Would You Like to See TPampered Chef on Cooking Shows?

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

An idea cropped up in the Shout Box on the front page this morning, so I thought I'd see what the rest of you Cheffers thought of it.We were discussing how nice it would be to see Pampered Chef products being used on a cooking show on PBS. Can you see Mary Ann Esposito or Martin Yan using our cookware, knives and scrapers?Someone mentioned Food Network, too, but I personally think there is a broader appeal on PBS and most of the PBS shows end up on food network anyway.So, how about it? Are you listening, HO? Here's another marketing idea for you!

 

[soonerchef]

PBS in our house is used for kids shows (you know Sesame Street, and my personal fav's Barney and Teletubbies ) and also to watch Antiques Roadshow. I find their cooking shows to be lack-luster, very drab. So, if I am going to watch cooking shows the Food Network is the one I watch.

 

[DebbieJ]

Not PBS shows, but Food Network--YES!

 

[dianevill]

I'm all about the Food NetworkOr how about Martha? After all, It's a Good Thing!

Diane

 

[Mystik]

I don't watch cooking shows, but I would think PBS, that way anyone can watch it. FoodNetwork is a cable channel and not everyone has cable.

 

[cla519]

I have watched some cooking shows and know they are using PC products but do not advertise that they are. Once when they did a close up I saw the PC printed on the product. It was the bamboo spatula.

 

[Kelley Sells]

I AgreeI think it would be FANTASTIC on the Food Network, I just make the Chicken Marsala from the other day....Magnifique.....or with Martha.....it is SUCH a good product I'm surprised we don't see the biggies using it.....Doris and Martha should do a Cook Off.......I'd star in the show in a heart beat....so HO if your reading, CALL me, I'll have my people talk to your people....I have the Boston Accent so I can rival Racheal Ray ANYDAY......

 

[letscook04]

FOOD NETWORK!! I am always watching Emeril and Rachael Ray!!

 

[BethCooks4U]

Or how about Martha? After all, It's a Good Thing!

Diane

Oh, please, not Martha.

 

[EmmaLeeM]

I love martha!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Marketing is an inexact science, and just because you have a favorite show or network does not mean it's the best place to spend your marketing dollar. For example, I have a very favorite radio station locally. If I were going to advertise on radio, my favorite radio station is the very last place I would spend my money. Why? It's the wrong demographic.

Television production is very, very expensive. I can't speak for the cooking shows, but I am very familiar with one specific PBS program and I think this is typical. A 22 minute production costs between $750,000.00 and $1,000,000.00 to produce. SO, if we even go on the safe side and say that the bill presented to TPC for production costs would run $500,000.00 per episode, we have to be very careful where we decide to go.

Why don't any of the biggies use TPC products? As cla519 pointed out, TPC products appear sometimes but there is no acknowledgement. Why? TPC didn't pay for the plug. Nuthin' gets mentioned anymore unless someone's palm gets greased.

I'd have to see the demos and rating books of PBS and Food Network before I'd choose one over the other, but if I were the king of marketing for TPC, there are two reasons that I might be hesitant to spend my half a million on the Food Channel.

One, it is continuous cooking shows. How do you choose where you're going to spend your loot to get the most bang for the buck? Two, with nothing but cooking shows on all the time, the total audience is diluted throughout the day. As Mystik pointed out, not everyone has cable or satillite, nor do they watch it 24/7. (I am speculating, I have not actually seen the demographics.) I imagine that Emeril probably gets the highest ratings. He is already sponsored by several manufacturers, but like all these personalities, he's for sale to the highest bidder. (Did you think he uses that brand of cookware because it's really his favorite?) TPC would have to outbid Emeril's "favorite" cookware to get him to endorse Executive cookware. I don't see that happening.

Over on PBS, there are a limited number of cooking shows and they have very dedicated followings. Not all PBS stations pick up every cooking show available, so to be noticed (and this is true on Cooking Network, too) the show would have to be absolutely dynamite! Mary Ann Esposito (Ciao Italia) is one of the most popular, as is Martin Yan's show. I'd rather drop my half mill on a more dedicated, and possibly upscale, audience. If it's a standout program, the PBS productions will end up on Food Network soon enough. The original funding has to be acknowledged, even if no commercial spots are sold.

As for Martha, she is very polarizing. For every dedicated Martha fan out there, you can bet there are at least equally as many, or more, who will snap off the TV as soon as she appears. The failure of her recent prime time effort demonstates that rather clearly.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'd look at spending some money with Oprah. Our friends over at Mary Kay are advertising on television now and where did they start? Oprah. She owns daytime talk.

