Thinkbox
Sponsorship has been successfully combined with advertiser funded programming or product placement as part of a deeper content partnership. This means there are plenty of opportunities for advertisers to get directly involved in the creation of programme content and to extend their sponsorship even further. The trick here, as always, is to put viewers first. Here are a few examples to get you inspired:
St. James’s Place and Sky Arts
Despite the fact that St. James’s Place had been a leading provider of financial advice in the UK for nearly 40 years, they lacked awareness with their target audience of ABC1 adults aged 30 to 60.
Mindshare felt that they needed to form a deeper and more meaningful relationship with their audience and they could do this by tapping into a shared passion, The Arts, so they negotiated a deal for St. James’s Place to become the channel sponsor of Sky Arts.
The TV sponsorship formed the backbone of the partnership and provided a platform to promote their ‘Invaluable Advice’ philosophy to a broad audience.
Alongside the linear sponsorship, they created short-form content branded content which was promoted across Sky Arts’ digital platforms and social channels. Hosted by Andi Oliver and featuring creatives like Nikita Gil and John Waugh, the series reinforced the brand’s ‘Invaluable Advice’ philosophy. The content generated over 4.5 million views and nearly 3,000 clicks to the St. James’s Place landing page, successfully linking the concept of trusted advice with the brand’s financial expertise. You can read more about it here.
Taylors of Harrogate and Sunday Brunch
Taylors wanted to reassert its credentials and rebuild strong coffee associations. Research showed that a quality ground coffee like Taylors is tied in with weekend routines and moments of togetherness with family and friends.
Their agency, Goodstuff, brokered a deal for them to sponsor Sunday Brunch on Channel 4. As a beloved weekend institution, Sunday Brunch is intrinsically linked with food, drink and relaxed Sunday rituals, making it the natural home for Taylor’s.
To deepen the association, they added product placement and bespoke branded segments. The PP included branded coffee mugs, on-set placement of the brand’s coffee range and recipe integration. The PP added a positive extension to the sponsorship that made the association even stronger.
Volvo and Sky Atlantic
Volvo have a long-running partnership with Sky Atlantic as they have been the channel sponsor since 2014.
For Volvo, the key objective behind the sponsorship was about changing perceptions about the brand. Volvo has always been associated with being safe which is highly important for a car. However, they also wanted to be seen as a premium choice and they believed that by sponsoring the high-quality programming on Sky Atlantic, they could achieve brand rub.
This is exactly what happened and Volvo started to gain a foothold in the premium automotive sector. However, they wanted to do more to stand out.
Working with Mindshare and Grey, they created a new brand platform – ‘Human Stories’. These human stories were 4-to-7-minute docudramas which told the story of people trying to make the world a better place.
As the sponsorship has progressed, so has the associated branded content. More recently, the new versions of Human Stories were titled, ‘What does the future look like?’ These stories highlighted the sustainable elements of production on Sky Atlantic while mirroring the efforts that Volvo were making in this area.
The shorts were launched across linear, VOD and Sky social channels and included integration with Sky’s EPG guide via voice search.
This partnership showcases how branded content and sponsorship can work hand in hand to promote brand benefits. You can read more about this partnership here.
Land Rover Defender and the Rugby World Cup
Defender has been an active and passionate supporter of rugby for two decades and has a proud heritage in helping people discover rugby at all levels – from grassroots to the elite.
In the autumn of 2023, they became the sponsor of all tournament coverage of the Rugby World Cup on ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX.
To support this sponsorship, their agency Hearts & Science created branded content featuring six “Trailblazers” - individuals who represent the very best of rugby and inspire others to be capable of great things. Each person featured had triumphed over adversity and demonstrated what inner strength and courage looks like. The people who starred in this content included:
Irtiqa Ayoub who defied cultural barriers to become a national champion and paved the way for other young girls in India to pursue their sporting dreams
Cyril Leroy who set up France’s first LGBTQ+ rugby team, Les Gaillards, providing people from the LGBTQ+ community the opportunity to play in a team they feel represents them
Jacob Pickering, aged 14, who was born without his left forearm but didn’t let this hold him back from pursuing his dream to play rugby
The branded content was a positive addition to the broadcast sponsorship and enabled Defender to highlight their brand ethos and celebrate inspiring people from the world of rugby.