Millennial Experiential Opps: CBS launches work promoting Ghosts amid hiatus (Score 30)

CBS Entertainment just kicked off a summer campaign designed to keep the spirit of Ghosts alive during a hiatus. The initiative includes a musical number, in-person activations and a new metaverse experience. Ghosts won't air new episodes until fall, so in the meantime, experiential efforts showcasing each of the show's characters will continue from June-August. They will culminate in a season 2 screening event. Added elements will bring NFTs and other metaverse experiences. This allows CBS to reach a wider audience since fans can enjoy in-person activations and/or explore the metaverse mansion. The campaign is designed to reach more viewers of Paramount+, which landed exclusive US SVOD streaming rights to Ghosts earlier this month. CBS is working to play "the long game" on this show, per CMO Michael Benson. Since the brand will continue advertising Ghosts until season 2 begins, I suggest sellers contact soon to secure last-minute ad dollars.

An advantage will go toward those able to offer localized ad space in the areas where CBS has launched in-person activations that promote individual characters. These initiatives include the following: Rebecca Wisocky's "Hetty" character will host a launch party for her book in Los Angeles; Daniel Pinnock's "Alberta" character will get her own pop-up museum in her hometown of Altoona, PA; Román Zaragoza’s "Sasappis" character will hold a storytelling event in NY; Richie Moriarty's "Pete" character will have his own activation during the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con at the end of July; Deval Long's "Thorfinn" character will get a Viking launch at sea in CA; Sheila Carrasco's "Flower" character will have a flower-filled LA experience; and Asher Grodman's "Trevor" character had a '90s-themed Hamptons party.

Ghosts was the most-watched freshman comedy in its first season when it averaged 8.4m viewers in live-plus-7. This new campaign was designed to position CBS as more of a content brand rather than its common perception as a linear broadcast network. This involves creating meaningful experiences with viewers rather than inundating them with clips and promos.

Per iSpot, CBS has allocated roughly $3.8m toward national TV commercials YTD, less than half of the roughly $9.1m allocated by this point last year. The brand ended up allocating roughly $13.1m toward this channel last year, up 34% from the roughly $9.8m allocated in 2020. CBS's 2022 commercials have targeted audiences with a skew toward sports-oriented men via shows such as NBA Basketball, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, College Basketball and NCIS: New Orleans. 

So far this year, Pathmatics reports the brand has spent approximately $13.5m on digital ads, only about a third of the approximately $57.3m spent within the same 2021 timeframe. In 2021, CBS's estimated full-year spend of $77.8m reached only around a quarter of that of $318m in 2020. The brand has earned ~1.8b digital impressions YTD via Facebook (37%), Instagram (29%), Twitter (25%), desktop display (5%), desktop video (3%) and mobile display (1%) ads.

Since CBS is working with in-person experiential activations in CA, PA and NY, I have tagged both the "West" and "Northeast" region tags to this article. Considering the brand's current focus on creating "meaningful" experiences for fans, I expect CBS to invest in additional experiential initiatives in the future. Since it's working to avoid flooding fans with promos, its TV and digital spend may remain relatively low for a while. The reliance on experiential initiatives will broaden CBS's reach among millennials, from whom experiential marketing tends to receive the highest engagement (more here). Kantar data shows the brand also invests in radio, OOH, print and local broadcast. It holds planning conversations in Q3 and buying conversations in Q2.

Agency & martech readers - Parent company Paramount may still seek new agency partners after having rebranded earlier this year, so keep it on your radar for future work. The company has an in-house creative team, and CBS itself works with media AOR OMD, along with GSD&M (creative), bpg advertising (creative), Carat (media), Initiative (media, digital and multicultural) and SDI Media Group (multicultural).