Hurtigruten Expeditions renews partnership with Sky Nature!

HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions), the world’s leading expedition cruise company, announced it has renewed its broadcast sponsorship of the Sky Nature channel for 2024, following a successful partnership in 2022. The partnership will help to continue driving awareness for the protection and conservation work of HX in the places it travels.

Sky Nature is home to over 500 episodes of incredible shows, including Shark with Steve Backshall, Wild Animal Babies hosted by Patrick Aryee and exclusive David Attenborough’s Shows, and works to highlight the importance of protecting the natural world around us. Similarly aligned to these values, HX is committed to bringing adventurers and explorers closer to the natural world through sustainable and knowledge-enhancing expedition cruises – all guided with science and sustainability at its core. These expeditions are focused on leaving a positive impact and footprint to be proud of in all destinations, ensuring the protection of the wildlife and communities visited.

Suzanne Hall, European Marketing Director at HX said, “The partnership between HX and Sky Nature has already proved a great success and saw us reach 20% of adults with our campaign, with an uplift to 23% of those over the age of 55 – a core audience for us. We have strong synergies when it comes to our sustainability ambitions, and both us and Sky Nature remain dedicated to protecting the wonder of the natural world around us. At HX, we continue to strive to lead the way when it comes to sustainability. We were the first cruise line to remove single-use plastic from operations, and our hybrid-battery ships are helping us to reduce carbon emissions. We’re looking forward to working again with Sky Nature this year and inspiring more people to engage with the natural world in a meaningful way.”

Karin Seymour, Director of Client and Marketing at Sky Media commented, “HX’s decision to return showcases the continuing power of TV to build brand fame and reach premium audiences. With Sky Nature’s world-class content together with HX and Sky’s commitment to sustainability, this collaboration will put the new HX brand on the map and engage viewers who are passionate about the natural world”.

To learn more about HX’s pioneering expedition travel and its sustainability projects, please visit travelHX.com.

Eurocamp Showcases its Toddler-Friendly Holidays with New TV Partnership

Eurocamp is teaming up with kids TV giant, Nick Jr. – part of Paramount’s global portfolio of entertainment brands – for a new partnership. The holiday specialist has just announced its new sponsorship deal with channels Nick Jr. Too and Nick Jr. Peppa.

The deal, which was planned and negotiated with Sky Media as the exclusive ad sales house for Paramount, will see Eurocamp sponsor the morning period across both channels until August 2022. This is the latest in what has been a long relationship for the two brands – as trusted family favourites the duo enjoyed working together for the first time back in 2013.

Now, viewers will be able to see a series of Eurocamp idents created specifically for Nick Jr during morning programming this Spring and Summer. These will showcase Eurocamp’s toddler-friendly range of accommodation, parcs and activities in some of Europe’s most sought after locations.

With travel restrictions being lifted, the operator is keen to welcome families back to the holidays they’ve missed. Speaking about the partnership, Eurocamp’s Marketing Director, Chris Hilton, says: “We’re really excited to be working with Nick Jr again. Our relationship with the channel goes back nearly a decade and it feels like now is the perfect time to work together again.

“It’s been a tough couple of years for everyone involved in the travel sector, and for us, media spend has naturally had to take a backseat. We’re delighted to be investing again and pleased to be back on TV showing pre-school families all that we have to offer.”

Mark Swift, SVP International Ad Sales, Paramount, said, “We are delighted to renew our partnership with Eurocamp – their sponsorship of our market-leading pre-school channels provides an unrivalled opportunity to reach parents with their offer of toddler-friendly holidays. Our package with Eurocamp is just one example of the range of flexible advertising options available around Paramount’s portfolio of entertainment brands.”

Bring It Home! New York Bakery Co. launches major new nationwide on-pack promotion in partnership with hit TV show, Friends

New York Bakery Co., the UK’s number one bagel brand, has unveiled a major new UK & Ireland on-pack promotion in partnership with hit TV show, Friends

Following a hugely successful activation campaign in 2019 and a Comedy Central headline TV sponsorship from April-June this year, both brokered by Sky Media and MediaCom, the brand has revealed the details of the next phase of its 2020 partnership.

The promotion offers consumers the chance to “win the iconic N.Y.C. home grand prize” and will run across all packs of authentic boiled and baked New York Bakery Co. bagels for three months, starting 3^rd August.

The distinctively New York themed and Friends-inspired grand prize features two lazee boy chairs, a foosball table, a coffee machine, an apothecary table, a state of the art telescope and a selection of the latest kitchen gadgets and utensils. Each element within the ‘Home Grand Prize’ bundle links to a character from the show, with a total of three grand prizes to be given away at the end of the promotion.

On top of the grand prize, consumers will also be given the chance to win one of a thousand other prizes every week, including Hugsie toys, Friends aprons, Friends games as well as money can’t buy New York Bakery Co. bagel tins and tote bags.

