This article was originally published by Variety
TV viewers may know Enterprise best for its TV commercials featuring Joel McHale and Kristen Bell. Now the company hopes people will recognize it for short videos it has produced that address disaster relief and intriguing technology.
To accomplish its goal, the transportation company is placing a three-part video series across venues operated by Discovery Inc.’s Science Channel and Group Nine Media’s Seeker. Discovery purchased a minority stake in Group Nine in 2016.
“We do a lot of of other things besides renting cars,” says Rob Connors, vice president of brand marketing for Enterprise. That story, he adds, “is hard to tell in a traditional marketing mix.” The campaign launches today and is expected to continue through the second and third quarters of this year.
Enterprise’s drive to find ways to discuss more complex aspects of its business with consumers puts a spotlight on the new methodologies that help them do so. In this case, Enterprise is making a concerted effort to find consumers fascinated by new technologies and systems, not the average lean-back couch potato.
The video series will be made available on Seeker’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter channels, via Science Channel social media, and dedicated content hub on Seeker.com. It will examine infrastructure technology, disaster relief logistics to new transportation innovation. The content will also be repackaged into linear vignettes slated to air during relevant programming on both Science Channel and Discovery Channel, and will show up on Science Channel’s authenticated streaming app as well as in connected-TV devices. Enterprise’s campaign will also play a part at “Night at the Museum,” an event Seeker is scheduled to hold in late summer of this year.
“We are really seeing the audience leaning into how science plays into their today and how it will shape their tomorrow,” says Caroline Smith, chief content officer of Seeker.
The deal came together at an event known as a “Final Front,” a showcase for advertisers orchestrated by Omnicom Media Group’s Content Collective and, in this case, its corporate sibling PHD, which serves as Enterprise’s media agency. In recent years, Content Collective, which specializes in weaving brands and content, has prodded media companies to offer broader distribution and venues by teaming up. Science Channel and Seeker have been offering larger packages in tandem since last year. “This is really the first big partnership,” said Lauri Baker, Discovery’s senior vice president of digital sales solutions.
At the most recent “Final Front,” Discovery and Group Nine offered to focus on how urban populations – expected to soar by 2050 – will grapple to balance population growth with quality of life. Content Collective was looking to present packages that melded traditional media with emerging venues. The collaboration between the two companies represented what executives felt “was an ideal alignment with the focus on mobility and transportation and disaster relief,” said Rachel Baumgarten, managing director of the Content Collective.
