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    VH-1

    A non-positioning document

    by Bill Burnett4/97

    Revision #8 Apr 21, 97

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    INTRODUCTION

    In February, 1997, I was asked to work with Fred Seibert to help create a positioningdocument for VH-1.

    Fred and I are big believers in positioning. And weve had some experience with it.

    We worked together on several similar documents at MTV networks.

    I wrote the positioning for Comedy Central.

    When I came to Hanna-Barbera I wrote the positioning document for our cartoon studio.

    And Fred and I and another colleague conducted a seminar about positioning which wepresented to all of Turner Broadcasting in 1994.

    Now Ive been working on this VH-1 positioning document for three weeks.After careful consideration and much soul searching, Ive arrived at a difficult conclusion:I dont think VH-1 needs a positioning document.

    It needs a document, all right. It needs something to focus and inspire and explain thenetwork to itself.

    Hopefully this document will help do that.

    To understand my decision, we need to spend a little time discussing positioning...

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    WHAT IS POSITIONING--Usually?

    Usually, positioning means defining the one slot in the consumers mind that your product--and only your product-- can occupy and own.

    The #2 Car Rental Company--Avis

    The Overnight Delivery Service--Federal Express

    The Alternative to Cola flavored soft drinks--Seven-Up

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    WHAT IS POSITIONING--Usually? page 2

    Once youve done that, it becomes a relatively easy to figure out suchinternal questions as:

    What kind of company (or network) are we?What do we do?What do we say?What do we look like?What do we sound like?Who is our audience?What kind of product should we offer?What kind of product should we not offer--even if it has value-- because its simplynot us?

    It would have been crazy for Avis to start saying Were out to be #1

    Federal Express should never offer A low Slo-o-o-w price

    Seven-up should resist the impulse to introduce Seven-Up Cola

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    WHAT IS POSITIONING--Usually? page 3

    Usually, positioning involves creating a distinction that does not naturally exist in theconsumers mind.

    Before Avis, no one knew or cared what the #2 of anything was.

    Before Federal Express, overnight delivery was something you turned to theyellow pages for.

    There were dozens of non-cola flavored soft drinks before Seven-up seized

    that position--and there still are.

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    WHAT IS POSITIONING--Usually? page 4

    Usually, positioning leads to the creation of snappy packaging and advertising.

    Two fingers raised--Were # 2--We try harder Fast talking man-- When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight

    Maniacally cackling deep voiced announcer-- The Un-Cola

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    Can VH-1 follow the above prototypes and find success andhappiness?

    No.

    Why not?

    Because VH-1 already has a position

    VH-1 already owns a slot in the consumers mind.

    VH-1s product is something that the consumer already cares deeply about.

    And VH-1s problems wont be solved by snappy packaging or advertising.

    What is VH-1s position?...

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    VH-1 is the Adult Music Channel.

    No one else can make that claim.

    In fact, with MTV turning more and more to long form kid-life-style programming, youcould even make a case that VH-1 is THE music channel. But lets not go there now.

    The point is, everyone knows VH-1.

    Everyone likes VH-1.

    As far as that goes.

    Its a pleasant, benign presence on the low foothills of the cable landscape.

    Theres only one problem...

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    VH-1 IS A FAILURE.

    Nobody cares about the adult music channel.

    VH-1 has been unable to make anyone care about it for 12 years.

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    Why was VH-1 Failure?Theres a list of reasons as long as your arm:

    No clear execution of vision

    No stick-to-it-iveness

    Not enough money for advertising

    Blocked by internal MTV Networks politics

    Dependence on music videos that dont get ratings

    No development of first-run, home grown product

    No long range planning

    Bad programming

    Too many one shot programs

    Too many non-music oriented programs

    (Okay, so youve got a short arm)

    All of the above are true, to varying degrees.

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    But in spite of all that...

    it seems odd that VH-1 would have such a tough time getting people to care about itwhen its content is something that everybody does care about very deeply...

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    MUSIC

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    WE KNOW THAT ADULTS CARE ABOUT MUSIC.

    We know it through record sales statistics.

    We know it through radio demographics.

    We know it through focus group research.

    We know it through ratings for the Bee Gees Storytellers episode.

    We know it through Tickets First ticket sales to concerts for acts like John Mellencamp.

    We know it because Bill Clinton kept the president of Egypt waiting while he discussedthe new John Coltrane CD set.

    And most of all , we know it in our guts.

    So whats the problem?

    Lets pause for a brief historical discussion about music...

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    The reason there is a VH-1 is because there was anMTV.

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    The Reason there was an MTV, is because there was the1960s.

    The 1960s changed, fundamentally, the way people viewed popular music.

