June 22, 2007

WE Goes Bridal

WE tv hitches itself to weddings with the on-air, online and On Demand launch of WEGoBridal.

By Seth Arenstein

BRIDEZILLAS: WE plans multiplatform wedding banquet.

WE tv EVP and general manager Kim Martin’s been on the job for nearly 30 months, and while ratings and buzz continue to rise with its signature Bridezillas series (Sundays at 9pm ET), Martin says the honeymoon’s definitely not over.

In fact, the Rainbow Media-owned WE vows to boost its most popular genre by investing in additional wedding-related originals and dedicating Sunday nights to the theme. The on-air banner, called WEGoBridal, launched on-air June 17 with a special blue-tinted on-camera look heralding the new seasons of WE's flagship bridal TV series, Bridezillas and Platinum Weddings, which airs at 10pm ET on Sundays.

The WEGoBridal will extend to the Web with the launch of wegobridal.com, now offering a sneak peek online and set for hard launch July 1. Eventually the site could have revenue potential for cable operators when it offers links to local wedding-related goods and services in ’08, says Jen Robertson, WE tv’s VP, digital and emerging media. And it will serve as a digital extension of the linear brand, says Kenetta Bailey, the network’s SVP of marketing.

WEDDING PLANNER: WE tv's Kim Martin.

The video-rich site encapsulates the campaign, mixing commerce with advice, personal wedding pages, community-building blogs, user-generated video, broadband-exclusive series and video extras from Bridezillas (now in its fourth season) and Platinum Weddings.

Content from the site and WE's bridal TV series will be carried by Comcast On Demand and the cable operator’s Ziddio.com website and upcoming Fancast.com portal, augmenting the linear WE tv channel, which is carried on the majority of Comcast systems.

While WEGoBridal is the net’s biggest content investment to date, it won’t mean a divorce from WE’s “Have More Fun” tagline. While brides can find serious resources at the site, they’ll also find video tips from Conde Nast’s Modern Bride magazine editor Antonia van der Meer on planning fun weddings in addition to resources from Conde Nast's brides.com.

BUSS STOP: WEGoBridal's bus-shelter campaign.

Online visitors are also invited to the party. They can blog and vlog online about unusual weddings, funniest moments and non-traditional wedding options, Robertson says. And then there will be the obviously fun-loving broadband-only series Weird Weddings, The Anti-Bride and of course Groomzillas, which launched June 14. For the frustrated bride, there’s games such as Whack a Worry, a simple diversion where users can whack at a caterer, florist, wedding planner, band leader — even a groom.

WE’s ad sales team has inked a deal with diet supplement maker NV as a premiere multi-platform sponsor for WEGoBridal, including the current season of Bridezillas, where four episodes feature brides using NV to lose weight before the big day. A mix of traditional and non-traditional off-channel support will push WEGoBridal, including a bus shelter push where four customized bus-stops in New York and Chicago house designer wedding dresses by Tomasina (see above).