Bravo is applying a little XOXO to its upfront presentation, pitching media buyers a development slate that includes an unscripted gloss on the teen soap Gossip Girl.

Over the course of the last few weeks, the network has been making the rounds of media agencies with a lineup of new projects like NYC Prep, a docu-series that follows a clique of six real-life Blair Waldorfs  living it up on New York’s Upper East Side. Premiering June 16, the series marks Bravo’s first concerted effort to reach the 18-34 demo, although the network believes older viewers will tune in too.

“We know that teens are watching some of our shows, and yet they also appeal to the 20s-and-beyond crowd,” said Frances Berwick, executive vp, general manager, Bravo Media. “No matter how old the characters are on screen, if they’re relatable they’ll attract an audience that spans several age groups.”

Also on the front burner is Top Chef Masters, a spinoff of Bravo’s tentpole competition series that will debut June 10. The tables will turn on Top Chef’s roster of celebrity gastronomes, as kitchen artists like Wylie Dufresne and Anita Lo will compete for the eponymous title and $100,000 to be donated to a charity of their choice. Top Chef Masters will feature familiar faces like Neil Patrick Harris and Zooey Deschanel, who will serve as guest judges alongside restaurant critic Gael Greene and James Oseland, culinary expert and editor in chief of Saveur magazine. Top Chef capos Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons are also expected to make the rounds in the spin-off.

All told, Bravo counts some 20 new projects in various stages of development, of which a handful will be housed under the network’s new “Fashionality” genre. The first series to bow under the couture collective is the The Fashion Show, a reclamation effort  hosted by Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland, targeting fans of departed hit Project Runway. The official magazine partner of the series is Harper’s Bazaar, which will sponsor a regular mini challenge and is represented on-air by its special projects director Laura Brown.



As part of Bravo’s March 19 presentation to MindShare, Berwick screened a faux infomercial for the brand, a short and snappy couch chat hosted by senior vp of production and programming Andy Cohen. MindShare buyers responded enthusiastically to the pitch. “The entire tone was unique and smart…It was more like a programming meeting than the kind of upfront that gets bogged down in a lot of generic numbers,” said Jon Lefferts, MindShare’s managing partner, group director of national TV. “One of the big takeaways is that they didn’t feed us a lot of information that we’d just have to see all over again the next time we sit down with them.”

That’s not to say Bravo won’t have a lot of hard data at its disposal once it begins negotiations with buyers and clients. “We’ve planned a consistent message and a differentiating message, which is that we reach this ‘affluencer,’” said Susan Malfa, senior vp, Bravo and Oxygen ad sales, referring to the net’s descriptor for its affluent, engaged, influential audience. “We’re always doing research on what our customers, agencies and clients know about our brand. Research drives results.”

Key among the datapoints that Malfa’s team will bring to market are the numbers that demonstrate Bravo’s value as a commercial environment. According to Nielsen IAG Research (which, like Mediaweek, is owned by The Nielsen Co.), Bravo is not only tops among all cable nets in terms of commercial recall, but it also outperforms all TV outlets on the integration/placement recall front.

“If you have a high-quality audience coming to a high-quality environment, you really see that greater attention and regard for your brand message,” said Bravo account executive Bill McLaughlin, who added that the network ranks No. 1 in delivery of upscale consumers 18-49. “We’re continuing to serve up all the elements that make us a destination for cable’s most affluent viewers, from our programming to our ability to create an environment that is safe for your brands.”

As Malfa gets set to cut deals for 2009-10, she’s ramping up the network’s custom advertising opportunities, which include an onscreen “Info Frame,” a branded overlay that incorporates trivia, text messaging and other interactive features. Upon introducing the concept in June 2008, the first execution resulted in a 108 percent lift in brand recall and a 333 percent improvement in brand opinion, per Nielsen IAG.

Bravo ended first quarter 2009 as ad-supported cable’s 20th most-watched net among adults 18-49, averaging 473,000 members of the demo in prime. And while that figure represents a slight 1 percent uptick versus the year-ago period, Q1 ’08 also marked the last time Project Runway graced Bravo’s schedule.

To Lefferts, Bravo’s presentation struck a balance between a comprehensive programming preview and a précis of the customized executions it can build around a client’s brand. “It’s the sort of pitch that resonates with group leaders and people who run accounts,” he said.
“You get a great sense of…how they can tailor their environment to meet whatever needs the client may have. It really grabbed people’s attention.”