Tiffany Schrenk

As a media planner here at Balihoo I am constantly researching local marketing and media around the country.  More often than not I end up speaking to local cable television representatives about the networks and programming they see indexing well for my target audience.  (As of recently that target has been females of a certain age and income). Recently, a new trend has been brought to my attention.... the New Jersey Pop Culture Phenomenon. 
 

At first I thought, "well maybe it's just an East Coast "thing" as each of my advertising media plans fell within New York and New Jersey.  But, then the New Jersey reach began to stretch much further... as far as Sioux Falls and Silicon Valley.  New Jersey based programming is all cable representatives all over this country can talk about and not to mention that over a half dozen networks have their own version of all things Jersey.  The "Cake Boss" on TLC, "Jersey Couture" on Oxygen, "Jerseylicious" on the Style Network, "Jersey Shore" on MTV, and "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" on Bravo are dominating programming and ratings.

Initially, advertisers viewed this type of programming as nothing short of appalling (case in point- advertisers such as Dominos and American Family Insurance pulling spots out of the first week of "Jersey Shore").  However, now... they can't get enough.  Many of the major advertising categories like automobiles, fast food, hair care, movies, packaged food and soft drinks are clamoring for a spot during these shows.  And truly, who can blame them?  Maybe it's the bigger than life personalities, spray tans, internal drama or the undeniably fabulous accents... whatever it may be, people are watching... and watching a lot!

The New Jersey Phenomenon is an interesting trend to watch.  As with all pop culture fads and trends it will eventually fizzle and we'll all be on to something else.  Wonder what will be next...??? Hey, how about: "The Real Media Team of Balihoo".... Eh Fugetaboutit!