital, radio and off-air media/marketing efforts will roll out for O'Brien in the coming weeks. Also forthcoming, Stotsky says NBC will announce marketing partnerships concerning the Conan show.

NBC isn't divulging the amount of money invested in marketing O'Brien but Stotsky says: "It's significant. Conan's move is a huge priority for us."

The campaign's main aim is to broaden Conan's audience, says Stotsky--keeping its loyal fans and looking to grab new and perhaps older viewers who have been watching Jay Leno.

This is The NBC Agency's second of three marketing efforts concerning its late-night stars. The first came with launch of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" last week. The last will come when Jay Leno moves into the 10 p.m. time slot later this year.

Stotsky says: "With all these moves, it's more about marathons than about a one-week sprint."