Bravo to Bravo: Don’t “Target” Women, Attract Them!
"We don’t target women first." That was one of Lauren Zalaznick’s (President of Bravo Media at NBC Universal) responses in an interview for TV Week magazine… and it caught my eye.
Here’s the specific question posed, with more of her answer (which I only used part of, and which TV Week had also edited a bit):
"TV Week: How do you view programming to women on Bravo?
Ms. Zalaznick: We don’t target women first. Our slices tend to be upscale, educated, any top-30 city with a metro mind-set. We have developed around these content affinity groups, and they are food, fashion, design, beauty and pop culture. … Consumers want to be like someone on a Bravo show and they want to experience the world of those characters on the Bravo show…
…So we attract women viewers, but it’s just by being who we are. We don’t need to find them. We have a voice, we have a tone, we also think certain things are better and worse and there is such a thing as good and bad taste and high and low quality."
This smart Bravo executive makes no bones about it. Yes, a lot of women watch Bravo and interact with their web site, but that’s because they have an "affinity with the content," and because they relate to Bravo’s point of view - not because the network is marketed as being for them.
Later in the interview, Zalaznick says:
"…we don’t impose our agenda on the world and program to it. It’s just the world as we see it, and naturally and organically we reflect that in all our choices."
Isn’t that the definition of authenticity for this sort of brand? Bravo is seeing big success (according to the interview introduction, the network is on track to have its best year ever in prime-time ratings for both the 18 to 49 demographic and total viewers), so maybe we should all watch and learn…