The on-pack promotion will be brought to life creatively on-pack with New York iconography and the addition of the Friends logo – a first for the brand. Off-pack, the distinctive yellow picture frame that is such an iconic symbol for the show will also feature to grab attention for both Friends fans and bagel lovers alike.

The activity is part of a wider partnership deal with Sky Media, which also sees New York Bakery Co. return to TV with a spot advertising campaign on Comedy Central and Channel 5 from 10^th August throughout the summer, further driving brand awareness and association with the hugely popular cult show.

The product range, including favourites such as The Original and Cinnamon & Raisin, have also been promoted via TV idents aired during reruns of Friends on Comedy Central and Comedy Central Extra. The idents feature a recipe collection inspired by the characters from the show.

All activity will be supported by PR and influencer marketing as well as a dedicated social media campaign to raise awareness and engagement.

Christina Honigfort, Head of Marketing at New York Bakery Co., said: “Recent events have meant that we’ve all been spending more time at home. With our unique on-pack promotion in partnership with Friends, we want to offer consumers the chance to win something extra special, and fun, for their home – an iconic grand prize we hope they will love as much as we do.

“You don’t get more New York than bagels and Friends and this is our way of bringing a taste of the city to the UK. With all the activity we have planned in the coming months, we’ll be sure to take our messages around taste and authenticity far and wide to millions of shoppers each week.”

The 2020 campaign comes on the back of a hugely successful debut for the New York Bakery Co. and Friends partnership last year where the campaign:

• Reached one in five individuals in the UK
• Increased brand awareness among the Comedy Central audience by 10% – with 50% spontaneous recall[1]
• The advert recall was 42%[2], which is the average for a sponsorship on air for 9-12 months, so a strong result after a 3 month sponsorship
• There was also a 20% increase in viewers agreeing with the statement that New York Bakery Co. offers the real taste of New York[3], demonstrating the positive effect the sponsorship had and the authentic connection between the two brands

Rob Poderoso, Acting Director of Advertising Partners at Sky Media said: “There’s no denying that Friends remains hugely popular and continues to find a new generation of fans, proven by recent figures showing a YOY viewing growth of 37% on Comedy Central during a time when our viewers needed some laughter and light-hearted cheer! On behalf of our media partners Channel 5 and Comedy Central, we are delighted to continue to work on a great partnership between New York Bakery Co. and Friends, and look forward to seeing how the next phase of the collaboration unfolds.”

On-pack promotions perform well for the New York Bakery Co. brand.  Following a promotion in 2019, which gave consumers the chance to win a limited edition bagel tin, 25% of consumers viewed the brand more favourably as result and 97% would purchase New York Bakery Co. in the future if a similar promotion ran.

To be in with a chance of winning, consumers simply visit the designated microsite and enter the unique code on their five-pack of New York Bakery Co. bagels by the closing date of 15^th October 2020.

For more information visit https://www.newyorkbakeryco.com

^{[1] Differentology research 2019}

^{[2] Differentology research 2019}

^{[3] Differentology research 2019}

Sky to launch Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature

These new additions to Sky’s entertainment portfolio follow the launch of Sky Crime in October and Sky Comedy which hits customers’ screens today

Sky announces the launch of two brand-new factual services, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature. These new additions to Sky’s entertainment portfolio follow the launch of Sky Crime in October and Sky Comedy which hits customers’ screens today.

Research shows that documentaries are rising-up the popularity stakes with Sky customers – factual shows are now the second most popular genre after drama. The two new channels will offer hundreds of hours of factual programming, providing an unmissable mix of premium, original commissions and acquired content, including extensive on demand libraries.

The channels will launch in the Spring and be available to Sky customers at no extra charge through linear and on demand. They will also launch on NOW TV, available as part of the NOW TV Entertainment Pass.

Sky Documentaries will be the home of world-class, real life stories from award-winning film makers, including HBO and SHOWTIME® documentaries and new Sky original documentaries. With a mix of feature length documentaries and series that will challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel will explore a broad range of topics from sport and real-world controversies through to biographies of some of the world’s most famous and infamous people.

New Sky originals will include Bitter Pill: Primodos and Tiger Woods: The Comeback; alongside HBO exclusives McMillions from executive producer Mark Wahlberg and After Truth directed by Andrew Rossi. SHOWTIME exclusive The Kingmaker directed by Lauren Greenfield will also air, along with an extensive on demand library of documentaries including What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali and Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind.

Sky Nature will be home to breath-taking natural history programming, dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world and inspiring us all to do more to look after it. The channel will feature landmark Sky original series, including Sky’s existing David Attenborough collection, and be the home of Love Nature programming on Sky.

