"I don't know, an evil genie put me here," says Kathy Pinckert, chief marketing officer of Naked News. Actually, what put her there, by Kathy's own account, was a laugh. The moment she laughed, she says she knew she wanted in.

Chances are, if you've got a laugh, you're in on it, too. If you're reading this, you likely have an e-mail address. If you have an e-mail address, you likely have received a message from a friend or colleague pointing you to NakedNews.com.

Oh, yes you have! Over six million people a month have. You're probably one of them. Bet you are. If you clicked through, you saw a newscast that looks a lot like, say, CNN's Headline News -- that is, until the newscaster disrobes. She -- or he -- unbuttons so casually one barely even notices. We are, after all, watching it for the news.

Right.

Well then, why are we writing about this? First, because Naked News carries to its logical, if extreme, conclusion the reality that news and entertainment are one and the same. They have been for a long time. And, having crossed the great divide from the Internet to cable television -- in both Canada and the U.S. -- Naked News certainly appears to have, um, legs.

Then there's Kathy Pinckert herself. Who she is, where she came from, and how she is navigating this highly-controversial media property into the pop culture mainstream is a story worth reading about.

Kathy got her start in entertainment PR, with clients like Aaron Spelling Productions and Paramount Network Television. The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Linda Ronstadt, and Natalie Cole were among her clients, too. She has a law degree, but has never practiced law. She's done PR for law firms, as well. Any connecting points between law and PR? "They both have an element of communication and persuasion," offers Kathy. "Both require superior listening and problem-solving skills."

Her most significant preparation for marketing was not law school, though. According to Kathy, it was her work as a suicide counselor that has made all the difference in her marketing career. She explains: "I went through a six-week training program which taught me more about listening and keying into what people say, and how to hear what they're telling you. If my job is to help you become famous, I really have to understand what it is you are about before I can do that. If you're in trouble, or your reputation is on the line, I'm going to have to really find what's at your core and what matters, your place of truth and your integrity."

The truth, naked. Indeed. Read on.


Naked News has received massive levels of publicity from major, mainstream news organizations. How did you make that happen?

I think it's through the courage of our convictions. As easily as somebody might poke fun at Naked News, we can also get people to take it seriously. What I said from the beginning -- which I continue to say -- is that we're news, naked. When people get over their own preconceptions of what they think it is, then they understand exactly what it is. It's news, naked -- it's a straightforward news program.

What was the marketing plan and how did you execute against it?

My plan was first and foremost that the media had to understand what we were. My primary purpose was to make sure that everything that we did came off as extremely professional and extremely businesslike.

I knew that if I didn't set a solid foundation of communication that we would be much more likely to be perceived as just a fad. I also observed a growing trend in North America of having nudity much more accepted in television media -- shows like NYPD Blue, Sex and the City, and The Sopranos, for example. So timing-wise we were coming in at the right time with our idea. In addition, rather than going to just any kind of media, the strategy was to go to the "A list" media.

Your marketing strategy does appear to be based mostly on getting publicity. What else is in your marketing mix?

Getting publicity is right now the key focus. Because we're an Internet program, the way to draw eyeballs is always going to be through getting seen and heard in as many places as we can -- which we have done globally. An advertising campaign can't quite help in the same way to debut something, build a momentum for it and build a strong audience.

We have been approached to advertise on radio programs, because there's a complimentary demographic of males 18-35. So far we have resisted doing that. We don't yet see that particular need.

Were there any specific tactics that worked especially well?

In the past year we responded to letters from women and created a second show that's an all-male show. We held a press conference here in Toronto which every media outlet in Toronto attended. We had some fun and orchestrated an introduction with the four female anchors each saying something about the idea of the male show and then introducing one of the male anchors. The showstopper was that he took his jacket off, he took his tie off, and he opened his shirt. Everybody went crazy. It was a lot of fun.

Was there anything you tried that didn’t work so well?

