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Next Food Network Star's Multimedia Blitz
By JULIETTE ROSSANT [For the winner of The Next Food Network Star, Season 3, CLICK HERE.]  The Next Food Network Star began its run last night, but it's hard to tell whether the greater interest lies on or off the TV screen, because the Food Network is launching an all-out multimedia campaign to maximize success. The premise of the show is simple: "Food Network is searching for the next Food Network star!" according to press, by airing a competition between 8 finalists, of whom the winner will get his or her show. Here is a clever, Reality TV-style re-packaging of standard operating procedures at the Food Network. Founder Reese Schonfeld came up with Chef du Jour (see Super Chef pp. 154-155); now the Food Network seems to have breathed new life into the concept by injecting a little essence of American Idol -- more than PBS's currently competing show Cooking Under Fire, which lacks sizzle. For one thing, the stakes in Next Food Network Star are a bit higher than Cooking Under Fire's: although the pay may not be a lot different, don't you think most people seem hungrier to star in a TV show than to be chef du cuisine in a restaurant (see previous article)?  Then there is the multimedia marketing campaign. Whereas Iron Chef America launched with an online game Battle for Kitchen Stadium that did not seem to wow new demographics (see previous article), Next Food Network Star is launching with advertising on five entertainment-related channels on AOL, which offers expandable ads from PointRoll including streaming video and e-mail and SMS alerts. Advertising also appears online to Yahoo! TV, E! Online, and TV Guide Online. In the San Diego market, Food Network is also testing Video on Demand (VOD) via Cox Communication which will provide "look at behind-the-scenes" to 255,000 Cox cable subscribers. Remote interactivity will be available to 8.5 million digital subscribers via TV Guide. And then there is the American Idol-style, good-old sponsorship system which allows Brawny, Nexium, Thermador, and Honda exposure right on the program. (Read more in ClickZ News and iMedia Connection.)Let's see how Next Food Network Star ranks on its own and vis-a-vis Cooking Under Fire in the next few weeks. Previous articles: Iron Chef America Meets Survivor Cooking Under Fire: Already Over Done? Ming Tsai TV Todd English Winner Get's "English is Italian"? Iron Chef America: Running on Empty Todd English: American Chef Gone Wild Technorati Tags: chefs food restaurants cooking branding Reality TV Television --> back to superchefblog |
posted by Juliette Rossant at 6/06/2005 11:18:00 AM
2 Comments:
Am I the only one who doesn’t resonate with the Next Food Network Star concept? I think that the best, most entertaining and educational personalities on Food TV are chefs, who at least appear to have restaurant training and experience. It is most interesting to see meals prepared that we might not otherwise prepare or know how to prepare. It is interesting to learn tips and trick that can help prepare these meals ourselves.
There are many young, exceptional chefs who could be much more compelling in competition on this show. I read an article in a local paper last week written by a patron to a restaurant in central New Jersey that said Chef Scott Cutaneo of Le Petit Chateau http://www.thelepetitchateau.com in Bernardsville had prepared a “perfect meal”. There must be people like Scott and other young chef’s who could be on a show with a similar format that could bring better talent to the table (pun intended). I have eaten at his restaurant and I agree with the newspaper article author’s representation of the food at Le Petit Chateau. How often can you say something like that?
Shutting off the studio lights while someone is decorating a cake is nothing compared to the action in the kitchen of a restaurant.
Mark
Have you read this previous article "Iron Chef America Meets Survivor"?
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