New Sky originals will include Extreme Animals: One Wild Day and Extreme Animals: Life’s First Steps, with two further premium originals currently in development. Love Nature originals will include Amazing Animal Friends, produced by Emmy & BAFTA award winning producers, Oxford Scientific Films and; Wild Tales from the Farm, filmed in the UK and narrated by Hugh Bonneville.

Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky, said: “Premium documentaries and nature series are increasingly important to our customers, with them wanting to get to the shows they want as quickly as possible. That’s why we’re launching two new content brands, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature. These new channels will offer our customers an unrivalled destination for brand new, world class documentaries and nature programming as well as an extensive on demand library of the world’s best factual programmes.”

The introduction of the two new services follows on from Sky’s recent launch of Sky Studios, a new Europe-wide development and production capability which will see Sky’s investment in original content more than double over the next five years.

This is the latest development in Sky’s commitment to investing in original British content, offering customers more of the content they love, that they can watch where they want, when they want. The entertainment portfolio on Sky in UK and Ireland now includes eight core Sky channel brands: Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Sky Witness, Sky Arts, Sky Crime, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature alongside the Sky Cinema and Sky Kids services. Sky’s other channel brands include E!, SYFY, Pick and Challenge.

Key upcoming launches on Sky Documentaries include:

Bitter Pill: Primodos

A feature length Sky original documentary that examines the story of the hormone pregnancy test Primodos from the 1960’s and 1970’s which victims believe to be a disaster on a par with thalidomide. Both the manufacturer and the government regulator insist to this day that there is no causal link. Now, after a nine-year investigation Sky journalist Jason Farrell has forensically built a case that points to one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest scandals and a monumental failure by the UK authorities to protect unborn children.

Tiger Woods: The Comeback

This Sky original documentary tells the compelling and incredible story of one of sports’ greatest ever comebacks. Having been written off by so many, after undergoing four potentially career ending back surgeries and 18 months after having confessed that he may never play competitive golf again; the greatest golfer of the modern era returned to Augusta, where it had all began 22 years previously, to confound his critics by dramatically coming from behind to win his long awaited 5^th Masters title, his 15^th Major title and his own personal battle with his mind, his body and with the sport itself.

McMillions

Six-part HBO series, executively produced by Mark Wahlberg which chronicles the stranger-than-fiction story of an ex-cop turned security auditor who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game promotion for a decade, stealing millions of dollars and building a vast network of co-conspirators across the U.S. The docuseries will draw on exclusive first-hand accounts and archival footage from the FBI agents who brought down the gaming scam, McDonald’s corporate executives and the culprits and prize-winners who profited from the complicated scheme.

After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News
In the age of social media, this eye-opening HBO documentary examines the rising phenomenon of “fake news” and the impact that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen. The film focuses on several high-profile made-up news stories in recent years with real world consequences, including the infamous “Pizzagate” case, the disinformation campaigns that influenced the 2016 presidential election, the Jade Helm conspiracy, and others. Drawing from exclusive access and interviews with a variety of experts, as well as purveyors and targets of misinformation, the documentary sheds light on how post-truth culture has become an increasingly dangerous part of the global information environment. Directed by Andrew Rossi and executive produced by Brian Stelter.

The Kingmaker

From Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth), this SHOWTIME documentary explores the disturbing legacy of the Marcos regime in the Philippines, and chronicles Imelda’s present-day push to help her son, Bongbong, win the vice-presidency. It had a theatrical run last year, which culminated in a WGA Award nomination for documentary screenplay.

Key upcoming launches on Sky Nature include:

Extreme Animals: One Wild Day

This Sky original series is a roller-coaster through a day in the wild. The first rays of sun symbol the start of a new day for some of the world’s most extraordinary animals. The day changes dramatically as the clock ticks up to the silent oppressive heat of midday; a time where reptiles thrive and gentle giants must retreat before ramping up the action to the hi-octane drama just before dusk. As dark creeps in there’s an uneasy turn, plunging into the horror movie of a night in the wild; a world where eerie monsters and nimble little leapers rule supreme. It all ends back in the safety of sunrise with the start of a new day. For some animals 24 hours is the blink of an eye – for others it’s an entire lifetime – but for every creature there’s a moment in its day it must take advantage of to survive.

Extreme Animals: Life’s First Steps

In this stunning Sky original series we follow Patrick Aryee and an adorable cast of characters as they take their first steps and learn the life skills they’ll need to survive in the wild. From the outback of Australia to the Costa Rican coast we watch as our tiny heroes overcome each new challenge and marvel at the extraordinary lengths some animal parents will go to protect their precious offspring.

Amazing Animal Friends

This heart-warming and fascinating Love Nature returning series brings viewers the most surprising animal friends from around the world. From a duck that won’t enter the water without her Labrador Retriever guardian, to a very special friendship between a rhino and a lamb, to an elephant who thinks she’s a buffalo, we travel the globe to track down the cutest, funniest and most unusual animal relationships.

