HOLLYWOOD–With a pedigree in non-fiction and reality shows, Bravo is looking to mimic it's on-air advertising strategy on the Web by incorporating sponsors into shows….
the network's new media chief Lisa Hsia told Beet.TV at the NATPE LA TV Fest in earlier this month.
"There have always been regular commercials and brand integration [on-air]," said Hsia, senior VP of Bravo Digital Media. "Now, we are applying that to the digital world so revenues come from pre-roll and banner but also from product integration in a visual sense and an editorial sense."
In addition to crafting the online presence for Bravo's TV shows, Hsia's group is tasked with creating made-for-mobile and made-for-Web shows too. Current Web site sponsors include Target and Blackberry, which runs pre-roll ads and is integrated into the Web content for the network's show "NYC Prep."
The network has also landed Maybelline and Toyota as sponsors for mobile shows. Hsia has said that Bravo doubled the number of consumers visiting its mobile Web site from 2007 to 2008 and mobile Web use is now doubling month to month.
"Now from the conception of the show, the digital people are in the development meetings," Hsia said. "When you think about creating shows for Bravo, it's creating the show…and the digital pieces of the creative content."
Also, at the NATPE LA TV Fest, Ms. Hsia remarked that Bravo recently commissioned a 14-episode mobile series for $2500, a mere pittance for a network to pay, and for a producer to receive.
Daisy Whitney, Senior Producer