 

[ksartain]

I didn't even know PBS had cooking shows. We do PBS just for kid's shows, as well. I think the Food Network, or even QVC or another shopping channel would dramatically increase exposure.
Kristy

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I didn't even know PBS had cooking shows. We do PBS just for kid's shows, as well. I think the Food Network, or even QVC or another shopping channel would dramatically increase exposure.
Kristy

NEVER on a shopping network, please. We've got enough competition out there!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I didn't even know PBS had cooking shows. We do PBS just for kid's shows, as well. I think the Food Network, or even QVC or another shopping channel would dramatically increase exposure.
Kristy

Today's Cooking Show Lineup on MPTV, the local PBS affiliates in Milwaukee alone:

The Victory Garden (Usually one cooking segment per episode)
Nick Stellino's Family Kitchen
New Scandinavian Cooking with Tina Nordstrom
Barbecue University with Steven Raichlen
Lidia's Family Table
Martin Yan Quick & Easy
Mexico: One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless
Cooking Simply for the Soul
Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions
Daisy Cooks! With Daisy Martinez
America's Test Kitchen from Cook's Illustrated
Everyday Food
Simply Ming
Ciao Italia
Cultivating Life (One segment is about cooking)

 

[chrissyk]

Already on PBS!

We were discussing how nice it would be to see Pampered Chef products being used on a cooking show on PBS. Can you see Mary Ann Esposito or Martin Yan using our cookware, knives and scrapers?

Someone mentioned Food Network, too, but I personally think there is a broader appeal on PBS and most of the PBS shows end up on food network anyway.

So, how about it? Are you listening, HO? Here's another marketing idea for you!

Check this out! http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_company/news_news.html

Scroll down to the last story in the Sept. 2005 section. Pampered Chef products are on the PBS show called Daisy Cooks. I've looked for the show in our local listings, but can't find it showing here.

 

[soonerchef]

Aren't there a ton of new shows coming to food network? If TPC gets them before anyone else does then we are in and hey...why can't we do both PBS and Food Network and see who gets the most exposure for us?

 

[kinklan4]

Not a bad ideaI don't think showing our products on PBS, or any other venue for that matter, is a bad idea. However not everyone's eyes are glued to the chef's tongs a cook is using looking for that hat logo unless you are a cheffer!! The show would also have to inform it's audience about the tool they are using and where to purchase it. I don't think just showing it will do us justice.

Not long ago, the first episode of a popular home makeover show with Ty P featured PC products in the new kitchen. They were beautiful but never talked about.

Also, I was in a Dr's office recently looking at a Consumer Reports magazine and stumbbled on a cookware comparison. It listed all the brands you would expect to find there (Caflon, T-Fal, Cook's Essentials, Wolfgang Puck, Emerilware, etc) but didn't list us!! I almost gasped and thought how unfortunate that we have such great brand recognition but were not included in the comparison. Who dropped the ball on that one?

That's just my 2 cents.

 

[ChefNic]

Martha has her own cooking products... at Kmart!
I don't think we'll be going to her...

I'm in South Carolina and we have something called "Carolina Cooking" on around 8:30 am I think on WB... they use other products too, but at least half is our stuff...it is only on in North and South Carolina

Remember a couple years ago, they had our stuff on Dr. Phil's son's show..."Renovate my Family"...after they renovated the house, and counseled the family, they showed the house, and the kitchen was full of PC.

Sometimes on other shows like SuperNanny, WifeSwap, etc...you'll see our stuff in the kitchens... put there by ...US!! Not by home office...but us consultants out there doing parties! That was exciting to see, it wasn't a 'plug' for our products, it was actually bought by the home owner, and being used!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

"Product Placement" is a full time job for a PR type person. If TPC wanted to get products on all those show, they need a "Product Placement" person to make sure the products get placed and, more importantly, get mentioned on air. The mention doesn't happen unless they bribe...er...make a payment to the production company.

Funny, when I was a kid, that was called "Payola" and it was a national scandal. Oh, how times change.

 

[agw]

I just saw an older episode of Good Eats in which Alton uses our Measure All Cup while working with honey! Even my husband noticed the logo on it! *lol*

 

[pamperedangel06]

Ok Kitchen Guy looks like my idea of the food network is betting your PBS
Are you ready to be the next Food network star?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Ok Kitchen Guy looks like my idea of the food network is betting your PBS
Are you ready to be the next Food network star?

I'll go wherever they pay me to go. Except go away. I don't think anyone can pay me enough to go away. (But i'm open to offers!)

 

[soonerchef]

So, today while the kiddies were napping I popped on PBS and America's Test Kitchen was on and what a great show! They were teaching cake baking techniques and testing cake pans, there was a cake pan that was $80!!! The guys tossed that one because one, who in the real world would buy something that expensive and two, it didn't bake well. The winner was a Calphalon pan that was a dark non-stick pan and the cake came out golden and beautiful. They said that the darker the pan the better the flavor and the better the bake and color of the bake. The Emeril cake pan didn't fair too well either.

Just thought it was interesting and that I would pass it on....