Wild Tales from the Farm

To the casual observer, this picturesque English farm might appear familiar and serene. There’s Molly the calf, Grace the pig and Big Joe the rooster – all living like farm animals do. But there’s so much more going on than meets the eye. This unprecedented natural history Love Nature series brings blue chip filmmaking out of the wild and into the barn, unveiling the relationships, struggles and wildness that lingers in creatures we think we know. Narrated by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, the series follows the lives of domestic animals and their wild neighbors across four stunning seasons, revealing the farm as you’ve never seen it before.

Sky Agrees New Multi-Year Deal With Netflix

Sky and Netflix have today announced a new multi-year deal agreement in the UK, strengthening their successful partnership built over the past two years

Sky and Netflix have today announced a new multi-year deal agreement in the UK. Strengthening their successful partnership built over the past two years. The new extended deal will help Sky to bring customers all of the entertainment they love, all in one place.

Following the deal, Sky customers will soon have the option to take up Netflix’s Basic Plan on Sky Q.

In one seamless service users are able to access all the great TV and film Sky offers, including Sky original productions like the award winning Chernobyl, great new shows like The Third Day, and returning series like Save Me Too, alongside Netflix’s original dramas, films and documentaries, which include The Witcher, The Irishman and a brand new series of Sex Education which is filmed in Wales.

Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive Officer, Sky UK and Ireland, said:

“This is a great start to what is set to be another strong year for Sky. Our customers love Netflix content and our partnership continues to go from strength to strength, we plan to launch new channels and genres, start building our new studio, Sky Studios Elstree, and we’ll have great new and returning Sky originals too. This year our customers will have access to even more great content – all in one place.”

The deal is the latest in a series of content partnerships for Sky, with the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Warner Media all entering into new agreements.

Sky Comedy and PEUGEOT partner for new channel launch  

The year-long channel sponsorship will aim to banish the boring from PEUGEOT  

PEUGEOT announces itself as the channel sponsor of Sky’s new eagerly-anticipated channel, Sky Comedy, from launch. The partnership is part of PEUGEOT’s wider 2020 campaign which aims to ‘banish the boring’ by engaging with its target audience of affluent families and couples with a liberal mindset, every day. 

Steve Wass, Marketing Director at PEUGEOT, said, “This year we’re dedicated to delivering our simple message that we are ‘Unboring the Future’. What better way to show our true selves than to partner with a brand-new fresh and relatable TV channel? This is the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our brand with a new wave of excitement.” 

Live from 27th January, Sky Comedy will be the brand-new home of premium scripted US comedies from HBO, NBC and Showtime. Available in all Sky Homes, customers will have direct access to critically acclaimed Talk Shows, award-winning Scripted Comedies and binge-worthy hit Sitcoms.  The channel will broadcast shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Additionally brand new comedies including The Righteous Gemstones, A.P.Bio and Miracle Workers, can also be watched first on Sky Comedy in the UK. There will be an extensive library of popular programmes, a combination of those on Sky for the first time or returning favourites. These shows include 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, Ballers and Insecure.  

The campaign coincides with a huge year for PEUGEOT, with the car brand in high gear launching 12 new vehicles over the next 12 months. This year-long campaign with Sky Media aims to challenge outdated perceptions of the brand by ensuring a consistent message is delivered to drivers. 

The sponsorship is part of an ambitious multi-platform year–long partnership across TV, VOD and Sky Go platforms. The impact of the campaign will be felt across the whole of PEUGEOT, including ‘unboring’ PEUGEOT Retailers with the integration of Sky Comedy branding, merchandise and experientials across its network of 183 Retailers.  

Dan Morrissey, Head of Sponsorship Activation at Sky Media, said, “We’re delighted to have PEUGEOT onboard as sponsors of Sky Comedy from launch. With the brand’s focus on “Unboring the Future”, aligning with Sky Comedy and its portfolio of critically acclaimed content makes perfect sense. From idents on screen to partnership amplification across PEUGEOT’s retail network, Sky PEUGEOT, Mediacom and Havas will be working in unison across 2020 to deliver a truly unboring partnership.” 

Steve Wass, Marketing Director at PEUGEOT, said “The automotive industry is on the verge of a revolution. The future is all about getting from A to B efficiently, we could end up trading enjoyable driving for a robotic approach. However, at PEUGEOT we won’t let this happen. We’re fully committed to challenging perceptions and Sky is helping through this exciting partnership.” 

The campaign will launch with PEUGEOT sponsorship idents live for the first time on the 27th January and will run across TV and Sky’s VOD platforms. The sponsorship between Sky Media and PEUGEOT is brokered by Mediacom, with creative execution by Havas. The digital activity will be delivered by Adylic and social artwork created by 33 Seconds.