Dec 4, 2006 6:00 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Amy Johannes

Oxygen is using social
networking to promote
The Bad Girls Club series,
which premieres Tuesday

The Oxygen Network is showing off its "bad" side via a new marketing campaign that uses social networking to plug its latest reality show The Bad Girls Club.

Starting tomorrow, the network will launch its own social networking site at BadGirlsClubonOxygen.com. The portal will feature details about the show, instant chat and a Web cam that lets visitors record and post their own bad girl stories. Viewers can rate the real-life tales on a scale from "cream puff" to "completely evil."

The portal will serve as a virtual bad girls club to give fans a way to connect with others and interact with the series. The effort marks the first time Oxygen has offered a social networking functionality on its Web site.

"We know young women are tech savvy," Cynthia Ashworth, senior vice president of marketing for Oxygen said. "They are online. They are all over the MySpaces of world. We wanted to give them a place where they could connect in area of passion, which we believe will be this show."

Bad Girls cast members will post blogs where fans can learn more about clips and scenes from the reality show.

"People are always looking for ways to connect to others," Ashworth said. "This gives fans a fun way to become part of the experience."

The marketing campaign targets women 18-39 who love reality shows, Ashworth said. To feed into that frenzy, Oxygen has created a MySpace page at MySpace.com/thebadgirlsclub that features video clips from the show. The network also launched a YouTube custom brand channel with video and ads.

Oxygen is supporting the campaign with print ads in US Weekly, OK!, Style and In Touch. Thirty-second TV spots and 60-second radio spots run in top markets including Atlanta, Chicago, New York, LA and Seattle. Toy, New York City, handles ads for the network while M Theory, Van Nuys, CA, created the Web site and Media Kitchen, also New York City, oversaw media planning and buying. Billboards in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as wildpostings in New York City also advertise the show.

Created by MTV's The Real World producers, The Bad Girls Club takes a no-holds bar look at the lives of seven independent women who live (not so peacefully) under one roof in Los Angeles. The show, which premieres Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET, is complete with chair-throwing tantrums and emotional meltdowns.

The Bad Girls Club will air for 22 weeks, Oxygen's longest TV series. The network airs in more than 70 million households.

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