• by David Goetzl , April 10, 2007

As TV Guide continues to try to distance itself from its decades-long ID as a digest-size, bedside staple, the now-multiplatform brand has tapped Chicago's Cramer-Krasselt as its new creative agency.

C-K's first work--encompassing TV, print and online--is scheduled for later this year.

While the addition of Joan and Melissa Rivers on awards-ceremony coverage and an "American Idol" pre-show on TV Guide Channel have given the brand higher visibility, it's unclear whether consumers view it as an entertainment provider or simply a what's-on-when source.

C-K will face that transformational challenge, and will attempt to differentiate the brand from the always-mounting mass of celebrity TV coverage delivered by Web sites, blogs, nightly syndicated shows, E!, etc. Plus, the magazine must grapple with the onslaught of hugely popular celebrity magazines that TV Guide never contended with in its heyday.

TV Guide operates a network, VOD outlet, Web site, interactive program guides (an outgrowth of its listings legacy) and the magazine, which was relaunched several years ago in its current standard-mag size. The company says it reaches more than 70 million people a week.

Added to C-K's to-do list: Try to find a common theme for all the properties that viewers can identify with, which will lead them from one to the other. "TV Guide has such a storied brand, and were thrilled to be involved in helping reinvigorate it for a new, dynamic media landscape," said C-K CEO Peter Krivkovich.

MindShare will handle media buying.