Promo campaign nightmares are a fact of life. But the good thing about nightmares is that we all eventually wake up, and we may have even learned a thing or two in the process. PromaxBDA: The Conference featured a session, “Horror Stories: Nightmare Campaigns and How They Were Turned Around,” which delved into six hopeless seeming scenarios that got turned around by some of the best in our business. Here are a couple sneak previews:

Deadly Talent Encounters

In primetime TV, we often encounter, and must work around, talent with big personalities, but what do you do when two larger-than-life celebrities clash, threatening to bring down an entire franchise? Fox Broadcasting Company’s Brian Dollenmayer, EVP of on-air promotion and marketing operations, faced this scenario while developing promos around newly added “American Idol” judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, whose heated rivalry was no secret.

“We didn’t want to add any fuel to their fight, and we also knew that once the premiere episode aired, we couldn’t run from the feud either,” Dollenmayer explains. “But, through the magic of editing, we were able to take what was a rather heated moment and turn it into one of the feel good moments in television history.”

Hellish Learning Curves, Horrendous Deadlines and Huge Expectations

It’s t-minus three weeks and counting. Your team is far from approval stages, and late-breaking leadership changes have you suddenly in charge of the promo campaign for your network’s BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR. Did I add that you’re new to the job? Lara Richardson, SVP of marketing at Discovery Channel, knows this nightmare scenario all too well. It was the challenge she faced in delivering promos for the 25th anniversary of “Shark Week.”

Working at warp speed, Richardson had to immerse herself in the brand, its history and its evolving vision under new leadership, all while rallying troops capable of producing the level of fresh ideas required of such a landmark event. After establishing and communicating a clear vision of her success metrics, which required a lot of internal discussion, Richardson cast a wide of go-to vendors and creatives that could help in a bind.

“Bringing in the fresh thinking of creative teams and/or production companies can help you see new opportunities,” she says. “We all face some kind of nightmares along the way. It’s that ability to roll with the punches, have a trusted team around you and get creative with solutions that will help the nightmares go away.”

Chris Sloan is president and executive creative director of 2C Media.

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