    Prior to the 1960s, popular music was generally viewed as a hummable, danceabledisposable fun.

    (Sure, there were the few fanatics who stared deeply at the work of Louis Armstrong orDuke Ellington or George Gershwin, but the culture in general did not see popular musicas important.)

    In the 1960s, that changed. The generation known as The Baby Boom looked at the postmodern stew of musical styles that came to be known as Rock and generally agreed thatit was one of the most important achievements of the century--if not THE most important.

    Rock became, in a very real sense, a new secular religion.

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    Out of the energy of The Beatles camethe new Beatitudes.

    Dylan was deified.Clapton was God.Joni Mitchell became the goddess/spokeswoman for anentire generation.

    Singer/songwriters replaced the hack tin pan alley tunesmiths and became pop priests.

    They wrote personal epistles to their flocks and released them, sometimes almostinstantaneously, on vinyl.

    Tin soldiers and Nixons coming...

    They chronicled important events in the new pop/rock culture.

    By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half-a-million strong...

    Their words were analyzed and discussed like holy texts.

    I am the Egg Man, they are the Egg Men, I am the Walrus

    Songs served as the signposts on the path to understanding.

    You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes...

    Songs gave solace in times of need.

    Oh, Ive seen fire and Ive seen rain

    Songs discussed and defined morality.

    Whats goin on?

    And music became one of the major ways that people recognized each other and wherethey stood in the world...

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    Styles of music came to define people the way religiousaffiliation had before.

    Were you a Folkie? A Metal Head? Did you like Soul? Funk? Fusion?

    Each sub-genre was a sect with ecstatic worshippers massing to view their latest messiahs.

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    MTV caught the tale end of this religi-fication ofmusic and translated its style and some of its substanceinto television--something that had never been donebefore.

    The bratty demand I want my MTV may have been annoying, but it didnt seemridiculous (the way, say, I want my Big Band Jazz would have.)

    After all, this is a nation founded on religious freedom.

    MTV was rock, and rock was a religion.

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    And MTV begat VH-1.

    Ideally, VH-1 should have spoken to the deeper needs--the musical passion--of the MTV

    graduates.

    Ideally, VH-1 should have superseded MTV as a music channel

    As the MTV Graduates matured, and as baby boomers gradually came to understandand discover the value of music television, VH-1 should have become the great centralchurch of the somewhat diluted but still vital religion of popular music.

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    But VH-1 knew not who it was.

    Deprived of a cutting edge by its big sister/mama MTV, VH-1 settled for a butter-knifeblade

    That didnt cut it.

    Floundering, it started getting addicted to non-music ratings grabbers like Gallagher andStand-up comedy.

    Viewers might enjoy watching watermelons get smashed, but what channel wasthat? Who knew...who cared?

    The intensity, the fervor, the irreverent reverence, that made VH-1 possible, wascompletely missing from the channel that ought to be carrying on that grand traditionbegun in the 60s.

    So, what can we learn from this?...

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    VH-1 DOESNT NEED A POSITION.

    VH-1 NEEDS TO GET RELIGION.

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    WHAT WOULD GETTING RELIGION AT VH-1 MEAN?

    Well, to begin with it would mean doing more of some of the great things youve alreadygot--such as Storytellers, VH-1 Honors, Pop-up Video, and Legends.

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    WHAT WOULD GETTING RELIGIONAT VH-1 MEAN? page 2

    Beyond that, we should start measuring ourselves against a higher standard than weveused in the past.

    Each of us has our own list of people we can agree have religion when it comes tomusic. That indefinable passion that guides everything musical thing he/she does. Peoplelike Eric Clapton or k.d. lang or Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell.

    So, lets begin by imagining what each of the following people would think about A) ourprogramming, B) our promotions, C) our ads D) our style.

    If it is possible to imagine that our passion list of musicians would give a thumbs up towhat were presenting, were probably on the right track.

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    WHAT WOULD GETTING RELIGIONAT VH-1 MEAN? page 3

    In feeling and appearance, VH-1 would no longer feel like light, frothy place to spend 6

    minutes. It would like a place where adults who love music live.

    Which, by definition, would mean that VH-1 would feel like a place where kids were notespecially welcome.

    VH-1 would take music as seriously as its millions of viewers do.

    VH-1 would be a source of musical information of true substance, presented in a way thatthe aficionado would approve and the neophyte would understand.

    VH-1 would also be the source of the practical information--on concerts, CDs, sound

    equipment, etc.--that adults need to make decisions.

    VH-1 would develop genres of programming that arent just video.

