A dear friend of mine just finished writing a very interesting study case of Cingular's long success with sponsoring the “American Idol” TV show. After reading it I thought this would interest many of you; so I asked and was kindly given an authorization to publish the study case at Xellular Identity.
Background
Cingular Wireless, now the new AT&T, is the official and exclusive telecom sponsor of American Idol's 6th season, started on Jan 07 after a huge success as the telecom sponsor for the last four years (2 years under the name AT&T Wireless).
“American Idol” is a televised singing competition which seeks to discover the best young singer in the country, through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of the competition are wholly determined by public voting. The format features three judges who critique the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting.
“American Idol” has become one of the biggest TV hits: it is the number 1 hour and number 1 half hour show on the American television for the third consecutive season. Also, the TV show won the 2006 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Realty Show/Competition and was nominated for the Emmy 14 times! The successful format was sold to many stations around the world, among them are South Africa, Poland, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, France & the Pan-Arabic region.
Measured by ratings, American Idol was the No. 1 show in America in 2004 while AT&T Wireless managed to reach the 10th place in the top 10 brands of 2004:
By 2006, Cingular reached the 7th place(!) and “American Idol” kept its reign as the most viewed TV show:
This case study will show how Cingular has been increasing usage and revenue by sponsoring the show. Don't forget to tune in next Sunday for the second part of this series!
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