Crazy like a Fox - When Diluting your TV Brand is the Best Strategy

Blatant Brand Dilution? For a generation the rules of TV branding have been clear and unequivocal–find a specific niche audience, then hyper-serve that niche with specialized programming. But lately, that rule has been turned on its head by some of the industries most powerful players.  Now you will find cooking shows on the Syfy Channel, Mike Tyson on Animal Planet, standup comedians on History, and obsession-disorder reality shows on VH1.

What’s going on?  After a generation of building specific content niches, programmers now have their sights set on broader audiences.  It appears that TV history is reversing itself.  Television begin with three broad channels, then splintered to hundreds of content-specific cable networks. Now those same niche cable channels are rushing to widen their audiences again by expanding beyond their original content agenda.

But what appears to be blatant brand dilution is actually just a snapshot in a very long-term, strategic strategy that has been going on in the product world for decades.  It is a text-book example of how small brands get bigger.  It is a classic strategy practiced by powerhouse brands like Proctor & Gamble, Virgin and American Express.

Smart Brand Expansion Strategies from the Cable World
SciFi's recent rebrand to SyFy is a classic example of this strategic brand expansion.  After spending years doing all they could to nurture and woo the science fiction audience, the programmers realized that the genre was maxed out.  No matter how great their marketing, there just weren't enough people interested in science fiction to allow much further growth.   SciFi was forced to make a hard decision -  be content with paltry growth or expand its original programming mission to bring in new audiences.

Discovery, one of today’s most successful channels, went through this same dilemma decades ago.  When Discovery launched, it was a hard science channel filled with documentaries on everything from wildlife to astronomy to anthropology.  Today, it has kept its science heritage, but has methodically and patiently rebranded itself as an adventure channel.  It went from hard science, to softer science, to softer science with adventure, to where it is today – an adventure channel with a science heritage.

So what appears to be brand dilution on the surface is actually a very natural and necessary step that most successful brands will weather through the years.  Coke started out as a cola company and today has expanded into all things beverage. American Express started out as a credit card company and has redefined itself as a travel companion.

Disney began as an animation studio and expanded into all things entertainment.  Many in the industry thought Walt Disney had lost his mind when they saw him getting into the seemingly unrelated industry of amusement parks.  Walt saw that the market for movie-house cartoons was dying.  People were getting their entertainment in new ways. Walt didn’t see himself as just an animator. He saw himself as an entertainer and skillfully guided his company to become the pre-eminent entertainment company in the world.

Why History Channel is Smarter than you Think
“The History Channel” has rebranded itself “History” and is dabbling in reality shows like “Ice Road Truckers” and “American Pickers.”  Many think these shows have little connection to History’s brand, and pundits have been quick to call them crazy. But History knows it must expand or founder, and it is attempting to redefine the very meaning of history.

For most of us, history meant torturous academic tedium.  It was the wearisome toil of memorizing dry facts to get a good grade.  Twenty years ago Roger Mudd was the main host of The History Channel and stand-ups were done in old dusty libraries with racks of books behind him.  The channel had the nickname “the Hitler channel” because of its endless hours of black-and-white Nazi war documentaries.  

But History busted out of this dry definition of history.  It lost the deadening fact-focused documentary shows and redefined history around the personal stories of amazing characters from the past.  Its shows became less about learning and more about heroes and adventurers.  High-production, history-themed docu-dramas were the next level for this growing channel.  It brought history alive by making a personal connection with swashbuckling historical trailblazers like Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson and Martin Luther King. 

History was being morphed into something greater and more personally relevant.  It was shaking off the painful academic legacy that had turned the entire history field into a synonym for boring.  It was not about dry facts anymore.  The topic of history was invigorated by telling the very personal stories of the men and women who inspired their times. 

Reality programming is just the next step in a careful brand expansion process that has been going on throughout History’s timeline.  A branding novice might mistake these expansion moves as simple foolhardy brand dilution, but they are actually quite strategic.  History is moving from real stories about the lives of historic heroes into real stories about the lives of current-day heroes. 

Evolution, not Revolution
It is important to remember that not every brand expansion effort is going to work every time.  The Weather Channel got into the movie business this year and was soundly roasted in the press.  It has since backed off this strategy. Through the years The Weather Channel has successfully moved itself from being the forecast channel to being the weather channel. While they still do the forecast, they now have numerous weather adventure shows that are building their audience.  Their marketing journey has just begun.

A word of caution.  Realize that these channels did amazingly detailed research and built a careful plan they could stick to for years.  It was all about long-term planning.  Don’t ever mistake frivolous and impulsive dilution with strategic and measured brand expansion. 

So take a second look at the brand expansion strategies you see on TV.  They are a sign of success, not failure.  It is wonderful that these channels have been so successful that they have maxed out the available audience for their existing niche.  Now they must look for new customers.  They are simply following the prescribed strategies that visionary Madison Avenue pros laid out decades ago.

Next week: the “Netflix Effect.”  How future TV brand expansion strategies will be less about niches and more about lifestyles.

--Graeme Newell, President, 602Communications.com, is a broadcast and cable marketing consultant who specializes in relationship branding using core emotional drivers.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.

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