To herald the highly anticipated arrival of Lifetime in Canada, Shaw Media is enticing Canadian women to make time to sample the channel’s great dramas, hit unscripted series and compelling movies with a national, multi-platform, multi-phased marketing campaign. The new channel launches on Monday, August 27 and will be available on a three-month free preview in nearly 10 million homes across the country.
“We are thrilled to bring this legendary channel and its wide range of women’s programming to Canada and want to ensure that everyone knows about it,” said Jamie Schouela, VP of Marketing, Shaw Media. “Lifetime has been a staple in U.S. homes for nearly three decades and we are proud to be the first market to introduce the brand internationally. We have a proven track record for building and growing brands and we intend to make Lifetime a success in Canada.”
Targeting women 25-54, the extensive campaign that begins rolling out off-air this week is anchored by the promotion of two marquee series, Dance Moms and The Client List, and layers in a third image piece featuring A-list talent including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Queen Latifah, Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Klum. Together, the campaign reflects the brand’s breadth of programming including scripted drama, unscripted series and movies while at the same time reinforcing its claim as women’s soon-to-be favourite new channel.
A strategic media buy in Toronto and Vancouver combines mass reach, targeted vehicles in female skewing locales with the intention to reach on-the-go women. Out-of-home executions include a subway domination at Toronto’s St. George station as well as interior subway door surrounds, eye-catching large-scale billboards in the high-traffic Toronto Eaton Centre and Burnaby’s Metropolis at Metrotown, complemented by clusters of mall posters and ads in women’s only fitness clubs. Double page flex form ads and full-page print ads are running in commuter publications including Metro, 24 Hours and T.O. Tonight, as well as daily newspapers. The campaign extends to radio, online and mobile with ads on Facebook and on popular female and mom-centred sites including The Weather Network, Baby Center, Allrecipes.ca and ShopCatch.
“In order to reach and attract busy women, we have designed a vibrant and impactful campaign leveraging the channel’s instantly recognizable A-list stars, showcasing not only the breadth of the channel, but also its bold spirit,” said Muriel Solomon, Senior Director of Specialty Marketing, Shaw Media. “The high-impact creative, combined with mass reach, targeted vehicles, will garner the attention of women across the country, whether they are commuting, shopping or exercising, and remind them to make time for Lifetime.”
The campaign is augmented with an exciting interactive experience at Toronto’s CNE, August 24th to 26th. Visitors are invited to participate in a Dance Moms themed contest to learn a choreographed dance for a chance to win a back-to-school shopping spree. The contest also includes social media integrations through Facebook.
The on-air portion of the campaign kicked off in July with promos showcasing the fall lineup running in high rotation across Shaw Media’s family of channels and U.S cable avails. Fresh versions of promos are scheduled to continue rolling out, culminating with complete on air dominations on August 28th and September 2nd to coincide with the launch of Dance Moms and The Client List.
Lifetime’s inaugural fall schedule features a powerful line up of acclaimed scripted series, exclusive hit reality shows and movies. Enticing new series coming this fall include: The Client List, Dance Moms, The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet, original movies Liz & Dick and Steel Magnolias and blockbuster movies Eat Pray Love and Easy A.
The marketing campaign and materials were developed in-house by Shaw Media’s Marketing team. The Dance Moms contest was designed and executed by Mosaic in association with Shaw Media.