The CW is launching two first-of-their-kind sales programs for the 2011-2012 broadcast season, providing unique opportunities for advertisers on-air and online, while encouraging and rewarding viewers who watch The CW’s primetime shows live, the announcement was made at the network’s upfront presentation at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The CW will be the exclusive television partner of the smartphone app shopkick, which rewards The CW viewers with special discounts and rewards from advertisers while they watch. The CW has also created a fully sponsorable game, “Cwingo,” that viewers play online and through Facebook during the live broadcasts of CW shows.
“The CW is always looking for new ways to bring our advertisers into our eco-system of on-air, online, and social media, and we have two very exciting new platforms this year,” said Rob Tuck, Executive Vice President, National Sales, The CW. “Cwingo and shopkick really bring the second screen to life, enhancing the overall viewing experience in a way that our advertisers have been asking for and connecting them with our young viewers where they live and breathe – through social media and directly on their mobile devices.”
The CW’s exclusive partnership with shopkick will enable advertisers on The CW to reward users for watching their commercials with shopkick’s “reward kicks” and with special on-screen discount offers. With on-screen alerts, viewers will be reminded to open the shopkick app on their smartphone to receive exclusive deals. Using the smartphone’s microphone, the shopkick app will automatically recognize the TV commercial when it is watched to deliver instant rewards in the form of “kicks” and unlock special offers from advertisers on their featured branded products.
Cwingo or CW Plus Bingo
“Cwingo,” a bingo game with a CW twist, connects with viewers through Facebook while also driving them to watch The CW live on-air in order to play and win. Viewers challenge their Facebook friends to prove who’s the biggest fan, while playing along with their favorite CW shows. The “Cwingo” card, which viewers connect to through Facebook or directly on CWTV.com, features different scenes from an upcoming CW show as well as commercials airing during that episode. During the live episode, viewers click the scenes as they see them appear on-air. If viewers correctly click five scenes in-a-row and hit “Cwingo” they receive a special social badge for their Facebook profile, and are entered to win bigger weekly and monthly prizes, like a trip to the set of their favorite CW show.
“Cwingo” is a mobile-ready site, so viewers can play on smartphones as well as computers, and the “Cwingo” card is fully sponsorable for advertisers.
