When Keith Johnson, the buyer-at-large for specialty retailer Anthropologie, scours the globe in search of unusual decorative objects, furniture and textiles for an upcoming series on Sundance Channel, Stella Artois and Ferrero Rocher are on board for his treks.
The high-end brewer and confectioner have secured significant, multimedia sponsor packages for Man Shops Globe, the eight-part series that bows Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on Sundance Channel. The campaign includes print, on-air, online and outdoor ad components, in addition to in-store events at select Anthropologie locations throughout the U.S. and a national consumer sweepstakes.
Sarah Barnett, executive vice president and general manager of Sundance Channel, said the positioning of the upscale beer and chocolatier exemplify the service's 360-degree marketing integration with its partners.
"Like Sundance Channel, Stella Artois and Ferrero Rocher each have a distinctive, creative brand," she said. "This campaign, we believe, elegantly reflects the passions of those brands and their consumers."
As the presenting sponsor of the series, Stella Artois' marketing centerpiece is a series of eight co-branded vignettes, titled "One of a Kind." Each 60-second segment will showcase one artist from each country Johnson meets during his travels, providing viewers with additional information on the artist's craft, background and influences.
Stella Artois will also be featured in custom show opens and closes, tagged tune-in spots, animated "You're Watching" billboards, and through on-air factoids that give network and Sundance Channel On Demand viewers more information about each country.
As a participating sponsor, Ferrero Rocher will be featured in a trio of co-branded 60-second vignettes called "Man Shops Globe Unwrapped." Intended to illustrate the confectioner's tagline, "Everyday Indulgences," they depict exclusive footage of Johnson's travels to uncover treasures that Anthropologie sells.
The Italian company will also be the topic of a specially produced the network's "SUNCovered" news segment, which will be featured on-air and online.
Stella will be the exclusive beer and the chocolatier's treats the dessert du jour at the show's Sept. 29 premiere at Anthropologie's Rockefeller Center store in Manhattan. That's one of 10 in-store events to trumpet the show, with invites culled from Sundance and the retailer's data bases, according to Barnett.
Online, the network has launched a dedicated "Man Shops Globe" minisite, www.sundancechannel.com/manshopsglobe, featuring photos and videos of Johnson's favorite spots and artists in each country he traveled to for the series. Additionally, the Rockefeller Center store will feature a month-long photo installment inspired by his travels.
In addition to New York, Sundance and Anthropologie will hold in-store events in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Boston and Atlanta through Oct. 15. At each store, guests will sample the one-of-kind pieces available for sale and raise funds for the Association for Independent Design and Art Colleges.
Sundance will also support the series premiere with the "His Job. Your Adventure Sweepstakes," beginning Oct. 5. Viewers can enter at the aforementioned site by explaining what their most treasured "found object" is. Entrants will have the chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip for two to France, designed by Johnson, who will recommend what sights to see, where to eat and shop throughout the trip. Two second-place winners will each receive one of Keith's special finds unearthed throughout his travels across the globe, courtesy of Anthropologie.
The Man Shops Globe multimedia push is keyed by a unique ad that Sundance Channel commissioned from three artists who collaborated on the creative, applying their backgrounds in illustration, animation and music composition. It showcases Johnson aboard a sailboat fashioned entirely out of furniture and objects featured in the series and available in select Anthropologie stores.
The campaign will include print and outdoor presence in key markets, including New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, where Anthropologie is headquartered. The series will also be promoted via a heavy rotation of tune-in spots on-air and through affiliate cross-channel spots.
During each half-hour episode, viewers accompany Johnson on buying trips to countries including France, Turkey, Tunisia, India, The Netherlands, Belgium and Argentina, where he hits the ground with a different team of local experts and artists who help him seek, acquire and re-imagine a new life for the objects he discovers.
In the fourth episode, for example, Johnson's keen eye helps recreate history, so to speak.
"He finds [a royal's] headboard, but then takes it to a local graffiti artist," said Barnett. "At first, viewers might think Keith's a renegade, but then they see what he does is really transformative. That's what our viewers want."