    VH-1 would find ways to support genres of music other than slick pop rock, music thatmaybe it doesnt even play, such as world music, folk, jazz, blues, reggae. (This couldcorrespond to sidebar boxes in magazines--interesting tidbits of information as opposed tofull-sized shows.)

    VH-1 wouldnt be embarrassed about musics romantic side, but it would believe thatadults would be interested in music with a big beat.

    VH-1 would let on that it knew the difference between a Peter Gabriel and a MichaelBolton. It might still play Michael Bolton, but the viewer would know that VH-1 knew.

    VH-1 would have the power to take certain types of musical artists from obscurity tostardom.

    VH-1 would also create stars among the VH-1 personnel, both behind and in front of thecamera.

    VH-1 would create live events off air that adults could count on for quality.

    VH-1 would both reflect and lead the culture.

    VH-1 would make people over 25 proud of listening to music again. It wouldreestablishing listening to music as an adult prerogative for the first time in 40 years.

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    Now, what positioning statement could sum all that up?..

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    VH-1MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

    Now, before you freak out...

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    Keep in mind

    -This is not advertising.

    -This is not packaging.

    -This is not on-air promotion.

    (We wont scare everybody away by putting on monks outfits and telling the worldthat weve become a bunch of music zealots, or make all our sets into stained glasswindows.)

    This is not even something we would necessarily ever utter outside the privacy of our ownoffices and conference rooms.

    Instead, its something to measure our efforts against, something focus our thoughts,something to inspire us.

    A mantra, if you will...

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    VH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

    VH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

    VH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

    VH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGIONVH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

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    VH-1--MUSIC IS OUR RELIGION

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    VH-1Non-postioning Statement

    Appendix A

    VH-1s Major Task:PROVE IT!

    Now that we have a non-position that we like for VH-1 what the heck do we do?

    The major issue confronting VH-1 is this question from its viewers and its potentialviewers: Why?Why should I bother to watch VH-1? Its been ten different things over the last several

    years. I like a couple of things on the channel, but really, why should I use VH-1regularly?

    In promotion, advertising, programming, press relations and any other way wecommunicate with the world, we have to answer that question.

    VH-1 has to PROVE it deserves the attention of its audience.

    PROVE (if you hadnt noticed) is the operative word.Not SAY. Not TELL. Not SHOUT. Not BEAT IT INTO THEIR HEADS.Prove. Persuade. Seduce. Cajole.Prove that its worth their time, and the audience will give you the time.

    How can we prove the VH-1 promises?

    1. VH-1. We put music first.

    VH-1 is now the only network on television that can say it puts music first.Thats a powerful position to be in. Without making a direct assault on our sisternetwork, we need to prove to our audience that VH-1 will never let them downwith a non-music experience. We must never let the audience forget that VH-1 isthe ONLY place they can turn to for guaranteed music.Music is our religion is a stronger way of saying Music First. Music Firstmight be what we keep saying to the world. Or we might want to find other

    words, since these have been around for awhile and may not have as much energyas we need today.

    2. VH-1. Where music means more than videos.

    Ask anybody what music television means, and the first word out of theirmouths will be videos. Thats because MTV defined the form years ago and noone has succeeded in redefining it.

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    Having proclaimed that Music is our religion, we must prove that by findinginnovative ways to present music television becomes an article of faith. It is ourquest. Its the Grail.

    (more)

    VH-1 must create a mix of programming in which videos is only one part--probably not the most important part. It must continue with shows likeLegends, VH-1 Honors, Midnight Special, Dick Clark, and Storytellers.And find others as well.

    3. VH-1 keeps you connected with your favorite music.

    In radio, Your Favorite Music has traditionally meant the top of the pops.VH-1 must prove to the audience that we present music from your life. Not justoldies, not just current hits. Anything from KC and the Sunshine Band to the latestMellisa Ethridge clip can and will appear on VH-1.

    Another way VH-1 can prove that it keeps the audience connected to music isthrough proactive ideas like Tickets First. Adults will appreciate other adultswho make it easier to find out about what music is around, and to get help ingetting to the music, either live or recorded.

    4. VH-1 has the stories behind the music.

    Stories are the heart and soul of the religion of music. They are what set us apartfrom the world of kids. Kids care about sheer energy. Adults want to know thestory behind the energy.This is where VH-1 can have a field day. There are dozens of ways to prove

    VH-1s dedication to music through stories. Stories can mean artists being storytellers.

    Stories can be the legends of music.

    Stories can be viewers telling their experiences with music.

    Stories can be artists telling the behind the scenes tales of making music.

    Stories can be about the videos themselves

    Stories can be about music our viewers dont like. If we do a show on Hip

    Hop from the point of view of why our audience hates it, theyll relate to it andmaybe even open their eyes and ears to this kids music.

