MSNBC Launches High Profile Ad Campaign

MSNBC has launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign aiming to raise awareness of the news network.

Using the tagline 'Lean Forward', the main purpose of the campaign is to highlight the political persuasion of the channel whilst taking a direct swipe at the number one news network, Fox News.

The advertising campaign, which is launched officially on Tuesday, is expected to run for two years.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes;

The multimillion-dollar campaign is a long time coming for the 14-year-old MSNBC, and particularly for Mr. Griffin, who has complained for years about not having more money to market the channel. With “Lean Forward,” MSNBC is following other cable channels that have found success by building easy-to-identify brands — like Bravo, TBS, HBO or, Mr. Griffin freely acknowledges, Fox News.

“When you’re clear about who you are, you actually make money,” said Sharon Otterman, the chief marketing officer for MSNBC, who started work there one year ago.

"MSNBC’s brand was unclear for its first full decade. A creation of NBC News and Microsoft in 1996, the channel bounced from one programming idea to another before Mr. Olbermann, the host of “Countdown,” and Chris Matthews, the host of “Hardball,” seized on antiwar, anti-Republican sentiments in the latter part of the Bush administration.

The channel identified itself as “The Place for Politics” — a catchphrase that it will continue to use alongside “Lean Forward” — and added liberal hosts like Ms. Maddow and Ed Schultz, and a lively morning show, “Morning Joe.”

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