Local Media: Viacom, Tribune and Pepsi Test Cross-Media Strategy

A local half-hour TV show on Saturday nights in Washington is taking product placement to a new level. Pepsi's Project X, the half-hour weekly program created and produced for Pepsi by Alexandria, Va.- based Synergy Media Group, is a blend of an infomercial, MTV-like videos and live entertainment.
Hosted by local radio personalities, Project X is also a one-of-a-kind multimedia play that is cross-promoting the Pepsi brand on local radio and TV stations in Washington.

After a successful 13-episode test run last year on WBDC-TV, Tribune Broadcasting's WB affiliate in Washington, Pepsi is currently mulling a proposal from Synergy to roll the show out in the coming months on local TV stations in an additional 13 markets - Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia, San Francisco; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Seattle; Atlanta; Baltimore; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Columbia, S.C. After a hiatus, WBDC welcomed Project X back to its Saturday-night lineup last weekend.

Project X is more involved than other branded entertainment efforts, such as the Coca-Cola sponsored WB summer series Young Americans and Fox's Murder in Small Town X, which featured scenes in a Taco Bell restaurant. "This is a step above product placement," said Mitch Litvak, president of LA Office, a Los Angeles entertainment consulting firm. "The risks are much greater, but the return for something that really works is much greater, too."

Although Pepsi would not disclose what it paid for the show and also declined to comment for this story, John Baer, president and chief creative officer of Synergy, said the cost for Pepsi in Washington has been about 60 percent less than a traditional media buy.
On its infomercial-like strategy, Synergy's plan is to purchase half-hour time blocks on local TV stations for the show and then partner with local radio stations for promotion spots in exchange for access to their on-air personalities, who host the show from a live event. For the Washington pilot, which targeted teens, Synergy bought the 10:30-11 p.m. Saturday time slot on WBDC.

To host the show, Synergy turned to two young-skewing FM radio stations owned by Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting, top-rated Urban WPGC and Modern Rock WHFS. WPGC evening personalities Flexx and Rane hosted all 13 shows, along with appearances by other WHFS and WPGC personalities.

"It's exposure you can't buy," said Baer, who estimated the value of the TV exposure for the Infinity stations at about $1 million. In exchange for hosting, the radio stations aired a schedule of spots promoting the TV show.

"It's a slick way to promote our talent, plus our call letters and ID are featured throughout the show. It's MTV-type stuff and first-class," said Jay Stevens, vp of programming for Infinity's Washington stations. WPGC's ratings were up in the Fall Arbitron book, to a 6.9 overall share. WBDC also came out ahead; Project X's initial 13 episodes earned a respectable 1.0 rating and 2 share overall, and a 2.0 rating among teens.

Synergy reports it is in talks with TV groups including Tribune, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox, and radio groups including Infinity, Clear Channel and Emmis Communications to bring Project X to other markets. Although the D.C. pilot targeted teens, Pepsi is also looking at versions that could target other demos, such as a Country audience, Baer said.

"It was a good business decision for us," said Jerry Martin, vp/general manager of WBDC. "It's better than a traditional infomercial, because it has entertainment value and doesn't look like a paid show."

But now that there's more demand for the station's inventory, Martin has moved the show back from 10:30 to midnight on Saturdays, following Showtime at the Apollo and Weekend Vibe, which target young African American viewers.

"The key to Project X will be if Pepsi decides to fund it, and if [Synergy] is able to clear the top markets," Martin said.