​This summer’s season of Playing House on USA will see the comedy duo of Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham playing double duty, with weekly episodes on USA as they also star in VOD ads to run during their own show.

USA, in an effort to more seamlessly integrate sponsors into its VOD ad breaks, has created a series of spots starring the show’s cast. The network hopes to create better brand integration for its list of sponsors, including Toyota, Samsung and USA’s parent company Comcast.

Playing House will also see a new viewing window on its VOD, with next week’s episode becoming available to view directly after the current episode airs on linear TV. The branded spots will air as 60-second promos on USA’s channel, while longer versions will air on the VOD channel.

In Toyota’s spot, for example, St. Clair and Parham are driving in a Toyota Camry as they begin to fight about giving the Camry a nickname. Comcast’s spot is focused on testing the limits of its X1 voice remote. “Show me movies about women on an emotional journey in a foreign land, preferably eating croissants,” says St. Clair. Parham: “Okay, I think that might be a little too specific.”

Each promo is meant to follow along the lines of Playing House’s comedy, focusing on the two women and their friendship with the sponsor coming secondary as to feel less like a direct ad.

Read more at Adweek.

Brief Take: With a more attentive audience than a typical on-air commercial spot (one can rarely skip them), VOD ad breaks are the perfect spot to integrate the network and sponsor partners.

[Image courtesy of USA]

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