No. Honestly, no. Everything has worked really well because there's a keen interest. For example, when we held our first auditions outside of Canada, in Los Angeles, I put out a press release on a Monday just to give the media a heads up that we were going to have auditions starting the following Wednesday.

Well, one of the news stations ran it a ten o'clock that same night and my phone did not stop ringing. Usually when you do a media release you will get press interested in a period covering about twenty-four to thirty-six hours. This release generated so much heat that I had to add two days to the audition process. So it covered a period lasting five days, and we had intense media coverage all five days. And then when we finally made the announcement as to whom we hired, we again had intense media coverage because of that.

Suppose you're in an elevator with a chief marketing officer of a consumer packaged goods company. You've got ten seconds to explain Naked News and why his or her brand should advertise. What's the elevator pitch?

We have a powerful, loyal audience of males, 18-35. Naked News is here to stay. It is a growing news empire. It is an entertainment empire. Get on board.

And when they go to the site and they see an X-rated banner ad, how do you explain that?

An ad is an ad is an ad. People have a choice any time they open a magazine or watch television to pay attention to that ad, to be interested in it, to learn more about it -- or to ignore it. And that is the beauty of America. It's also the beauty of the Internet. People have that choice.

But the reality for any mainstream marketer is that they would take one look at that banner ad and you'd be done.

Then I would say to them that they are missing out on a significant place to position themselves and their products. If they really have an issue with that particular ad, they can always use it as a negotiating point with us.

Did you have X-rated advertising like that from the beginning or is that something new?

No, that is relatively new. It began running just a few months ago.

Was there ever a change in policy where initially you thought boy, we'd much rather have Coca-Cola in there than Adultland. But we can't get Coke, so we're going to put Adultland in there?

Well, like a lot of Internet companies, the ability to get advertising is a challenge. Most advertising on the Internet seems to fall into a different kind of a category. So, if we wanted advertising as a piece of our revenue base, we needed to consider that as an option.

Why do you think mainstream marketers of the world haven't bought into Naked News?

Money is tight, and most people are more inclined to take the conservative approach, the sure bet. If you're a little more daring, you might take the road less traveled.

The clicks world is different. People don't have a complete understanding about it yet. So certain things that are tried-and-true in the "bricks" world haven't proven themselves in the Internet world. I think a lot of people have missed the boat on it.

Well, the first year we got around 4 million, and that was pretty good. Two months after I did the press release, by the end of February of 2001, it went up almost forty percent, to a little over 5 million -- about 5.7 million, something like that. And now that number has grown to over 6 million. There has been a little drop in numbers, and one can pretty much attribute that to the events surrounding September 11th.

Were there any other ways in which September 11th had an effect on the way you approach the show?

The first day of 9/11, we posted a message for our viewers because we realized just how horrendous it was. We expressed our sorrow and our support of the United States, and suggested that our fans tune into their local news stations for up-to-minute reporting. But otherwise it has been business as usual.

How do you plan to keep Naked News fresh without losing your focus over time?

Just as any other news outlet does. On one level, it’s almost that the world provides us with opportunities to do different things. Also, because we report on the more unusual things going on in the news we can use wit and humor. As we grow and diversify, we have grown both our male and female cast members, who also are also developing loyal fan bases.

One of our accomplishments, just in this last year, was that we were invited here in Toronto to cover press events. Now, Naked News may be our brand name but we don't show up at these events naked! But we've covered the Geminis, which are Canada's Emmy Awards, and we will be covering the Canadian version of the Oscars, The Genie Awards.

Paint a picture of Naked News a year from now, two years from now, ten years from now. What do you see?

We're growing an infotainment, entertainment empire. It will encompass a film, Naked News: The Movie. We are looking at developing other Naked News branded programs. We're also looking at publishing some type of a news magazine.

I would see Naked News retail shops. I see our next major leap onto cable television with the burgeoning cable and digital television markets. There is a great need there for content, and we've got the right content.