FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LIFETIME AND MARY KAY ENTER INTO MULTI-PLATFORM MARKETING PARTNERSHIP ON SECOND SEASON LAUNCH OF HIT COMEDIC DRAMA DROP DEAD DIVA
Campaign Involves Exclusive On-air Sponsorship of Season Two Premiere, Co-Branded Interstitials, Online Game and Sweepstakes, and Promotional Events in New York and Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (June 4, 2010) – Lifetime Television and Mary Kay Inc., have entered into a multi- platform marketing partnership to support the second season launch of the hit comedic drama Drop Dead Diva , featuring break-out star Brooke Elliott and Margaret Cho.
Headlining the agreement will be Mary Kay’s exclusive sponsorship of the series’ second season premiere at 9:00pm (ET/PT) this Sunday, June 6 th , as well as the sponsorship of the following three episodes through June 27 th . On-air promotional elements will include co-branded tune-ins, custom billboards and snipes. The partnership also features Lifetime Beauty Briefs – custom :30 vignettes developed, scripted and produced by Lifetime – that replicate everyday beauty challenges (Day at the Office, Girls’ Night Out, Casual Summer Fun, Day on the Run). In each vignette, celebrity makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff provides useful solutions using a variety of Mary Kay ® products. More than just tips, these narrative vignettes are thematically tied to the show, making the content more entertaining and relatable for Lifetime viewers and Mary Kay consumers alike. Extended versions of Lifetime Beauty Briefs will stream on myLifetime.com, MaryKay.com and Mary Kay’s channel on YouTube.
In the digital arena, Lifetime and Mary Kay have launched the online sweepstakes Life Happens: Get Away with the Girls , whereby visitors to myLifetime.com can play a fun, vacation escape and enter to win a spa getaway for four to the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, $5,000 spending cash and a gift basket featuring Mary Kay ® color cosmetics and skincare products. The sweepstakes will run until June 30, 2010.
Mary Kay is also providing product for use at a number of one-day promotional events Lifetime has planned in New York and Los Angeles for today to support Drop Dead Diva’s launch. The network is holding its Drop Dead Diva Makeover on the Move events at three locations in New York, where free makeovers, manicures and massages will be available to attendees, as well as an appearance by Elliott. In Los Angeles, Lifetime is hosting Diva Day at The Grove , also featuring free makeovers, as well as a
-more- Lifetime Television Drop Dead Diva -Mary Kay Page 2 special Q&A panel with Drop Dead Diva creator and executive producer Josh Berman, and an outdoor screening of the second season premiere episode.
This partnership, jointly developed between Lifetime Sales and Marketing, represents another way that Lifetime is helping sponsors successfully partner with its properties.
Regarding the announcement, Mel Berning, Executive Vice President, Ad Sales, A&E Television Networks, said, “As we gear up to launch Drop Dead Diva’s second season, we are thrilled to be partnered with Mary Kay on this hit series. This alliance enables us to jointly market Drop Dead Diva and Mary Kay in fun, creative and engaging ways that will greatly enhance exposure among women across multiple platforms.”
The partnership between Lifetime and Mary Kay marks the second such major initiative between the two companies in as many years. Last year, they joined forces on a media and marketing agreement on the third season of Lifetime’s hit drama Army Wives and its Army Wives Gives Back outreach program supporting military families.
ABOUT DROP DEAD DIVA Praised by critics as one of 2009’s top new series, Drop Dead Diva features breakout star Brooke Elliott, Margaret Cho, Jackson Hurst, Kate Levering, April Bowlby, Josh Stamberg and Ben Feldman.
In the first season of Drop Dead Diva , beautiful-but-vapid model wannabe Deb, suddenly finds herself in front of Heaven’s gatekeeper, Fred (Feldman), following a fatal car crash. Outraged by her sudden demise, she attempts to persuade Fred to return her to her shallow existence but is accidentally relegated to the body of the recently deceased Jane Bingum (Elliott). An intelligent, thoughtful and plus-size attorney with a loyal assistant, Teri (Cho), Jane has always lived in the shadow of her colleagues whereas Deb has always relied on her external beauty. By a twist of fate and a bolt of divine intervention, Deb must come to terms with inhabiting Jane’s curvier frame and learn to reconcile her beauty queen ways with her brilliant, new mind.
At the close of last season, Deb was ready to let go of her past and embrace her new life as Jane. But the unexpected arrival of Jane’s “secret” husband Ethan (Devon Gummersall) at her doorstep left her with more questions than ever. To make matters worse, Jane may be disbarred after breaching client-attorney confidentiality when, against the firm’s advisement, she reported her client for fraud. Faced with a new love triangle and the uncertainty of her career, Jane must, once-again, chart out a new future for herself.
Guest stars scheduled to appear throughout the second season of Drop Dead Diva will include Paula Abdul, Cybill Shepherd, Rosie O’Donnell, Chad Lowe, Vivica A. Fox, Sharon Lawrence, Ricki Lake, Nancy Grace, Leelee Sobieski and Natasha Henstridge, among others.
Drop Dead Diva is produced by Sony Pictures Television. Josh Berman is creator and executive producer. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron of Storyline Entertainment and Alex Taub are executive producers.
ABOUT MARY KAY Mary Kay is one of the largest direct sellers of skin care and color cosmetics. In 2009, Mary Kay achieved $2.5 billion in wholesale sales worldwide. Mary Kay® products are sold in more than 35 markets around the world, and the global Mary Kay independent sales force exceeds 2 million. To learn more about Mary Kay, log on to www.marykay.com or call 1-800-MARY KAY (1-800-627-9529). -more- Lifetime Television Drop Dead Diva -Mary Kay Page 3
ABOUT LIFETIME TELEVISION Lifetime Television, the number one rated women’s network, is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Lifetime Television ®, Lifetime Movie Network ®, Lifetime Real Women ® and Lifetime Digital™ (which includes myLifetime.com , LMN.tv , Lifetime Games , Roiworld.com , DressUpChallenge.com , MothersClick.com and LifetimeMoms.com ) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A&E Television Networks, LLC. A&E Television Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.
Photography is available at www.lifetimepress.com .
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