Two years ago, Padma Lakshmi and NeNe Leakes participated in the Summer Olympics. Last year, James Lipton and Andy Cohen were stranded on a desert island. This year, the TV network Bravo is celebrating its pop-culture celebrities and summer programming by placing them in a circus.
Developed by Stun Creative, the "Bravolebrities 2014 'Summer By Bravo'" campaign features 36 Bravo network stars, as well as a monkey and a lion in a three-ring circus led by ringmaster and "Watch What Happens Live" host Andy Cohen.
The promos — set to “Can You Do This?" by Aloe Blacc — include six TV spots running on Bravo, mobile ads airing on m.BravoTV.com and exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and videos. Fan interpretations are also expected since over the years fans have been known to create their own UGC version and post on YouTube.
advertisement
advertisement
This is the fifth year Stun Creative has worked with Bravo on these summer spots, and the 10th year the agency has worked with the network.
It's getting easier to convince celebrities to appear in these spots, even when executives fire "Behind The Actors Studio" host James Lipton out of a cannon. "The campaign is such a hit with viewers [that] the Bravo stars really covet the opportunity to appear in the spots," say Stun Creative executive producers Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein. "They realize the appeal and want to deliver for the fans. We also do our best to make sure the Bravo talent have a fun time on set shooting it."
Stun Creative already has ideas for next year's Bravo campaign. Last year, Stun Creative produced a spot promoting the premiere of the campaign, which was the first time the agency ever created a spot about a spot. Now, one potential twist is that Bravo has started producing scripted shows. "Who knows, maybe those stars will start appearing as well," say Roth and Feldstein.
Another concept for next year may be out of this world. "For years, we've been trying to convince them to put do a space theme. Bravolebrities floating around the galaxy," the Stun executives said. "So far, we haven't persuaded them."