Reality TV - Worth Fighting For

Mark Burnett Productions' international executive in charge Scot Cru and executive producer of The Contender Asia and CEO of Imagine OmniMedia Riaz Mehta got in the ring with Marketing and trashed out what marketing The Contender and other reality TV shows are about.

How do you market your shows to broadcasters?

Cru: We have a reputation of providing A-class content so that opens a lot of doors. It's not so much of marketing to get the people to buy it, it's really about us creating the best deal - what we think is going to be in the best long-term interest of the show.

There's also a bit of salesmanship involved. Obviously, we're in this to make money. The broadcaster wants to pay me as little as possible, I want to get as much as possible and nine times out of 10 we meet in the middle.

How involved is Mark Burnett Productions in getting sponsorships here?

Cru: We retain control of who sponsors it. People often say in the contract negotiation, "We're not going to let you approve our sponsor", then we'll say "Then you won't get the show."

As much as I like Jim Beam, I don't want it sponsoring a show that is mainly built around fifth graders. The Contender for example is a great place for an advertiser of a sports drink or beer or muscle supplements. It's a great natural tie-in and the mistake that has been made is people try to tie-in things that aren't appropriate for that particular show.

How are these sponsorships structured?

Mehta: One of the key things is we're looking for integration - providing a lot more value to the sponsors in terms of exposure to the target audience. Our aim is to actually get them exposure in a subtle manner that gets the message across to the consumer without it being too ‘in your face'.

Cru: It is important to point out we wouldn't turn down placement money. [Laughter] You can come out of a scene with somebody drinking a weight-protein drink and going into a commercial for that very drink and that's how we're helping our clients market their products rather than just the traditional "Here's a 30 second spot, let's figure out how we can integrate it".

Mehta: Product integration is the better way to reach consumers and influence their habits and behaviour patterns. When the brand is integrated into the content the consumer cannot switch off because they're so involved in the show and then they've seen all your brand messages.

Cru: Mark's been saying it for years. He said "if you think the 30 sec spot is going to last, you're crazy. And you're going to be broke in 15 years...10 years."

AXN is a great example of a broadcaster that works with a producer to integrate sponsors into a show and their people get how to sell it. It's not just "give me product, give me money"- it's literally the amount of detail that they go through. For example, they say, "In episode six, this is how your product is going to be used, it's going to go on air for this long." They have somebody watch the show and clock all that stuff.

What is the biggest challenge in marketing a reality TV show to sponsors?

Mehta: In Asia, it's market maturity. This is the highest budget reality production that has been made in Asia. To get the right sponsors on board and get them to understand the value that we bring and for them to contribute the right level of sponsorship to the show has been a challenge for us.

Cru: The risk is a little bit higher - you know what you're going get with a 30 second spot but also when the risk is higher, the payouts are higher.

Why create reality TV?

Cru: We could put together a live event and make a lot of money and just put it on the air. But the compelling part that keeps bringing people back is the storytelling. People ask, "Is reality dead?" And I say, "No. It's good television, good storytelling. So whether it's a comedy or drama, there's good and bad in all of those genres. There's good reality and bad reality."

This show is about people who had never had the chance to compete at the level that they're competing in and get the exposure for the sport. All these kids are passionate about the sport becoming more popular.

What do you want to change in the reality TV business?

Cru: The number one thing is that terrestrial broadcasters and pay-TV broadcasters fight so feverishly for first run. You guys share about 20% of your audience - terrestrial guy, you got all the masses, and pay-TV guy, you got 20% that are watching you regularly but they make more money so you're allowed to charge more for advertising. So stop going with this ‘I want to run it first' because you're serving two different markets. The pay services will never have the vast audiences as the terrestrials. Maybe when they realise who their real competition is, it would say them a lot of time.