Thanksgiving, quite simply, is the Food Network’s Super Bowl.

The channel prepares for the programming event months in advance, enlists its hosts and personalities and sets out to be the holiday’s one-stop shop, including everything from food history to help and advice. For the month of November, shows and specials revolve around the history of food, the etiquette surrounding it and most importantly, how to make every dish the best you’ve ever served.

This year, Food Network has launched a brand campaign called “ThanksGiving You,” expanding the holiday programming to an overall brand imaging campaign. The idea is to solidify Food Network as the place to be leading up to the big day across its properties online, on air, even in print.

“We are always exploring ways to highlight all the brand has to offer, and there really is no better time than Thanksgiving to do that,” said Susie Fogelson, senior VP of marketing and brand strategy at Food Network and Cooking Channel. “Being able to showcase our talent inside programming and digital content as well as inside a campaign focused on celebrating a holiday for which food is the centerpiece reinforces Food Network as the destination for anything the audience wants or needs.”

The ThanksGiving You campaign came together months ago, because the network starts to think about the holiday season toward the beginning of the summer. It brought on Stun Creative and Buster to work on the graphics package and to create some fun holiday spots to run on air.

The idea of the campaign was more than just making Food Network synonymous with Thanksgiving, but acknowledging that Food Network has always been synonymous with Thanksgiving and celebrating the natural relationship.

“We didn’t just want to do a brand image campaign just for Thanksgiving, we wanted to establish something we could do every year,” said Terry McCormick, creative director, brand image and editorial, at the Food Network and Cooking Channel. “It’s us putting a flag in the ground for Thanksgiving.”

One of the more playful spots (set to Tom Jones’ “Give A Little Love”) features hosts and chefs dancing along to the hit as they share why Thanksgiving is so important to them. While emphasizing the caliber of its on-air talent, the spot also serves as a fun bit of fan appreciation, wishing everyone a happy holiday as they begin to prepare for the day.

Other spots carry a similar visual of a photo collage with hosts sharing their own experiences (Giada eats lasagna on Thanksgiving), their holiday knowledge (did the pilgrims serve lobster?) and their twists on the day (try pumpkin bread pudding instead of pie).

Programming wise, Thanksgiving lasts all month long on the Food Network. The channel took advantage of the season this year by premiering new Curtis Stone series Kitchen Inferno and the Bobby Deen-hosted Holiday Baking Championship, along with specials Outrageous Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving at Bobby’s. Also airing throughout the month are holiday-themed episodes of shows including Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen and Guy’s Grocery Games in primetime and Giada at Home, Guy’s Big Bite and Trisha’s Southern Kitchen in Food Network’s daytime block.

Things get even more in-depth online. Food Network’s digital team started to think about Thanksgiving all the way back in February, when many brands are still recovering from the New Year. The site’s Thanksgiving hub features recipes, videos, menus, and tips and tricks on planning, cooking and etiquette from the brand’s selection of respected chefs and food experts. Its social handles also post brief videos from chefs providing their advice along with answering fans’ questions about the big day.

The site highlights its Food Network Stars with slideshows and Q&As, like this one with each celebrity chef sharing their own Thanksgiving traditions. Other pages provide a visual look at cooking trends over the past 20 years (1996 was a big year for deep frying turkeys) and offer hosting advice on everything from invitations to how to set the table.

“We wanted to celebrate our connection to our audience, literally ‘giving’ them the holiday,” said Fogelson. “ThanksGiving You is Food Network’s way of thanking our fans.”

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