Marketing the 'Lost' TV Drama Series: ABC's Integrated Marketing Strategy

ABC's integrated marketing strategy for 'Lost' was widely appreciated by many media experts and analysts. It was reported that even people who were initially skeptical were won over by the unique multi-pronged campaign. Not only were the fans playing the game, but they were also e-mailing and messaging each other when they discovered new clues. Tom Lowry of BusinessWeek wrote, "Using podcasts, interactive games, websites, and good, old-fashioned hype, ABC has turned a cult-style show into a cross-media sensation." TLE was hailed as breaking new grounds in marketing a TV show. Earlier, advertisers were concerned that consumers, especially those who had DVRs, could skip the ads that were aired during commercial breaks...

Analysts felt that the integrated marketing effort of 'Lost' had raised the bar with regard to marketing a TV series. They felt that 'Lost' had gone beyond being just a TV show and was fast becoming a lifestyle brand, as it spoke to a specific segment of the audience and provided for an experience that cut across multiple media. In the process, it had also broken through the media clutter and engaged its highly loyal target audience at a deep level. Analysts opined that by leveraging TiVo, DVDs, the iPod, and the Internet, ABC had forced competitors to rethink their marketing strategies...