Discovery’s Shark Week attracts new and returning advertisers to its waters
Shark Week, one of television’s most highly anticipated annual events, is rising out of the water with a host of sponsors both new and old, including Geico, Coors and Hyundai.
Discovery’s Shark Week attracts advertisers including MillerCoors, Hyundai and more
After a successful 30th anniversary last year that saw Discovery rank as the top TV network in prime time for one straight week, Shark Week will return with a new team of sponsors including Universal Pictures, Discover Financial Services, Orangetheory Fitness and Maui Jim.
From 28 to 3 August, Discovery Channel will host 20 hours of original shark-themed programming on all its networks.
“After 30 years, Shark Week remains a pop-culture phenomenon and the highest rated television event of the summer,” said Scott Kohn, executive vice-president, ad sales at Discovery. “All year, millions of viewers eagerly look forward to tuning into Discovery’s captivating and exciting Shark Week programming, and this year that programming will be promoted across our collection of 19 brands.”
A number of this year’s sponsors are veteran partners with Discovery. Procter & Gamble, MillerCoors, Geico, Esurance and Hyundai are all returning with past experience advertising on Shark Week. P&G’s Crest will be sponsoring the event for the second consecutive year with a custom video promoting Crest Gum Detoxify.
MillerCoors, one of the longest-running partners with a sponsorship going back 10 years, will be featured in Shark After Dark, in addition to custom content created to promote Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy 'Take Back Summer' campaign.
With Discovery’s continued expansion into the digital sphere, advertisers could profit from access to younger consumers on mobile devices with the TVE streaming GO apps.
“As ratings and audience engagement continue to grow year over year, Shark Week provides clients with a multi-platform opportunity to reach Discovery’s highly premium audience on a major scale, across all linear, digital and social platforms whenever, wherever they want,” Kohn said.
Audience engagement will be a key part of Shark Week, with video content broadcasted across numerous social handles to 220 countries and territories. Universal Pictures will be featured on Snapchat with multiple custom vignettes featuring Dwayne Johnson for his upcoming summer blockbuster Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.