170:
orange airship, bearing "CONAN" across its side, was designed to engage fans with its social media functions and allow them to get a better feel for the new TBS program's vibe. This included an interactive blimp website with a live map and a livecam to track the blimp, promotional television and YouTube commercials, a Flickr image collection and the #TheConanBlimp hashtag on
Twitter. O'Brien also developed his own mobile app to share pictures and videos of the
250:. As opposed to being simply used for promotional purposes, the blimp was incorporated into several of the late-night show's comedic sketches. Typically, the expensive blimp was used for ironically trivial purposes, such as providing aerial coverage of a bike race among Conan's crew. It usually appears along with dramatic music after O'Brien says, "As you know, I am the only television personality...who has...his own blimp."
22:
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181:. In 2010, mobile advertising was quickly becoming the most prominent form of marketing, with Foursquare's social, interactive function at the forefront. O'Brien connected with Foursquare users by allowing them to check into the blimp. Afterwards, users would receive a "Conan Blimpspotter" badge and a message saying, "You've spotted the Conan Blimp! A big orange bag of slow moving gas has never looked so pretty.
208:
Prior to Blue Sky handling, the physical production of the dirigible, Breakfast, a digital-interactive agency based in New York, developed a small model blimp with video capabilities and an iPad control system. Created for MunNY Exhibit's 2010 Design Week, this design served as the first prototype of
287:
from
October 31 to November 3, 2011. The blimp arrived early to advertise the show and flew over New York City during the week of shows. Users of the application Foursquare were again invited check-in to the blimp to receive a special real cloth badge commemorating the week of shows and the blimp.
169:
Being a smaller network than NBC, TBS' goal was to bring as much of O'Brien's united fan base over to their late-night programs as possible. Thus, to promote the never-before-seen late-night talk show as effectively as he did his tour and documentary, O'Brien and TBS developed the Conan blimp. The
184:
The blimp's
Foursquare application earned 21,000 check-ins and over a hundred comments. During that time, "Team Coco" was also followed by more than 51,000 Foursquare users. The blimp was subsequently nominated for the Location of the Year Shorty Award.
205:, a branch of Van Wagner Communications LLC. Van Wagner purchased the American Blimp Corporation in September 2012. The blimp is registered as N620LG cn 020. The Conan blimp itself was designed by the Atlanta firm Blue Sky.
108:, NBC announced that Leno would be moved from 10:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. and O'Brien would be moved from 11:30 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. The announcement occurred seven months after
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Many of O'Brien's followers, both fans and celebrities, remained faithful to the "Team Conan" movement throughout his short, contractually-obligated absence from television. As he embarked on
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137:
During the controversy, O'Brien's online supporters started the "Team Conan" or "Team Coco" movement, employing phrases such as "I'm With Coco" to show their support for the
127:'s decision to reschedule O'Brien and Leno's time slots led to O'Brien's departure from the network and a public outcry from O'Brien's fans on social media sites like
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Team Coco announced the blimp was being retired on
December 1, 2010. At the time, O'Brien planned to have the blimp donated to the
141:
host. In
February 2010, one month after his departure from NBC, O'Brien joined Twitter and acquired 300,000 followers in 24 hours.
227:
s biggest sponsor, funding the blimp's interactive website, promotional commercials and appearances at the MLB postseason games.
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O'Brien used "The
Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" and his social media presence to announce the start of
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the Conan blimp. Breakfast used their model to contribute web design and social media functions to Blue Sky's creation.
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on TBS, O'Brien's social media presence became a powerful marketing tool. Prior to announcing the start of
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Arguably the most effective social media trend that O'Brien's team took advantage of at that time was
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s premiere, and over four years after it was made known that O'Brien would replace Leno as the
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156:, he used Twitter to promote and sell "The Prohibited Tour." The tour's success even led to
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Barker, Melissa; Barker, Donald I.; Bormann, Nicholas F.; Zahay, Debra (January 7, 2016).
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648:"Conan Blimp Comes to St. Louis to Cover MLB National League Playoff Games"
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Over time, however, the blimp transformed into an iconic comedic symbol of
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461:"Forget Foursquare: Why Location Marketing Is New Point-of-Purchase"
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542:"Tuning In: AT&T Connects to Conan; Tonight's '30 Rock' Live"
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96:. The controversy occurred when, due to the low ratings of
967:
The
Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
146:
The
Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
668:
235:
The blimp debuted several weeks before the premiere of
341:"Conan, Ozzie and the Dalai Lama: Together on Twitter"
212:
At the time of the blimp's creation, the promotion of
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201:' 2002 World Tour. Today, the blimp is owned by
197:type A60+, originally built in 2002 to promote
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369:"Career Lessons From Conan O'Brien - US News"
275:The blimp then returned to the skies for the
48:for the purpose of promoting the premiere of
8:
435:Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach
617:"Farewell, Conan Blimp; You Served Us Well"
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277:2011 National League Championship Series
257:gags involves the blimp following actor
569:"Conan Video: Blimpstalking Gary Busey"
507:
505:
297:
162:, O'Brien's self-marketed documentary.
