I’ll Take Mr. Peacock in the Newsroom with the TV Camera

When WRAL-TV made the announcement we would become an NBC-affiliate on February 29^th, the WRAL Creative Team knew they had a job to do. The team immediately got to work on promotions to help inform viewers of the change and exactly what that change will mean. In just under 7 days, the WRAL-TV Creative Team produced a 17-spot campaign that included web/social teasers, IDs, Video FAQs and (3) :30s with a brand new Mascot.

“When I first learned of the NBC choice, I had this immediate vision of a spot with a peacock and the anchors,” said WRAL-TV Creative Director Shelly Leslie. “Of course, that seemed ludicrous. Where would we find one? I hear they’re mean. In a brainstorm with the WRAL creative team, we talked about the idea and I said, ‘All we need to pull this off is a live, trained peacock! How hard is THAT?’ The room laughed and Jay Yovanovich said, ‘Give me a day to find one!’ And off we went.”

“It seems like every single thing that happened after that was serendipitous bordering on destiny,” said Leslie.

Yovanovich must have been eating Lucky Charms for breakfast. He shared with Capcom what happened next:

After our meeting I searched Google for any possible leads to a ‘trained’ peacock. Nothing was coming up.

Eventually I found a blog with a post from a farmer in Bahama. He had a peacock as a pet but it wasn’t really trained and never left the pen. I was going to at least go visit his farm to get visual shots of a peacock. Hey, something is better than nothing, right? This farmer offhandedly mentioned I should contact the Sylvan Heights Bird Park. He said he didn’t think the bird park had any peacocks but maybe they could point me in the right direction.

So I called the bird park. A wonderful lady with a British accent heard my story and asked if I would tell the story again to their marketing director.

Turns out, the bird park imprinted (trained) a peacock about 7 months ago because in the words of Brent Lubbock (Bird Park Marketing Director), “We just thought one day an NBC station may want to do something.”

In the course of two days I visited the Bird Park, was reassured the bird could very well be inside a newsroom, and planned shoots.

Our team fine-tuned the concepts based on the incredible developments and BAM!

The shoots went beyond our expectations. The people at the Sylvan Heights Bird Park were incredible, including a 13-year-old girl named Ella who was in charge of the peacock! We couldn’t be more proud of the spots and the partnership.

Yovanovich and Leslie worked alongside WRAL-TV staffers Corporate Producer Anita Normanly, Digital Media Administrator Steve Elizondo, Lead Designer – Animation Specialist Shan Zhong and a freelance producer/director John Roberts on the spots. WRAL-TV Social Media Manager Wendy Gatlin gave an assist with getting the bird some attention on Facebook, Twitter and beyond.

“I can’t say enough about our Team,” said Leslie. “Pulling off a really creative, multi-platform campaign and executing it flawlessly in less than 7 days on a stage as big as the Super Bowl is nothing short of epic. This team is one reason I have confidence we’re going to build a #1 top 25 NBC affiliate here.”