‘Bethenny’ Push To Feature Digital, Cable

Bethenny Frankel and the marketing team on her Telepictures talk show Bethenny laid out an aggressive plan today at PromaxBDA Station Summit in Las Vegas to promote the show in partnership with local stations. Warner Bros. is the distributor.

Those plans include the largest Warner Bros. digital media campaign ever for a syndicated talk show, says Blake Bryant, SVP of marketing at Telepictures.

“Our national media overlay will reach 56% of young women, and even more women 25-54,” Bryant says. “We are using national cable television. The best way to see Bethenny is to show Bethenny [Frankel] being Bethenny. And 40% of our spend is in digital. It is our largest investment in digital and social outreach that Warner Bros. has ever made. We are using brand-new [geo-targeting] technology to show women where your station is and what time Bethenny is on. It’s really cool.”

Bethenny Frankel has more than 1.2 million Twitter followers and more than 850,000 on Facebook.

Warner Bros. is offering stations a co-op plan to extend the show’s promotional impressions.

“We are going to complement stations’ on-air inventory and co-op dollars,” says Susan Kantor, EVP marketing at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. “We are going to enhance local reach to generate additional sampling. Investing in the Bethenny co-op plan will double your money and make it go a lot further. And we strongly encourage stations to use local cable TV.”

A few Bethenny promotional spots were sent to stations earlier this month. One spot reintroduces the show to the six Fox TV Stations that tested it last year. The other spots focus on host Bethenny Frankel, who Bryant describes as fun and flirty.

More promos will be sent to stations this summer, including one featuring the show’s executive producer Ellen DeGeneres whose Warner Bros. show Ellen will air on Bethenny stations in some markets. Another promo will feature Wendy Williams from her Debmar-Mercury show in markets where the two programs air on the same station.

“Instead of talking about who is on the show every day, the promos will be about Bethenny, the Bethenny brand and her unique voice,” Bryant says.

On Wendy on July 9 Bethenny Frankel will unveil a contest in which viewers around the country will win a chance to be on the show. Bethenny will have celebrity guests but it’s not a celebrity-driven program. Instead, Frankel will feature regular women talking about issues important to them, like dating and healthy food.

Stations will also receive a 30-mintue preview show, including fresh footage and clips from last summer’s test. Stations can air it as often as they want on air, with 100% of barter ad revenue, and online.

“Our overall strategy is simple: Stations first,” Kantor says. “Every aspect of this launch is about finding Bethenny on your station. We are going to target, inform and excite viewers.”