On Brand with Jimmy Fallon

Payton Costenbader
Marketing Editor

Jimmy Fallon, well known for hosting the popular American late night talk show, The Tonight Show, has recently launched a new project. In hopes to capitalize off the reality competition market, NBC has approved a new series called On Brand, hosted and executively produced by Fallon. The objective of the competition is to create innovative marketing campaigns for major brands in hopes of winning a cash prize.

Each episode is designed to be a step in the competition where contestants continue to develop their marketing campaigns. Some popular brands that are being featured within this series include Samsung, Pillsbury, and Dunkin. Creating a campaign for one of these massive companies would be a dream come true for an aspiring marketing professional looking for a high-profile way to launch their career. The campaigns may include various types of marketing output such as commercials, jingles, merchandise pitches or social media campaigns. Being unique and having a concept that can realistically be brought to life by these companies is the name of the game and each episode culminates to the final assignment where one contestant is awarded and nationally recognized for their idea.
Mentorship is valued by the contestants through the process of developing their ideas. Bozoma Saint John, the show’s Chief Marketing Officer, known for her previous roles, Chief Marketing Officer of Netflix and Chief Brand Officer of Uber, serves as a mentor for the contestants. Her valuable experience allows the prospective marketing professionals to develop their skills, hear feedback and learn how to connect with a consumer from a highly esteemed perspective. Following the guidance of the mentor is crucial as only the best concepts advance to the proof-of-concept stage of the competition, which is the point at which the contestant must prove that their campaign could realistically serve the brand.
The winner of the competition will reap benefits outside of the undisclosed monetary prize. National recognition of their skills and exposure to new audiences can allow these professionals to crack a highly competitive job market. The brands featured on the show can gain exposure even if the winning contestant did not create a campaign for their company. Though only the winning campaign is officially launched by a company, the entire process of the contestants developing these plans is positive exposure for the brands involved.
On Brand is going to be a new and exciting show for consumers to enjoy coming later in 2025. Though NBC has yet to provide the date that the show begins airing, interested parties can look forward to watching it on Peacock within the coming months.

Contact Payton at costenpa@shu.edu