America's youngest skewing network, The CW, is embracing the ever-growing mobile channel, a network executive told Mobile Marketer.

With the new fall season right around the corner, the network is working to extend its brand via the mobile channel. The CW said it will continue already successful text-to-win contests and product integration to reach viewers.

"We're using mobile to extend our brand in lot of ways," said Rick Haskins, executive vice president of brand strategy and digital at The CW, Burbank, CA. "We're doing big pushes this year with a lot of mobile apps that we'll be expanding and announcing shortly, two within next month."

"Digital is a very, very big and important part of our overall strategy and mobile is becoming a more important part of the digital piece," he said.

The CW is a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS Corp., born when networks The WB and UPN merged in 2006. The network is home to such shows as "Smallville," "Gossip Girl," and "90210."

At this year's Comic-Con International, The CW promoted their new show "Vampire Diaries" with postcards with a digital image on it. With the proper device, snapping a picture of the digital image got the user a video preview of the series.

"We try and do keep up with technology and provide a mobile experience," Mr. Haskins said.

The network has a mobile site at http://iphone.cwtv.com. It has been indicated that The CW will launch an official iPhone application made by Rhythm NewMedia in September.

Last fall The CW allowed users to sign up to receive texts that showed the mobile content the characters of Gossip Girl were seeing and sending at the time. Currently, users can sign up to receive text alerts from Gossip Girl herself via the show's official CW site at http://cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl

"We do a lot of interactivity," Mr. Haskins said. "We're going to see more contests like that."

The CW programs often feature cell phones from various brands, Gossip Girl features product integration with Verizon Wireless.

"Hopefully [product integration] has a positive effect," Mr. Haskins said. "We try and be very, very organic [with product integration of mobile devices], it's part in parcel to our viewers' lifestyle."

This fall look for "Melrose Place" and Vampire Diaries to run advertisements on the popular iheart radio application for the iPhone. The CW plans to launch more text-to-win contests for "90210" and Gossip Girl.

Original Gossip Girl webisodes will also be made available thanks to Verizon.

Last fall The CW ran ads for Gossip Girl using the popular online abbreviation "OMG." This season, it's "WTF."

"We're talking to our audience in a way we're talking to ourselves," Mr. Haskins said. "A lot of times people go ?WTF, I can't believe they are using WTF.' We talk to our audience like the way they talk to themselves that's what resonates with our audience quite frankly.

"We're not afraid to talk to them like they talk to each other, we understand their lingo," he said.
According to studies done by The CW, providing mobile content and allowing shows to be watched via mobile devices doesn't hurt viewership but increases customer loyalty.

"My goal is to have my properties available to the viewers where they are, whenever they want to see it," Mr. Haskins said. "Studies we do don't find that mobile usage cannibalizes on-air usage. We look at it as a plus."

Mr. Haskins said The CW went into the homes of viewers in areas such as St. Louis to observe how their programs were being viewed. The CW said they were fascinated by viewers as the text messaged and chatted over mobile even though they were in the same room.

"It's the way they like to communicate," Mr. Haskins said.

Reaching consumers on mobile devices is equally important as reaching them on any other platform, according to The CW.

"Considering that virtually everyone, especially in our young target demo, has a mobile device on them at all times of the day, you can literally communicate with your consumers on a one-to-one basis," Mr. Haskins said. "Just as one example, this coming season, we're using text alerts to let our viewers know when their favorite shows are back in originals."