Product Number: #MTT25

Description: New Television Series Garners Instant Buzz from Promotional Mint Tin

Industry: Broadcast Media / Telecommunication

What it was purchased for: In 2007, HBO had just finished filming a new television series called True Blood. As it enters its third season on the network, we all know now that the show has been a huge, unanticipated success, but at the beginning HBO was having a tricky time advertising the new program. Mostly because the series encompasses so many differing genres and also it was very dissimilar from HBO programming in the past. From its past endeavors, HBO has realized that the first season of series is imperative to if the show will return for a second. From the onset, the network determined that they were going to take a different marketing tract for the show. The company's marketing group determined to use a promotional product to advertise the series. Their distributor then called Admints & Zagabor.

How it was distributed: Admints explored their product line to find an item that would best promote the show. They gave HBO all of the possible options and they finally determined that the Mint Tin Tube would be the product to use. This was a new Admints product that contained 20-30 sugar-free micro mints in a tin tube. Also, the item has a four color process label wrapped around the tube. The product is deceiving because it looks like it would be lip balm, but when the cap is twisted off, it reveals mints inside. The executives at HBO were keen on the concept because one of the central themes of the program is the danger of judging a book based on its cover. The show revolves around deception, so the mint tin exemplifies that aspect of the show. The tubes were going to be given out on the street in several locations in the country's ten largest cities. They were given out in a promo bag that included other items with the show's logo, along with literature on the concept of the show.

Result or ROI: While not all credit for the program's success can be directly contributed to the mints, the areas where the mints were distributed had unusually high ratings. Yes, they were allocated in large cities, but those numbers even exceed the expectations that HBO had for True Blood. The recipients of goodie bag more often than not reached for the mint tin tube first. As a result of the successful product promotion, HBO continued to spread the street team promotion to smaller cities throughout the country. They also continued to use Admints & Zagabor as their promotional product supplier.