    Stories can be about music that isnt on VH-1--anything from Gamalon music

    in Bali to African Thumb Pianos from the Ivory Coast. VH-1 could do pieceson the Beau Hunks, the archivists who are restoring the old Lil Rascalsmusic. It could commemorate Charlie Parkers birthday. In this way VH-1would come to own all of Music, not just the small slice that is available toprogramming.

    5. VH-1. No kids allowed.

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    A rule of thumb in the battle for audience attention and loyalty: Have an enemy.VH-1 should prove it is the music channel for adults by not being the musicchannel for kids. This will sharpen our point of difference in the cluttered cableworld.Music is our religion should be approached with the measured confidence of anexperienced adult, not the wild eyed fanaticism of a kid. No Kids Allowed will saythat we are adults and have other things in our lives--work, family, ambition--besides music. Our pace, our self-assurance, our attention to detail, will makeVH-1 a place that kids just dont feel invited to. The cooler ones can come,though. (Well never throw them out.)

    So, where can we start on all this? Well, promos is oneobvious jumping off place...

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    VH-1Non-positioning document

    Appendix B

    SUGGESTIONSFORPROMOEXECUTIONSFORVH-1,APRIL 1997. BY FRED SEIBERT.

    Below Im making a few suggestions as to executional approaches for promos. Theseideas are not the be all and end all. There are dozens of other ways to prove our points.Think of these as springboards to help us get started.

    BUTFIRST, ANOTEON ATTITUDE. Since the day MTV went on the air in 1981, networks

    and on-air promotion departments, broadcast and cable alike, have been berserk overattitude. Every one is searching for attitude. You gotta have attitude.

    Personally, as one whos helped unleash this monster, I feel ashamed. What a bunch ofbaloney, this search for attitude.

    Theres only two things that establish the holy attitude, in my opinion: 1)the content ofthe network itself, and 2) the approach and talent of the people making the spots. Followthe quality of the programming content and make fantastic spots that PROVE to theaudience you deserve their time. The attitude will be there. Really, its the only way togo.

    Any attempt to preordain the attitude and for executives to lead talent in a direction forwhich they are not suited is preordained to fail.

    A NOTEONSTYLE. A SUBSETOF ATTITUDE. In this day and age of promotion style seems tobe the end game for many producers. If it looks cool, it MUST be a good spot! Ithink this approach is poppycock (for want of an acceptably printable word). Style is veryimportant, but content is the key. A well conceived idea will win out over a merelystylized one any day.

    ANOTHER

    NOTE

    ON

    STYLE

    . At the risk of contradicting myself, once VH-1 has figured outthe content of its promotion style does come into play. However, I would say that onlytwo cable networks have consistently used style to their benefit over the last 15 years,MTV and E!. For VH-1 it is imperative that the network find its own style. Theobservation has been made that with many channels, VH-1 included, if you removed theend tag logo, it would be impossible to identify the network from the remaining elements.Writing, graphics, editing style, announcer, visual content all have to be uniquelycombined so that ONLY VH-1 could have made the communication.

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    (more)

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    A NOTEONTHEVOLUMEOFSPOTPRODUCTIONANDTHEFREQUENCYOFPLACEMENT.

    Be careful about making and playing too many spots.

    VH-1 is one of the few networks that has gotten smart about this aspect of promotion.

    Within the last year youve cut back the number of ideas/events promoted in one week tofive or six. An ideal number.

    Most other cable networks are not so smart. Cable has too few viewers who watch toolittle time to use broadcast promotion models, which is really what everyone does. Figurethat the average person who watches your network watches less than ten minutes at atime. The chances that theyre going to see a spot even once a week is remote at best,when its proven that seeing a spot three times a week is the absolute minimum needed tomake an impression. So why run spots for ten, twenty or thirty things that will never getseen, no less acted on?

    Remember, its five different spots. Not five different ideas,five different spots only. This

    way: you get to make fewer spots for more money (theoretically then, better spots); andeach idea gets a chance to make an impression on the viewers.

    If you ever think you have to do more, or management asks you to do more, take avalium. Because doing more just makesyou feel better. Not the viewer, not evenmanagement, not advertisers. Because they just wont work. Nothing will work if youoverload the system. And my belief is that more than five a week overloads the VH-1system. Get better ratings and more time spent viewing and you can revise this idea.Before that, relax and succeed.

    A NOTEONANNOUNCERS. Producers hate to be limited as to their creative choices so thissuggestion will fly in their faces. But here goes.

