It’s not easy to pinpoint that phenomenal marketing pitch with the potential to turn into a campaign that will draw viewers for weeks, months, even years to come.
But when you know, you know. When it works, it works. From pop-up events to retro-posters; from the right spokesperson, to coincidently impeccable timing, so many different elements can come together to generate unique ideas that lead to innovative examples of television marketing.
In rounding up the top picks of 2017, Brief relied on analytics to showcase the most viewed stories of the year. Check them out below.
10. Nat Geo Partners with Mini Countryman for Integrated Branded Spot
National Geographic Channel teamed up with BMW-owned Mini for an integrated brand spot by studio 2C Creative that ties together its new series America’s Natural Parks, a sweepstakes to promote the show, and the car company’s new Countryman model.
9. FX Brings ‘Snowfall’ Experience to Los Angeles

FX channeled 1983 with a live pop-up event in downtown Los Angeles to attract viewers to its series about the birth of the crack cocaine epidemic in the city. Through music, art, food and experiential activations like a GIF-maker, the network turned back the clock and were able to set a mood that got people excited about the show.
8. Fox Sports Premium, TNT Sports Debut With ‘Sinceros’ Campaign
The two media companies struck a mega-deal for broadcast rights to Superliga Argentina de Fútbol and each launched their own channels, along with a joint campaign highlighting the passion of Argentine soccer fans by presenting the sport as an outlet for expressing all the strong emotions that society tends to hold back out of politeness.
7. Anna Kendrick Promotes Live TV in Dreamy Campaign for Hulu
Anna Kendrick glides through a whimsical, futuristic fantasy world, styled like the Hulu interface itself, as scenes from various shows swirl around her.
“It’s not a dream, It’s ‘TV come true’,” she says, voicing the tagline for Hulu’s “For the Audience” campaign that aimed to reintroduce Hulu’s programming options to those who may be unaware that the streaming service now offers live TV as well as on-demand content.
RELATED: Hulu Launches Holiday-Themed Content Beginning with ‘Huluween’
6. How FX’s Fortuitous Campaign for ‘The Americans’ Intersects with the Time of Trump
Headed into season five, it seems like the political climate has been tailor-made for FX’s critically beloved spy drama. Russians trying to infiltrate American politics? Check. Nefarious schemes boiling under the surface? Check. Republican president leading a Cold War against the Soviet Union? Not exactly, but there does seem to be something going on between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Intentional or no, The Americans’ timing is incredible.
5. NFL’s New Marketing Campaign Takes Page from Hollywood Playbook
It’s kickoff time; “Let the Show Begin.”
The tagline is part of the NFL’s new marketing campaign that breathes blockbuster-level enthusiasm into the start of football season with cinematic spots meant to mirror movie trailers, and appeal to millennials.
4. A+E Defines Brand with ‘Brave Storytellers’ Ad Campaign
A+E Networks revealed a marketing push to help its brand stand out with a new ad campaign, dubbed “Brave Storytellers,” featuring stars from its unscripted shows talking about what motivates them.
Using the mantra “It’s Only By Looking Closer That We See,” personalities such as Scientology and the Aftermath’s Leah Remini and Wahlburgers’ Donnie Wahlberg promote not just individual series, but A&E’s culture as a whole.
3. NBC to Revive ‘Must See TV’ Branding This Fall

NBC further tapped into the collective wave of nostalgia by reintroducing its iconic brand of Thursday night programming, spearheaded by the revival of Will & Grace, along with Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Great News, smash hit This Is Us, and limited series Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers.
2. ‘Stranger Things’ Posters Pay Homage to ‘80s Movies

Netflix described the first season of Stranger Things as “a love letter to the supernatural classics of the ‘80s.” The streaming service took that to the next level for season two by recreating posters of the films that inspired the series.
From Alien to The Evil Dead; from The Running Man to A Nightmare on Elm Street to Stand By Me, the retro campaign portrays Stranger Thing cast members in images that pay tribute to each movie’s original poster.
RELATED: ‘Stranger Things’ Launches Retro Video Game Ahead of Season 2
1. ‘Good Morning Football’ Is ‘Feeling Good’
NFL Network worked with creative agency Versus for a promo that uses a revision of the classic Nina Simone song to capture the lighthearted camaraderie of the show’s hosts.
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