Food Network will take on the tag line “Way More Than Cooking” in a new marketing campaign. The network is aiming to expand its brand in viewers’ minds beyond cooking shows. The campaign includes TV spots featuring network talent Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray exiting kitchen doors into a world of adventure, as well as print, online and outdoor ads bearing the tagline.
Food Network has broadened its slate over the years to feature many hit programs that are not instructional cooking shows, such as Unwrapped, All-Star Kitchen Makeover and Iron Chef America. Its October slate includes Behind the Bash, in which network talent Giada De Laurentiis features food at parties, and Restaurant Makeover, a show in which industry specialists overhaul struggling restaurants.
Cable spots featuring the “Way More Than Cooking” tagline will run for four weeks beginning on Oct. 3 on networks including Discovery, E!, USA and VH1. Online ads will run on sites including About.com, TVGuide.com and Yahoo. Food Network, owned by Scripps, averaged 726,000 total viewers in prime during third quarter – up 12% from last year.