    Get a great announcer and use him/her (your choice) for everything. This way viewersstart to identify a voice with the network. Not just a human voice to be sure, becausethe writing and execution have to be consistent enough that the attitude of the networkcontribute to that voice. But a human voice is the anchor to it all.Yes, you need to get someone flexible enough to do a variety of acting jobs you mightcome up with for them. The right person will be able to stretch far enough to cover mostof your needs. Remember that Ernie Anderson, one of the greats, was able to handleeverything at ABC from true crime stories to the Loovve Boat with credibility and

    integrity.

    My off-the-top-of-my-head suggestion: Roscoe.

    (more)

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    AND NOW, FINALLY, ONTO THE SPOTS.

    For conveniences sake, the promises again:

    1. VH-1. We put music first.

    2. VH-1. Where music means more than videos.

    3. VH-1 keeps you connected with your favorite music.

    4. VH-1 has the stories behind the music.

    5. VH-1. No kids allowed.

    The springboards (and the promises they can prove):

    VIEWERTESTIMONIALS.

    PROMISES: ALL.

    Interview VH-1 viewers, members of your ideal target (M/W 25-34). Ask them questionsthat solicit the ideal answers, like Are you too old to like music?Or What music programs do you like on TV?

    The trick here will be the selection and editing. Some spots, but not all, should be a seriesof viewers with short phrases for answers. But other spots might be just one person witha fantastic story told with fantastic energy. You need to let the responses guide the finalexecution.

    Why testimonials? Many people think theyre cheap, low class junk. Maybe. But theywork and work like crazy. Why? People like to know that other people just like them areusing the network. When they see them telling stories about how much they like VH-1they get support and validation that their viewing is a good idea.

    PHONECALLSPOTS.PROMISES: ALL.

    (Note these spots require a pre-set-up, with phone numbers and phones, and solicitationspots on the air.)

    These spots are similar to testimonials, but the testimonials are in the form of voice mailstories that can be edited. The content is similar, but here the prompting is in the form ofvisuals on the network. Favorite artists, songs, videos, album covers, celebrities, shows,etc. can all be used as catalysts. Then when you get great stories, you use the phoners asthe entire soundtrack, with visuals from the subject at hand for the pictures. If necessary,some supplemental footage can be shot to give the spots some zing.

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    The rationale here is the same as the testimonials with one added kicker. There is nothinglike the sound of a phone call for immediacy, voyeuristic thrill and integrity. Usedproperly a phone call screams.

    (more)

    USESHOWSTOPROVEPROMISES, NOTTHEOTHERWAYAROUND.

    PROMISES: ALL.

    Without exception, networks use promos to sell the time and day a show is on. Imsuggesting you forget that notion and solely use a show (or a few shows) to prove apromise. You can put the time and day on, for sure, but dont make it the point of thespot.

    Use Dick Clark to prove more than music videos or your favorite music.Use Legends to prove we tell the stories (duh!) or music first.Use Tickets First to prove music first keep you connected or no kids.

    Use VH-1 Honors to prove all the promises.Use RocknRoll Picture Show to prove more than music videos.And remember that sometimes using a few shows together will make a point better thanjust one show.

    When you do need to promote an exhibition of a particular episode, DO NOT just make ita promo that tells viewers how great the show is, how new it is, or something else anyother network could do and does do. Start out with one of the promises, and then showhow this particular episode proves the idea. Then tell the viewer when the show is on. Itis a more powerful persuasion to watch a show when you know why the network hasbothered.

    USESONGSANDARTISTSTOPROVETHEPROMISES.

    PROMISES: ALL.

    Theres nothing like a star to prove an idea. Or a hit song. Stars are stars for a reason,and nothing but nothing can take their place. Thats why theyre stars.

    However, dont make the mistake of just saying Weve got stars. Pretty mucheverybody does. Use the star to make a bigger point. A promise. A proof.

    Madonna or Prince can make the no kids allowed point better than almost anyone.VH-1 being early with, say, a Melissa Etheridge clip can prove we keep you connected.Obviously, some of our stars that do Storytellers would be just right to prove the storiesbehind the music. Peter Gabriels passionate commitment to his art is perfect for musicfirst.

    You can never go wrong with the right stars properly executed (no pun).

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    HOMETOWNS.PROMISES: MUSICFIRST, KEEPCONNECTED, NOKIDS.

    This thought is a bit obtuse, but stick with me.

    Theres nothing like proving an idea by involving a persons hometown. For whateverreason people identify with their towns like nothing else; witness sports teams.

    I have no particular or specific ideas for executions on this one, but if there is a series ofspots that reference a variety of towns in each spot and then connect those towns to musicand VH-1 ideas, itll score well. If we talk this out in person I know well figure out away.