540:Steinberg, Brian (October 14, 2010).
396:"Conan O'Brien Presents: Team Coco @"
7:
615:Bleyaert, Aaron (December 1, 2010).
910:The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
646:Turdo, Carmelo (October 14, 2011).
239:to provide aerial footage for 2010
110:The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
105:The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
253:One of the more popular recurring
14:
591:"Conan blimp stalking Gary Busey"
339:Manker, Rob (February 26, 2010).
308:Carter, Bill (November 4, 2010).
1071:
1070:
512:Barol, Bill (October 12, 2010).
243:postseason games airing on TBS.
216:relied heavily on sponsors like
459:Patel, Kunur (March 22, 2010).
571:. Team Coco. November 22, 2010
514:"The birth of the Conan blimp"
367:Newman, Rick (June 23, 2011).
1:
1103:Airships of the United States
890:Late Night with Conan O'Brien
265:, much to Busey's annoyance.
52:on his late-night talk show,
1001:Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
975:Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
804:Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
374:U.S. News & World Report
1118:Vehicles introduced in 2010
279:. It also returned for the
86:between O'Brien and former
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195:American Blimp Corporation
46:Turner Broadcasting System
1065:
821:
1048:Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
593:. YouTube. April 5, 2012
203:Van Wagner Airship Group
159:Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
270:Smithsonian Institution
1020:The War for Late Night
311:The War for Late Night
174:cast, crew and blimp.
30:
1113:Advertising campaigns
1039:Happy Happy Good Show
940:Conan O'Brien Must Go
930:Conan Without Borders
790:Conan Without Borders
241:Major League Baseball
189:Creation and sponsors
148:and prepared to host
70:O'Brien's shift from
24:
1056:Conan (military dog)
438:. Cengage Learning.
408:on November 15, 2010
283:shows recorded from
139:late-night talk show
652:The Aero Experience
627:on December 4, 2010
199:the Rolling Stones
119:host. Ultimately,
31:
1098:Conan (talk show)
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1084:
900:Andy Barker, P.I.
830:
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445:978-1-337-02592-8
325:978-0-670-02208-3
193:The blimp was an
99:The Jay Leno Show
78:stemmed from the
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655:. Retrieved
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629:. Retrieved
625:the original
597:February 10,
595:. Retrieved
585:
575:November 24,
573:. Retrieved
563:
553:February 10,
551:. Retrieved
545:
535:
525:February 10,
523:. Retrieved
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494:February 10,
492:. Retrieved
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472:February 10,
470:. Retrieved
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412:February 10,
410:. Retrieved
406:the original
401:TeamCoco.com
399:
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380:February 10,
378:. Retrieved
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352:February 10,
350:. Retrieved
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933:(2015–2019)
923:(2010–2021)
913:(2009–2010)
893:(1993–2009)
657:October 14,
631:December 3,
519:Boing Boing
263:Los Angeles
231:Appearances
125:Jeff Zucker
1092:Categories
871:Television
292:References
259:Gary Busey
179:Foursquare
66:Background
621:Team Coco
133:Facebook.
44:owned by
42:dirigible
1076:Category
1012:conflict
880:Lookwell
824:Category
813:conflict
784:Sketches
777:See also
710:Episodes
488:"N620LG"
218:AT&T
94:Jay Leno
84:conflict
943:(2024–)
718:2010–11
261:around
129:Twitter
16:Airship
994:Awards
960:Conaco
903:(2007)
883:(1991)
547:Ad Age
466:Ad Age
442:
322:
167:Conan.
123:chief
1031:blimp
1029:Conan
1008:2010
920:Conan
809:2010
799:blimp
797:Conan
701:Conan
281:Conan
255:Conan
248:Conan
237:Conan
225:'
222:Conan
214:Conan
172:Conan
154:Conan
150:Conan
113:'
92:host
80:2010
58:, on
55:Conan
38:blimp
36:Conan
29:blimp
27:Conan
768:2021
763:2020
758:2019
753:2018
748:2017
743:2016
738:2015
733:2014
728:2013
723:2012
659:2011
633:2010
599:2014
577:2010
555:2014
527:2014
496:2014
474:2014
440:ISBN
414:2014
382:2014
354:2014
320:ISBN
131:and
102:and
33:The
25:The
76:TBS
74:to
72:NBC
60:TBS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
