THE CW/PRSSA CASE STUDY
PRSSA OBJECTIVE:
Position The CW to college students across the country by raising awareness for the
network’s popular series “Gossip Girl,” while implementing non-traditional and outsidethe-box publicity and promotion.
The CW Network was formed as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment
and CBS Corporation. The CW is America’s fifth broadcast network and the only
network targeting women 18-34. The CW offers a six-night, 13-hour primetime lineup
that runs Sunday through Friday; a two-hour weekday afternoon block; and a five-hour
Saturday morning animation block that delivers a total of 30 hours of programming a
week over seven days. The network’s primetime schedule includes such popular series as
“America’s Next Top Model,” “Gossip Girl,” “90210,” “One Tree Hill,” “Supernatural,”
“Everybody Hates Chris” and “Smallville.”
Mondays (8:00-9:00 p.m.) on The CW
The privileged prep school teens on Manhattan’s Upper East Side first learn that
Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) is back
in town the way they learn all the important news in their lives ─ from the blog of the allknowing albeit ultra-secretive Gossip Girl. No one knows Gossip Girl’s identity, but
everyone in this exclusive and complicated vicious circle relies on her website and text
messages for the latest scoop. Even Serena’s closest friend, Blair Waldorf (Leighton
Meester, “Entourage”), is surprised to find that Serena has suddenly ended her selfimposed exile to boarding school and returned to Manhattan.
Once the Upper East Side’s most notorious party girl, Serena’s reasons for
returning are mysterious, although they may have something to do with her younger
brother Eric (Connor Paolo, “Alexander”). Whatever the reasons, the change in Serena is
obvious, especially to Blair, whose friendship with Serena has always been competitive
and difficult. When Serena was out of the picture, Blair enjoyed her time in the spotlight
GOSSIP GIRL – continued
and she has no intention of going back to living in Serena’s shadow. Their uneasy
relationship is further complicated by Blair’s boyfriend Nate (Chace Crawford, “The
Covenant”), a young man uneasy with all the privileges that have been handed to him by
his high-powered father Howie “The Captain” Archibald (Sam Robards, “The West
Wing”). Now that Serena is back, Blair will have to fight to hold onto Nate’s attention.
It also remains to be seen whether Blair’s loyal lieutenants ─ Katy (newcomer Nan
Zhang) and Isabel (newcomer Nicole Fiscella) ─ will remain by her side or break ranks
to follow Serena.
The tension between Blair and Serena isn’t lost on anyone in this crowd, since
they all live for gossip and scandal ─ along with fashion, shopping and partying in
Manhattan’s trendiest hot spots. This is a world you have to be born into, full of wealth,
power, and people like Chuck (Ed Westwick, “Children of Men”). A friend of Nate’s
since childhood, Chuck leads a reckless life, and constantly pushes Nate to explore his
dark side.
The proverbial fish-out-of-water at the prep school are Dan (Penn Badgley, “John
Tucker Must Die,” “The Bedford Diaries”) and his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen,
“Paranoid Park,” “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”), middle-class kids whose
background keeps them on the fringes of this exclusive clique. Dan and Jenny are
attending the school at the insistence of their father Rufus (Matthew Settle, “Into The
West”), a former rocker turned art gallery owner, determined to give his kids a first-class
education. Rufus has a history with Serena’s mother Lily (Kelly Rutherford, “Melrose
Place”), a socialite who hides her past as a dancer and rock groupie. When a chance
encounter brings Dan to Serena’s attention, he suddenly finds himself dating the girl of
his dreams. The more Dan discovers about the real Serena, the more he’s challenged to
make sense of her world. Dan’s sister Jenny is the youngest of the group and wants
desperately to be accepted. The price she’ll have to pay for popularity will take a toll, but
at the moment, Jenny is just thrilled to have entry into this glamorous world.
Dan and Serena’s relationship is further complicated by the arrival of Dan’s friend
Vanessa (Jessica Szohr, “What About Brian”), a Brooklyn rebel and loner who doesn’t
approve of Serena’s world of money, fashion shows and fundraisers. Vanessa’s attempts
to pull him back to his roots will cause friction between Dan and Serena.
Keeping track of the shifting friendships, jealousies and turmoil in this wealthy
and complex world isn’t easy, but it’s what Gossip Girl does best.
Filmed in New York and based on the popular series of young-adult novels by
Cecily von Ziegesar, “Gossip Girl” is from Alloy Entertainment in association with
Warner Bros. Television and CBS Paramount Television with executive producers Josh
Schwartz (“The O.C.”) & Stephanie Savage (“The O.C.”), Bob Levy (“Surviving the
Filthy Rich”) and Leslie Morgenstein (“Surviving the Filthy Rich”), and co-executive
producers Felicia Henderson (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) and K.J. Steinberg (“The
Nine”).