Corus Entertainment has announced two new “charter sponsors” for its suite of kids and family brands, a portfolio that includes the newly launched Disney Channel, as well as ABC Spark, Cartoon Network, Teletoon, Treehouse and YTV.
Fall campaigns for Kimberly-Clark and Sunwing Vacations will run across the company’s broadcast and digital networks, and will also be integrated into its suite of kid-focused apps.
Kimberly-Clark’s Pull-Ups Training Pants brand will be supported by what the company described as an “extensive” linear and digital campaign across the Treehouse, Teletoon, YTV and Disney Channel networks.
It will feature traditional brand-sell spots, branded billboards and advertorials on both TreehouseTV.com and WDish.com. Custom content, including “mom-focused” TV and radio spots, has also been created to align Kimberly-Clark with the newly launched Disney Channel and its Disney Junior series.
The Sunwing Vacations campaign is built around family viewing programming blocks on the ABC Spark, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Teletoon and YTV networks. Sunwing ads will appear as sponsorship billboards, closed captioning announcements and lower thirds.
According to research conducted for Corus by New York-based Feldman Research Lab, watching TV is among the top three family activities for families with children, second behind dinnertime and ahead of story time.
The study of 1,000 English Canadians with children 2-12 found 77% of parents associated family viewing with family time, while 84% reported watching TV as an “easy and relaxing” way to spend time together.
Parent and child co-viewing has been a mainstay of Corus Entertainment’s ad sales strategy. Marilyn Orecchio, VP, television sales and client strategy for Corus, said the Sept. 1 debut of Disney Channel enables the company to solidify that strategy and ensure it is reaching various family segments, such as parents of young children and tweens.
“We do know that the whole idea of family viewing involves a lot of discussion about what they’re watching – both the content and the commercials,” said Orecchio. “It is a chance for a family to really stop and spend some time together.”
She said Corus is attempting to segment its suite of services so that they cater to multiple constituencies, noting that the company is bullish on revenue expectations for the Disney Channel.
“Because we know how strong the whole idea of family viewing is, it’s one of the reasons we made the commitment to Disney,” she said. “We see it as really integral to our success. I don’t think we would have made an investment like that unless we felt we could monetize it. We think there are lots of great opportunities for advertisers.”
