National Geographic Channel Launch

One of the major emerging trends that Empire has witnessed over the past decade is the increasing use of special events and other forms of experiential or otherwise interactive programming for the purposes of marketing and advertising products and services. As a leading designer & producer of creative projects in these genres, Empire has become an essential production partner to PR firms, advertising and event marketing agencies seeking to deliver high return on their advertising & marketing expenditures. One project that highlights Empire’s value in this area was the recent launch of the National Geographic Channel on Time Warner Cable, Channel 65 in New York City. For this two week campaign, Empire was engaged by the National Geographic Channel to partner with several PR firms and NGC’s media buyers to plan and execute an integrated campaign of events & stunts to achieve both consumer and advertiser awareness and channel tune-in, in the world’s most important media marketplace. Empire assimilated the values of National Geographic Channel’s brand and created a program of public events and stunts that included: NGC day at the Central Park Zoo at which NGC on-air animal adventure hosts The Kratt Brothers presented animal enrichment toys made from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to several animals; An Urban Climbing Open House at NIKETOWN New York that featured a 30’ high climbing tower (designed & built by Empire), a DJ, climbing stunts, and footage from the upcoming special Surviving Everest.Exercise classes at New York’s Chelsea Piers Sports Center led by former West Point Academy fitness instructors Bob & Bonnie Stauffer that included an army-style obstacle course and sandbag circuit to promote the NGC series Surviving West Point. Empire also produced a signature party targeted to key advertisers, members of the press and cable television VIPs. This celebration event showed the fun and edgy side of NGC and showcased its programming. The event was held at the stately Explorer’s Club and featured an Adventure Photo Station in which guests appeared in a jungle or atop the Himalayas, live animals and handlers including a lion cub, baby kangaroo (joey), alligator and 11’ albino python, lively African drummers, belly dancers, striking décor including extensive foliage and faux zebra & leopard print fabrics, a polar explorer’s martini bar made completely of ice, and an exotic menu including tempura-style tarantula, crickets and scorpions. A series of plasma monitors & projection screens, each tastefully outlined with NGC’s yellow border, looped channel programming throughout the event. The event was attended by several celebrities including undersea explorer and Titanic discoverer Bob Ballard, reptile wrangler Dr. Brady Barr, and Perfect Storm author Sebastian Junger. The last component of the campaign was a 10-member Adventure Squad composed of actors authentically costumed as astronauts, undersea explorers, polar explorers, and mountaineers. This squad took to the streets with the National Geographic Channel flag in hand to distribute Channel information and promotional items and engage in adventure-themed ‘street theater’ in all of New York City’s major areas of public congregation. Empire cast, outfitted, trained, and deployed the Adventure Squad, updating their routes daily to achieve optimal results. By the end of the campaign, these brand ambassadors had connected with over 1 million New Yorkers. The client’s view on Empire’s performance: “Thank you to you and your team for the flawless execution of the events celebrating the launch of the National Geographic Channel in NYC. Empire partnered with NGC, our PR firm and media buying agency to create events that were on-brand, on-budget, and exceeded all of our communications goals. Empire has done a superb job with our launch. I don't think anyone else could have done it better… THANK YOU!”