In the past, I posted about The Little-Known Content Marketing Deal That Sears Made With Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Well, it looks like Lowes is now taking a page out of Sear’s book.
NBC premiered its brand new show last Sunday called “American Dream Builders.”
It seems to be “Extreme Makeover” meets “Reality Show Competition.”
Anyway, it was while watching the show that I realized the whole show is some great content marketing for Lowes.
How I Noticed Lowes Was Using American Dream Builders to Promote Their Business
1. When the designers needed building supplies they went to Lowes
2. Some of the commercials during the show were for Lowes
3. Lowes was mentioned at other points during the show
4. Lowes is an official sponsor of the show
But that’s not all.
4 Other Things I’ve Learned About The Lowes – American Dream Builder Connection
I quickly researched their connection after noticing it and I discovered this press release from Comcast (Owner of NBCUniversal), which stated four other interesting things…
1) Lowes provided their expertise and played an integral role behind AND in front of the camera
“In collaboration with NBC programming and production, Lowe’s provided product and design expertise during every episode of ‘American Dream Builders’ to help the design contestants create 20 amazing home makeovers across the 10-episode series. As a partner, Lowe’s played an integral role both in front and behind the camera to inspire and assist the designers through store shopping visits and consultations with expert store employees to select the right paint colors, nursery plants, lighting, appliances, flooring and more to create homes where people will love to live.”
2) Additional online content has been created that Lowes has sponsored
“The Lowe’s-sponsored ‘Never Stop Improving’ segments will give a more in-depth look at the eliminated designers and their post-show projects on-air and on the show’s digital hub. The segments visit the designers’ hometowns and showcase how they’ve continued to embody the spirit of ‘Never Stop Improving’ through their work following the show.”
3) Viewers are being encouraged to submit photos or videos of their own home projects for a chance to win money and services from Lowes
“Additionally, as the exclusive sponsor of the ‘Dream It Yourself’ sweepstakes, at-home viewers will be encouraged to submit a photo or video of a home project and enter for the chance to win a $100,000 in products and services from Lowe’s, and a consultation from the winner of ‘American Dream Builders.’”
4) This the largest brand integration Lowes has ever done
“‘Lowe’s partnered with NBC to create a best-in-class content partnership where Lowe’s was involved from the earliest stages of concepting to production and all the way through to the promotion of the show,’ said Tom Lamb, Lowe’s chief marketing officer. ‘Our stores and employees played an integral role in bringing American Dream Builders to life as the contestants looked to Lowe’s every week for design inspiration and advice. This partnership is Lowe’s largest brand integration to date, extending beyond the advertising in the show to reach our stores, Lowes.com and other marketing platforms.’
“Lowe’s partnership will extend beyond the show, including in-store promotions of designer-selected products, highlights of “American Dream Builders” products in tab and a dedicated microsite on Lowes.com (http://www.lowes.com), featuring robust content including how-to videos and helpful tips, product catalogs where consumers can purchase designer-selected products, and exclusive ‘American Dream Builders’ content.”
The Main Content Marketing Lesson for Business Owners
I think that many business owners shy away from content marketing for two reasons:
1. They don’t want to deal with creating the content themselves.
2. They don’t have an audience (or platform) so any content marketing they’ve done seemed to be a waste of time.
Lowes gives you a great example of how to overcome both of these problems.
Instead of creating the content yourself on your own site, you can partner with some else who ALREADY wants to make the content and present it to their own audience on their own platform (in this case a TV channel).
Now, hold on.
Don’t already discount the possibility of your business doing something like this!
You don’t have to partner with a major TV network.
Keep your eyes open for a smaller, local opportunities.
Everyone is looking for content these days and many people are already creating it.
Search for local sites, blogs, podcasts, Youtube channels, newspapers, radio shows, etc. that already produce and create content that directly or indirectly supports products or services you offer or that focus on area you have an expertise in.
When you find them, simply approach them and see if they’d be interested in partnering.
It’s a win-win.
They get free expertise, products, or services and you get exposure.
Related articles
- May The Force (of Content Marketing) Be With You: How ABC Used Extreme Makeover To Promote Lucasfilms (recessionsolution.com)
- 21 Types of Content We Crave (21TypesofContentWeCrave.com)
- He-Man’s Content Marketing Secret And 3 Lessons For Your Business (recessionsolution.com)
I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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Hi! I am desperately needing to know who came up with the idea for the show American Dream Builders? Was this idea from Lowes’s and I also need to know when the show came to light, date and year. If anyone can tell me this information I would gratefully appreciate it!!!