By: Lara Jensen
When HGTV launched in 1994, there was some skepticism about the need for a television channel that airs nothing but shows related to homes and gardens.

Today, the cable network reaches 93 million U.S. households and is in the midst of an aggressive marketing expansion that could see the HGTV brand popping up everywhere from mobile phones to stores nationwide.

However, as statistics continue to show a decrease in the amount of time consumers are spending in front of their TVs, HGTV isn’t the only media brand wondering where its future growth will come from.

“As we look forward, we’re tapped out in [traditional] distribution,” says Lori Asbury, senior vice president of marketing, creative and brand strategy for HGTV. “So in order to grow our audience, we need to grow our reach.”

With this goal in mind, HGTV has initiated an aggressive multiplatform strategy that may include ongoing direct mail efforts, the launch of two broadband channels – HGTV KitchenDesign and HGTV BathDesign – and the creation of a marketplace section on HGTV.com where home and garden manufacturers can display their products. “Everywhere that we can touch the consumer is where we want to be,” Asbury says.

HGTV is owned and operated by Scripps Networks, which also owns and operates Food Network and Fine Living, among other media outlets. Scripps Networks is a division within the E.W. Scripps Company news empire.

Currently, HGTV also puts out HGTV Ideas magazine in partnership with newspapers in 23 markets around the country. While some of the papers distribute the magazine as inserts in their pages, others mail it directly to subscribers.

To further broaden its reach, HGTV is pursuing content distribution deals with various Internet and mobile providers. There are also numerous licensing agreements in the works for HGTV-branded merchandise.

Asbury says the goal is to create a “holistic” brand experience, with consumers accessing HGTV on their TVs, the Web and mobile phones and everything circling back to the TV at some point: “Any way that we can allow people to access the brand means we’re enhancing the brand.” Plus, a strong multiplatform brand offers both the potential to drive ratings and a way for the sales force to package HGTV to advertisers.

There’s another reason HGTV wants to plaster its brand everywhere: Competitors “are coming after our category,” Asbury explains, adding that this is why HGTV needs to reach out to consumers, offer the category in as many touchpoints as possible and be the experts in the category.

Another critical area of focus for driving growth at HGTV is the Web, Asbury says. Already, the company operates a companion Web site, HGTV.com, that dominates the online home-and-garden category with 5.2 million unique visitors each month.

“The Internet is the biggest platform for reaching the masses,” Asbury says. It’s also “the quickest and the easiest place for people to go.” And this explains why HGTV is spending over $1 million in interactive media to market Design Star, a new reality TV series in which designers compete to win their own TV show.

The Internet is also “where most of the deals in terms of repurposing our content are being pursued,” Asbury says. The challenge the Internet poses for HGTV and other traditional media companies is significant: How do they derive revenue from online content? “We believe our content has real value, so the goal is not to give away the content, but to sell it,” Asbury says.

However, “HGTV isn’t saying ‘If we can’t monetize it, we won’t do it,’” insists Asbury. Having a multiplatform brand is just too important, given today’s media landscape. But for the network to consider a deal to offer its content online for free, there would have to be some promotional or marketing value in it.

Multiplatform doesn’t just mean giving consumers more ways to watch and read HGTV content, either. Asbury wants to bring the brand into retail, similar to what Food Network is doing with its own line of branded kitchen products, tableware and linens. That line debuts this fall.

Few TV brands have been able to establish a presence for themselves at retail through licensed product. HGTV is currently pursuing “a bunch of different brand extensions,” Asbury says. She adds that the goal of any deal with a retailer would be to make consumers feel more connected to the brand by creating an in-store experience where they could find useful tips and knowledge related to their homes and garden. In turn, she hopes the branded products would drive business back to the network. Asbury expects to announce an arrangement with a major retailer some time this year.

Asbury reiterates that the network is also keeping direct mail in the mix and suggests that HGTV may even expand its mail efforts. “We may bundle direct mail into a bigger campaign in the future,” Asbury says.

Diversification is an age-old strategy and one that HGTV believes can give it a boost during one of the roughest periods television marketing has ever experienced. As Asbury puts it: “If you don’t have all this, you’re dead.”