Mr. Coffee Effort Dangles Java With Joe Nichols

Cable station Great American Country (GAC) and Mr. Coffee stepped up the beat last week, launching an interactive marketing and advertising campaign that sends two to Nashville for coffee with country-music heartthrob Joe Nichols.

The U.S. campaign will run through November on television, radio, print and online. The collaborative effort began percolating in June at the Country Music Awards Festival, a four-day country music event in Nashville, Tenn., during a brainstorming session between executives at Mr. Coffee, a Jarden Consumer Solutions brand, and GAC, a Scripps Networks cable television network.

The three co-branded 30-second TV spots feature Country Music Across America host Storme Warren and emerging artist Rushlow Harris. The TV ads will air on GAC. "After Midnight with Blair Gardner" of Los Angeles plays host to radio spots running in 200 syndicated markets through Premier Radio. Three advertorials will appear in Country Weekly magazine.

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The campaign came together quickly--within two months from conception to launch, says Meagan Bradley, global brand development manager for Jarden Consumer Solutions. "Everyone worked together like spokes on a wheel," she says.

The campaign highlights the trip to Nashville for two to sit down for coffee with Joe Nichols. Ten first-place winners will each get a Mr. Coffee Coffeemaker. Consumers at least 21 years of age can submit an entry online, not more than once daily, through Nov. 12. GAC will select the winner in late November, and will hold the breakfast in January.

Aside from traditional banner ads that run online, Mr. Coffee and GAC co-branded a Web site called mycupofcountry.com. The site has coupons, information on Mr. Coffee products, and a fan opinion poll that enable consumers to vote for who they think will take home the honors at the Country Music Awards Nov. 7.

GAC often asks television viewers their opinion. TV hosts asks fans each week to go online and vote on the top 20 videos they want to see in the Top-20 Countdown. At the end of each year, GAC conducts a Top-50 Countdown. Most recently, the cable station asked Grand Old Opera fans to go online and vote for the opera they would like to see aired in the Tuesday night prime slot.

The cable network has learned the value of listening to the audience, says Susan Leigh, vice president/ad sales at GAC. "We feel strongly about engaging the audience to make the campaign memorable," she says. "Letting the fans tell us what they think and who should win the CMA awards is important."

Mr. Coffee's AOR, Bernstein-Rein of Kansas City, and GAC were instrumental in pulling together the campaign, according to Bradley.

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