Recently my role at Scripps Networks has grown and I now oversee Social Media for our shelter category which includes brands such as HGTV and DIY Network.  Over the past week, I’ve had the opportunity to leverage the functionality of Facebook in a way that has proved beneficial for not only our brands but for fans of our brands as well.  Hopefully the example below from what I did with DIY Network will help whoever is reading this to do something similar for their brand.

DIY Network

Last Thursday I was informed of an in-store event between DIY Network and Lowes.  The TV show Yard Crashers was going to be at a Lowes in Tampa where 1 lucky person would get a landscaping makeover.  Immediately it seemed like a great opportunity to leverage the marketing capabilities on Facebook and to start letting our current fans in that area know we were going to be there in just 3 short days.

We had little budget but a great opportunity so what could we do with little to no resources and 3 days before the event?

The first thing I did was ask for a very minimal budget to buy targeted advertising around people living in the Tampa area who were interested in landscaping.  Depending on your budget, you could broaden your targeting or even go more granular.  Below is an example of an ad that ran:

As you can see from the ad we needed a place to land people in order to give them more information about the event so in conjunction with the ad buy, we created an event on Facebook.  Doing this allowed us to add detailed information about the show, why it was coming to Tampa and what was in it for local residents of the Tampa area.

You can view the RSVP page here but here is a screenshot:

We also posted a Facebook update to our current fans letting them know about the event with a link to the RSVP page:

The final thing we did was leverage our relationship with HGTV and sent a targeted note out to HGTV Facebook fans located in Tampa only so as to not bother fans with information not relevant to them.

As you can see, what we did wasn’t anything over the top but it was effective.  Instead of going out and spending a lot of money on something that we thought would be cool, we tried to think about the fan and what was in it for them.  Based on the feedback we received from the event yesterday it was a huge success and we’ve even had fans post pictures from the event yesterday.  Hopefully you’re able to get a few takeaways from this rapidly put together post.

CINCINNATI – Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (NYSE: SNI) will expand into India by entering into a strategic partnership with the country’s leading broadcaster, NDTV Group.

The proposed transaction will result in Scripps Networks Interactive acquiring 69 percent of NDTV Group’s lifestyle programming subsidiary, NDTV Lifestyle. NDTV Lifestyle is anchored by NDTV Good Times, India’s top-ranked English-language lifestyle television channel. NDTV Group will retain a 31 percent stake in the joint venture.

Scripps Networks Interactive and NDTV Group reached a definitive agreement on the $55 million transaction Wednesday night. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2010.

“We know our lifestyle brands play well around the globe, and NDTV Good Times channel and NDTV Lifestyle serve as sturdy platforms for us to build lifestyle television programming businesses in one of the world’s most promising media marketplaces,” said Greg Moyer, president of Scripps Networks International. “With the NDTV Group, we’ve chosen a knowledgeable, highly respected partner that has a deep understanding of what it takes to engage and delight media consumers in India. This partnership gives us tremendous entrée to India’s television-viewing and Internet-browsing public.”

Scripps Networks Interactive has made international expansion one of its primary business objectives.

The proposed joint venture with the NDTV Group follows the formation of two other partnerships this year that will result in significant distribution of the Scripps-owned Food Network in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Food Network reaches about 10 million homes in the United Kingdom following its launch on Sky Nov. 9.

The NDTV Group is India’s leading broadcaster and producer of news and current affairs programming. It has 20 years of experience in the television industry and is widely recognized as the pioneer of news television in India.

NDTV Good Times is an award-winning channel that was launched by NDTV in 2007. The network targets India’s rapidly growing middle class of television viewers with personality-driven programming and Internet content that focuses on a wide range of lifestyle genres, including food, travel, fashion and style. In 2008, NDTV Good Times was judged the best fashion and lifestyle channel in India at the country’s annual INDY’s Awards for excellence in mass communications, advertising and branding.

“Scripps Networks Interactive and NDTV are clear leaders in lifestyle programming, which makes this strategic alliance between our two companies particularly powerful,” said Prannoy Roy, NDTV Group’s founder and principal shareholder. “With the unparalleled experience that Scripps has creating lifestyle brands and NDTV’s depth of knowledge of the Indian market, we intend on building strong lifestyle media businesses that will aggregate large and engaged audiences in India.”

Smeeta Chakrabarti, who has served as chief executive officer of NDTV Lifestyle since 2007, will continue in that leadership role after the transaction is completed as will other members of the NDTV Lifestyle management team.

“Smeeta and the entire management team at NDTV Lifestyle have done an outstanding job in a very short period of time creating a valuable brand at NDTV Good Times,” Moyer said. “We will rely on their expertise and creativity as new members of the Scripps team to build on the significant accomplishments they’ve achieved to date.”

In addition to operating NDTV Good Times, Scripps Networks Interactive and NDTV Group are contemplating the eventual launch of other lifestyle television channels through the NDTV Lifestyle partnership.

About Scripps Networks Interactive
Scripps Networks Interactive is one of the leading developers of lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet, where on-air programming is complemented with online video, social media areas and e-commerce components on companion Web sites and broadband vertical channels. The company’s media portfolio includes: Lifestyle Media, with popular lifestyle television and Internet brands HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network (FLN) and country music network Great American Country; and Interactive Services, with leading online search and comparison shopping services BizRate and Shopzilla.

About NDTV Group
New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), founded in 1988, is India’s first and largest private producer of news, current affairs and entertainment television. NDTV is home to the country’s best known reporters, anchors and producers; 23 offices and studios across the country host India’s most modern and sophisticated production and newsgathering facilities. NDTV Networks plc is the holding company for the NDTV Group’s entertainment, lifestyle, Internet & mobile operations. For more information, visit www.ndtv.com.

The website is foodnetwork.co.uk check it out today!

Upon completion of the transaction, Scripps Networks Interactive will own 65 percent of the Travel Channel and Cox will retain a 35 percent minority stake. The transaction is expected to be completed by or before January of next year.

There’s Falcon t-shirts being made (via zazzle.com)

Twitter meme’s with people playing off the Kanye West VMA incident

And threads on Facebook (via Mashable)

And even a Balloon Boy Game:

heyzap.com – embed games

Monday, October 5, 2009 – Day 1
9:00am-10:15am
Web Analytics You Should Know

10:45am-Noon
Mobile Search Apps & Opportunities

3:45pm-5:00pm
Trademarks & Paid Search: How Have Things Changed?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 – Day 2
1:30pm-2:45pm
The Interplay of Social Media & Paid Search

3:15pm-4:30pm
Paid Search & International Issues

4:45pm-6:00pm
The Cross Media Attribution Battle

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 – Day 3
9:00am-10:15am
Search Meet Display; Display Meet Search

10:30am-11:45am
Bringing PPC In House: How To Be Successful!

12:45pm-1:45pm
Social Media, Search & Reputation Management

www.diynetwork.com

1. In the search box at the top right hand side of the page, type in “FBML” which stands for Facebook Markup Language
2. Click to Application
3. Select Add to my Page
4. Navigate back to your Fan page and under your logo on the left hand side click “Edit Page”
5. Under Applications, you should see something which says ” FBML – Add advanced functionality to your Page using the Facebook Static FBML application. This application will add a box to your Page in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for enhanced Page customization.”
6. Click the small pencil on the top right of this box and choose “Edit”
7. Give your box a title then in the area which says FBML drop in your swf file. You must use the following tag style:
<fb:swf swfsrc='link to swf file' />
8. Save your changes and your done.

You should see the box on the left hand side of your fan page. If you’d rather the box not be on the left hand side, you can also add it as a tab at the top by clicking the “+” icon.