Visual Effects Makes the New York Times.

My effects shot makes the inside cover of the New York Times. I was called in at the last minute to fix a HiDef shot for an upcoming trailer for NBC and Mazda. I was taking over for someone else that had dropped the ball, so I had just two sleepless nights to texture and light the scene. This was just one of several shots, but my shot was the only one to make the paper. The Director described the shot as "Incredible". Next thing you know, it's in the morning paper. Of course, I still find myself saying, "if I just had more time I could have done this or that".

Business - Advertising

NBC and Mazda Jointly Promote New Lineups

Lake Bell of the NBC series "Surface" appears with a Mazda MX-5.

By STUART ELLIOTT
Published: July 21, 2005

NBC is beginning what may well be its most elaborate campaign ever to woo viewers to watch its series for the coming fall season. The multimillion-dollar campaign, which involves a big marketer, Mazda, and a big media company, Time Warner, also represents NBC's most extensive effort to use the firepower of branded entertainment in promoting a new-season lineup.

The highlight of the multimedia campaign, which begins today, is the careful interweaving of numerous beauty shots of two new Mazda models, the MX-5, a sports car, and the Mazda 5, a kind of cross between a minivan and compact station wagon.

The new models will get starring roles in promotions for the NBC 2005-6 prime-time season - formally titled "NBC First Look Presented by Mazda" - in outlets like television commercials, a short film to be shown in movie theaters, a dedicated Web site (nbcfirstlook.com) and CD-ROM's to be distributed to subscribers of special issues of Entertainment Weekly and People magazines, published by the Time Inc. division of Time Warner.

For instance, viewers of the commercials and short film will see the two Mazdas interspersed amid snippets of scenes from new NBC series like "E-Ring," "My Name Is Earl" and "Surface" as well as returning series like "Las Vegas."

In some cases, scenes from the pilot episodes of the new series were reshot to include the Mazdas with the participation of actors from the series like Jason Lee of "My Name Is Earl" and Lake Bell of "Surface." A star of "Las Vegas," James Lesure, also took part in the making of the campaign.

In other cases, the stars did not take part in the reshoots. For example, in scenes from "E-Ring," about the Pentagon, the Mazdas are shown being driven on the streets of Washington by unknown actors.

The sponsored "First Look" campaign offers another example of how major marketers are becoming involved in the entertainment programming of media companies. The goal is to tightly weave a brand or product into content and to counter consumers' growing habit of zipping, zapping or otherwise avoiding traditional commercial pitches.

Critics of creeping commercialism in American culture usually complain loudly about branded entertainment deals, particularly when they are centered on adding products or brands to movies, TV series, Web site content or song lyrics. Here, though, Mazda North American Operations - part of the Mazda Motor Corporation controlled by Ford Motor - has chosen to embed the new models within promotions rather than include them in programming, as it has in the past with agreements to feature products in series like "Fear Factor," also on NBC.

"We needed a unique, creative, innovative way to introduce the new products we have coming to market," said Don Romano, vice president for marketing at Mazda in Irvine, Calif., and "find a way to cut through the clutter in our category, where there's an enormous amount of traditional advertising."

Another appealing element, said Tim Blett, president for the Newport Beach, Calif., office of the Mazda agency, Doner, is that it cost less than it would have to write the new models into episodes of the NBC series.

Branded entertainment deals that involve programming "have gotten extremely expensive," Mr. Blett said. "This is a way for Mazda, with a limited budget by comparison with the competition, to get into programming in a unique way without paying full sticker."

Mr. Blett, Mr. Romano and executives at the NBC Agency, the network's internal shop, all declined to discuss the cost of the "First Look" campaign. It is somewhat difficult to value with much specificity because NBC earmarks part of the commercial time on the network for self-promotion rather than selling it to advertisers.

It is not difficult, however, to see why NBC may be eager to bring in heavyweights like Mazda and Time Warner to promote its prime-time lineup for the 2005-6 season, which includes a total of six new series in addition to returning fare.

In the 2004-5 season that ended in May, NBC came in fourth in ratings among the viewers the network most covets, ages 18 to 49, behind Fox, CBS and ABC. The finish was particularly tough because NBC - part of the NBC Universal division of General Electric - ended the 2003-4 season in first place in that important category.

"What we like about NBC is that we see a lot of ourselves in NBC," Mr. Romano said, describing them as "two companies up against competition, hungering to be No. 1, willing to go out and take some risks."

Asked if the deal was related to NBC's disappointing ratings last season, Barbara Blangiardi, vice president for marketing and special projects at the NBC Agency in Burbank, Calif., replied, "I don't think it has anything to do with that."

Rather, Ms. Blangiardi said, because "the most important thing we do" at the NBC Agency is to "launch the fall season," executives wanted to "figure out innovative ways to partner with other companies, marketers and media, to get our marketing message what we call off-platform, off NBC, to speak to consumers."

While "fall launch partnerships are common," Ms. Blangiardi added, "This one has a lot of original content and elements we've never done before."

The campaign will offer viewers three Mazdas as prizes as part of a sweepstakes that can be entered by visiting the "First Look" Web site after spotting a Mazda in a promotional commercial on NBC. The Web site will also offer visitors series previews, interviews with stars and even a glimpse at what the NBC Agency describes as "the making of the Mazda on-air promotional spots."

The short film will run in theaters that show advertising sold by National CineMedia, a joint venture of three big movie chains: AMC Entertainment, Cinemark USA and the Regal Entertainment Group. The CD-ROM is to be inserted in September issues of Entertainment Weekly and People, timed to coincide with the planned start of NBC's premiere week on Sept. 19.

The CD-ROM, which will offer links to the special "First Look" Web site, is to feature previews of the NBC lineup for the 2005-6 season as well as the Mazda lineup for the 2006 model year. The CD-ROM is also scheduled to include the complete pilot episode of "My Name Is Earl." Many advertising agency executives have called the show, a sitcom, their favorite new NBC series for the fall.

In September, NBC and Mazda also plan to hire so-called street teams in selected markets across the country, to distribute copies of the CD-ROM to generate word of mouth for the new models and the new fall schedule.

Between the distributions in person and in the magazines, Mr. Blett of Doner said, Mazda and NBC hope to hand out "a big chunk" of CD-ROM's, "between 2 million and 2.5 million copies."