The Starter Wife on Hallmark Channel “Hallmark Channel’s key show in April 2009 was The Starter Wife, starring Emmy-nominated actress Debra Messing. The series made its Asia debut on Hallmark Channel after its successful run of a mini-series of the same name in 2008,” explains NBC Universal Global Networks Asia Pacific creative director Natalie Gee. She says that Hallmark Channel launched The Starter Wife on three fronts: on-ground – the series focused on new beginnings. Along this line of thought, Hallmark Channel gave free coffee to female commuters on their way to work in KL, Malaysia, as a way to ‘start their morning right.’ Secondly, on-air viewer contests ran for four weeks in which viewers could win ‘Molly-must-haves’ – special prizes ranging from designer tees to Blackberry phones. And on-air commercials and sponsor billboards were created for programme advertiser, Canon. “Hallmark Channel’s innovative marketing activities were endorsed by international brand Canon which came on board advertising on NBC Universal Global Networks Asia channels – SCI FI, Universal and Hallmark starting with The Starter Wife,” says Gee. “A special screening of the first episode was organized at a spa for affiliates, reporters, media agency buyers and potential clients. There, they not only got to watch the first episode of Starter Wife before it was broadcast on Hallmark Channel, but our guests were pampered with spa treats on a work day. We had really positive feedback about the program and event.” Gee says that The Starter Wife is in line with Hallmark Channel’s brand positioning of an inspirational female entertainment channel for modern women and the message was clearly driven across in the press coverage of the program as well as the marketing activities rolled out to promote the show. From the advertiser’s perspective, Carol Lim, regional marketing manager of Canon’s Consumer Imaging and Information Products Division South and SEA had this to say, “The Hallmark brand and its extensive reach into key Canon markets in South East Asia is very much in line with our goal of providing our consumers with the latest photographic products and solutions that fit their lifestyles.” SCI-FI Channel – ‘They walk among us’ Meanwhile in Singapore, a cinema ambient stunt was the first outdoor marketing activity for the channel and was purely a brand awareness campaign. Explains Gee, “The ambient stunt was held over three days at 16 screenings at Cathay cineleisure, where at least 5,000 movie-goers got to experience SCI FI’s brand up close and personal. That SCI FI is more than aliens and spaceships and that they walk among us. About 10,000 cool sci-fi pens were given to movie goers, even those who did not attend the 16 screenings and just bought tickets for other Star Trek screenings at Cathay cinemas.”