Spotlight on a Brand

Comcast Spotlight’s Erin Pinckney faces a challenge common among business-to-business marketers: how do you effectively promote a brand within a brand?

Comcast Spotlight is the advertising division of the global media and entertainment company. They offer national, regional and local businesses the ability to reach customers in the Washington, DC market through cable television, online, On Demand and on-site advertising.

It’s a business driven by the aggregation of eyeballs, coupled with the ability to segment viewers by topical interest and preferred medium.

As Comcast Spotlight’s director of marketing, Erin’s task is to increase awareness of the division’s portfolio of media offerings for advertisers, while not distracting from the corporate parent’s broader positioning geared towards consumers.

The mission of crafting a credible brand within a brand is comparable to the one Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) has worked on as part of the Monster Government Solutions team. This case study in BtoB Magazine explains more.

Erin was the most recent featured speaker in Strategic’s professional development series entitled “Creativity in Communications.” And creativity is just what Erin employs to meet the rugged expectations of her job.

She encouraged our staff to consider the following:

1. Think inside the box. It’s critical to leverage an organization’s existing resources and assets when marketing a product or service. For instance, Erin has put in place a number of successful co-marketing campaigns with Comcast Business Class, the cable system’s B2B arm that offers Digital Cable, High-Speed Internet and Digital Voice service to businesses across the Beltway Region.

2. Be fearless when brainstorming. Creative ideas are typically revised and refined as they are worked through the production process. Big ideas tend to produce big results.

3. Don’t shy from “stealing” ideas from successful campaigns in different market segments. When you’re exposed to a great concept, idea or campaign – think about how you can translate and evolve it into an effective promotion for your unique product or service.

Erin Pinckney, Director of Marketing, Comcast Spotlight