<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ala:
SCI-FI recently asked for some suggestions for non-traditional or grassroots advertising to help attract folks who would not have already been watching Rangers.
This is certainly an innovative idea because, normally, Networks have to pay for advertising.
So I'm curious what ideas you have to attract those new to Rangers.
Best,
Alyson
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
> Babylon 5 Fans,
>
> The SCI FI Channel has teamed up with J. Michael Straczynski to create a
new
> BABYLON 5 movie, THE LEGEND OF THE RANGERS. The movie will air on SCI FI
in
> January 2002, and you can find more information about it on our newly
> relaunched RANGERS Web site at
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers
>
> As most of you know, RANGERS is both a stand-alone movie and a pilot for a
> potential series. That means the better the movie does in the ratings,
the
> better chance there will be for an ongoing RANGERS show. SCI FI will be
> launching a traditional marketing campaign in the coming months to support
> the movie, but we'd also like to try something that's never been done
> before: we'd like to add you to the RANGERS support team.
>
> We know BABYLON 5 fans are among the most passionate fans on the planet,
and
> we also know that you want what we want: to see more BABYLON 5 on the air.
> So we'd like to enlist BABYLON 5 fans who want to help us with a
grassroots
> effort aimed at attracting new viewers to Rangers. Here is how you can
> help:
>
> YOUR IDEAS
> ->Send us your ideas about how fans could best help promote/support the
> movie, keeping in mind that the goal is to reach sci-fi fans who would not
> ordinarily tune into a BABYLON 5 movie.
Bumperstickers (vinyl, not paper). The vinyl kind stands up better to the
weather, and is less hassle to remove. The paper kind is messy, tears, and
leaves a residue. Nobody likes paper.
Inside-the-Window Decals for Windows (car windows, store windows, etc.) The
type of decal that sticks without adhesive (like you get when your car's oil
is changed) might be a good idea. Along these lines, I assembled the
attached pics from
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/ and
http://www.scifi.com/crusade/ ,
printed 'em on Alps VPhoto Paper, and have
them mounted in Avery PV-119ED material.
They've been taped to the back
window of my car for the past week.
I also have the attached B5 Crusade LOTR3.jpg inside the rear side windows
of my car. I got the Crusade design from the back of my Crusade wool
jacket. The attached file is a high compression JPG, to make for the
smallest emailing size. I printed from the 12MB no-loss TIF.
> OUR IDEAS
> ->Let us now if you think invitations,
??? Snail Mail? Email? From Sci-Fi direct to the fans, *or* for fans to
print out and send to new prospective fans?
> T-shirts
Folks, winter is coming. It isn't the time for T-shirts, unless you live in
Hawaii. Tonight it's going to go down below 32F, so no T-Shirts for me, or
probably for most of the rest of the country.
Baseball caps may be a better, similar cost idea (can be worn all year long,
and will keep your head a bit warmer in the winter). Before Babylon 5, I
*never* wore hats unless the wind chill was -50F. Now, I have three Babylon
5 hats, and one Crusade hat, and wear them all the time.
I always wondered why nobody ever came out with inexpensive Babylon 5
jackets (baseball style nylon shell jackets), for $30-$40. Instead all we
could get were the $175-$250 Babylon 5 and Crusade jackets from the fan
club. Back when I was in college, I used to "layer" by wearing a PSU nylon
shell jacket as the outer layer and a PSU hooded sweatshirt as the inner
layer. This allows you to continue to wear your favorite, light fall jacket
(flannel lining) in the winter, and not freeze your butt off. When it gets
really cold, you can always go to a quilted lining variety of fall jacket as
the outer layer. Offering a flannel-lined or quilted-lining jacket for sale
to the fans, with Babylon 5, Crusade, *and* Babylon 5 - Legend of the
Rangers designs on it (all three on the same jacket; like similar to my B5
Crusade LOTR3.jpg) would be a good idea. One jacket could serve to bring
people to all three shows.
> and downloadable flyers
> (that can be printed and handed out and/or posted) with tune-in
information
> would be useful for B5 fans to give out and/or wear in order to get other
> people to watch the movie.
THAT'S a good idea. Fans could print them out on their color printers, and
post them all over the place. The flyers, preferrably 8.5"x11", would have
the greatest impact if they were colorful, in the Babylon 5 font, and
official looking.
> CAR WRAPS
> ->If you are a fan who owns a car and frequently drives in the New York,
Los
> Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Washington,
> Detroit or Atlanta metropolitan areas, and you would be willing to have
your
> car "wrapped" in advertising for RANGERS, please let us know. The types
of
> cars most suited for wrapping are:
>
> Plymouth - P.T. Cruiser
> Volkswagen - Beetles, Jettas
> Lincoln - Navigator
> Ford - Explorer, Expeditions, Excursions, F-150, Dulies, All Vans
> GMC - Jimmy, All Vans
> Chevy - Astro Vans, Conversion Vans, All commercial Vans
> Dodge - Durango, Ram Trucks
> Nissan - Pathfinder, Extera, Maxima
> Honda - Civic
> BMW - M-3
Well, this doesn't apply to me (don't live near any of those cities,
Pittsburgh is closest; and don't have one of those cars), or I would do it.
>
> Please send your ideas to
b5rangers@www.scifi.com and/or indicate your
> interest in having your car wrapped by Wednesday, Oct. 24.
>
> And please visit
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers for the latest news and
> updates on the series.
------------------
KoshN
-------------
Vorlon Empire
"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
[This message has been edited by KoshN (edited October 18, 2001).]
