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Love it or hate it, CBS' Survivor: The Australian Outback is a bona fide television event on par with the original and a marketing bonanza for its advertisers and sponsors.
That's advertisers and sponsors, because CBS has taken an unusual tactic to attracting marketing dollars to the network via this show that strands 16 Americans in the Australian outback to compete for a grand prize of $1 million: Besides selling traditional 30-second ads, the network also offered advertisers the option of signing up for a comprehensive sponsorship package lasting for the show's run. Nine companies took the bait, including San Francisco-based Visa International, Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi-Cola Co., Atlanta-- based Cingular Wireless and Canton, Mass.based Reebok International Ltd..Each ponied up an estimated $12 million each for the 13week run.
"With standard sponsorships, banners and billboards may be elements of what the sponsorship includes, but the main benefit of the sponsorship is the association with the property itself," observes Sean Brenner, managing editor of Chicago-based newsletter IEG Sponsorship Report. "There's obviously a bit of that element with a program like Survivor."
In addition to ad spots over multiple episodes, CBS' sponsorship package includes promotional billboards (a sponsorship announcement leading into and out of commercial breaks), the sponsors' logos in all Survivor print ads, guaranteed category exclusivity, links to the shows official Web site and, where applicable, product placement. For example, in one recent episode, the tribe that won the challenge was granted a dinner featuring Doritos and Mountain Dew. In another from last season, the winners were air-dropped a reward package from mass retailer Target. Meanwhile, Cingular Wireless sponsors an audio clip from the most recent player to be voted off the show on the show's Web site.
So far, sponsors are getting their money's worth:...