• by Wayne Friedman , May 12, 2009

Celebrating its fifth year under the NBC Universal banner, the big media company is unveiling a rare overarching brand campaign as part of an overall marketing effort that will last an entire year.

A special 30-second commercial "roadblock" of messages will run at 8 p.m. EST/PST on May 12 on all NBC Universal channels, as well as its associated Web sites, NBCU's video billboard in Times Square, at the Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Los Angeles, and in New York City taxis.

The commercial will portray all of the company's media and entertainment assets to both business and consumer audiences.

NBC's brand campaign is a rare occurrence for media companies, which have generally eschewed such promotional efforts in recent years, tending to market assets -- networks, TV shows, films and entertainment events -- separately.

John Miller, chief marketing officer of NBC Universal Television Group, speaking in a video release, said this is just the start of a full-year branding campaign to tout all of NBC Universal's entertainment and media assets.

In May 2004, NBC acquired Vivendi Universal Entertainment to create NBC Universal. The NBC assets at that time included broadcast networks NBC and Telemundo, cable networks Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, and television stations in major markets.

Vivendi media assets then included Universal Pictures movie studio, Universal Hollywood and Orlando theme parks, and cable networks USA Network and Sci-Fi Channel.

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