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Iris Dorbian
Winner:
Wenner Media: US Weekly and Rolling Stone – Wenner Media & Showtime Present: “Dexter Weekly” and “Dexter”
What do you get when you mix a fictional serial killer “hero” with two iconic brands—one a pop culture almanac and the other an ongoing chronicler of torrid and tantalizing celebrity gossip? You get “Dexter Weekly,” modeled after US Weekly, and “Dexter,” modeled after Rolling Stone. Dexter has proven to be as protean a character in the pages of these “spin-off” issues as he is on the Showtime series that bears his name.
Introducing Dexter, Cover Boy
To generate buzz for the third season of Dexter, Showtime, in tandem with US Weekly and Rolling Stone’s parent publisher, Wenner Media, decided to get very creative and go beyond the usual tactics. The idea was to position Dexter as a celebrity and a pop culture icon, just like the many celebrities whose glossily perfect features adorn the covers of US Weekly and Rolling Stone on a regular basis. Here, Dexter, forensics specialist by day, serial killer of the supposedly “guilty” by night, would be presented as a famous and fabulous person in his own right.
Killers Are Just Like Us
For the Sept. 29, 2008, issue of US Weekly and the Oct. 2, 2008, issue of Rolling Stone, Wenner Media developed an eight-page section at the back of each book. Readers “flipped” the regular issues to see the mock titles and the features on Dexter. With tongue-in-cheek humor, US Weekly profiled the many dimensions of Dexter in features inspired by regular US Weekly columns, such as “Stars are Just Like Us.” Customized content, such as “The Killer Next Door” or “Dexter’s 5 Signs You’re Dating a Serial Killer,” were designed to appeal to readers’ sense of fun while providing background information to a new audience.
Similarly, Rolling Stone used its cover and editorial model to position Dexter as the ultimate pop idol, appearing on the cover of a Rolling Stone-like magazine. Cover lines like “Dexter Morgan: He’s Got a Way With Murder” offered readers insights into Dexter’s character while the content within the customized section mirrored the tone of Rolling Stone. For instance, an article entitled “Dexter Takes Life. Seriously” was inspired by Random Notes, a regular Rolling Stone column, and “Q&A: Dissecting Dexter Morgan,” emulated a typical Q&A editorial in the publication.
The Outcome
The positioning of Dexter as a pop culture icon enjoyed wide-reaching results. Fusing the Showtime brand with US Weekly and Rolling Stone, the campaign generated nearly 24 million readers.
Honorable Mentions:
Hearst Integrated Media – Infiniti House of Inspiration: For five days in August 2008, Hearst Magazines promoted Infiniti’s luxury automobiles with The Infiniti House of Inspiration, an event-packed program aligning the vehicles with innovative design at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California. Along with events such as an opening night reception, women’s luncheon, Town & Country Evening of Elegance, Ride & Drive and a VIP dinner, Hearst extended the Infiniti House of Inspiration message with a print and digital campaign involving five Hearst publications and a special microsite to ensure maximum success for the exhibition.
Hearst Integrated Media – 30 Days of Beauty 2008: In October 2008, Hearst Magazines produced its second 30 Days of Beauty program, an annual multimedia celebration bringing the glamour and excitement of the beauty industry to consumers nationwide via a rich range of print and digital presence, events and promotions. With components such as a month-long interactive online program, partnership with Walgreens, a beauty bash in conjunction with Shecky’s and full-page promotional ads in Hearst magazines, the print campaign generated 83.4 million gross impressions, while the 30 Days of Beauty Web site logged 228,926 page views.
Midwest Living – Tastes of Ohio: Tastes of Ohio, a special advertising section which appeared in the full circulation of the June 2008 issue of Midwest Living, focused on culinary tourism to leverage the magazine’s travel expertise and authority to reach Ohio’s best potential customers. After Midwest Living took on the editorial responsibility for the section, being consistent with the magazine’s high standards for writing, fact checking and design, advertisers were so enthusiastic about participating in the program that the section was bumped up from 12 to 16 pages.
National Geographic Global Media – Mass Mutual: In an effort for Mass Mutual to create maximum impact and awareness for the launch of their “Good Decisions” campaign, the company teamed up with National Geographic to create awareness for the program with a platform using the personal and professional stories of NG photographers. The advertorials, which featured NG photographers sharing their “good decisions,” brought the campaign to life, leading Mass Mutual to be so positive about its impact on their consumers that they chose to re-up the program with two more ads in the series and another event in 2009.
National Geographic Global Media – Siemens: Answers for the Environment: To convey how Siemens addresses problems and challenges around the world, the Siemens Answers advertorial campaign answered questions pertinent to the environment. In addition, consumers were invited to a special microsite where they could find out more about the company’s environmental products. Among the publications that participated in this effort were US News & World Report, Business Week, Fortune, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.
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