Sky Media unveils bold new brand positioning alongside innovations at industry upfronts

Sky Media, the advertising partnerships arm of Sky, brought the media industry together last week at the Tate Modern in London for its Sky Media Connects showcase. Over 350 media agency executives attended the high-energy event, which unveiled Sky Media’s new brand positioning: Connections Mean Everything, alongside a suite of exciting products and partnerships.

Sky Media Managing Director, Brett Aumuller, hosted the event, emphasising Sky Media’s ability to build meaningful connections in four core areas – Customers, Culture, Partners, and Innovation. Highlights included appearances from notable sports figures Micah Richards, Laura Robson, and David Flatman, Sky’s unique customer insights from Sky News’ Sarah-Jane Mee, and a fireside chat between presenter Dan Walker and Paramount Chief Content Officer Ben Frow on the evolution of Channel 5.

The event opened with a compelling performance from award-winning poet Sophia Thakur and went on to feature major announcements including;

• Sky Media IQ and Project Norman – new insight tools using Sky’s industry-leading data and campaign measurement capabilities to deliver smarter, more effective advertising.

• Expanded advertising opportunities in women’s sport, a collaboration with Hearst UK, a new sports marketplace and sponsorship options tied to the new Premier League deal.

• Advances in streaming and programmatic, including the expansion of FAST channels to VIDAA, biddable inventory on The Trade Desk, and the roll-out of voice-activated ads.

Brett Aumuller, Managing Director of Sky Media, commented “Over the last 9 months we’ve been on a journey to build out the ‘Connections Mean Everything’ brand position which captures what we uniquely bring to market. Each word in our brand position is equally important, it’s about creating the right connections with audiences, in a meaningful way for clients and bringing together everything across our ecosystem which to deliver scale, creativity and better outcomes for brands.”

With Sky Media continuing to lead on innovation and creativity, the latest showcase set a bold vision for how advertisers can unlock new opportunities and deliver impactful campaigns. Major announcements were made aligning to each key pillar of the brand positioning:

Connected to Customers

• Sky Media IQ: A sophisticated tool that delivers deduplicated multi-platform outcomes measurement, Sky Media IQ integrates web visit lift, conversion metrics, and other performance indicators into one streamlined dashboard. This allows advertisers to assess the holistic impact of their campaigns across Linear TV, video on demand (VoD), and digital platforms, offering unrivalled transparency and accountability.

• Project Norman: Powered by insights from over 2,000 campaigns spanning 10 years, this AI-driven dataset allows advertisers to benchmark performance, optimise targeting, and strategically allocate media budgets. Norman focuses on metrics like brand lift and sales conversions, empowering advertisers to plan campaigns informed by real-world results.

Connected to Culture

• Premier League sponsorship opportunities: Sky Media invited agencies and brands to access its expanded Premier League coverage, offering exclusive sponsorship opportunities to partner with the UK’s most-watched sports event across Sky Sports and TNT Sports.
• Sports Marketplace: A simplified way for advertisers to access Sky Media’s live sports inventory. Sports Marketplace introduces impression-based packs, available both programmatically and directly, to help brands of all sizes connect with live sports audiences.

Connected to Partners

• Hearst UK partnership: As the market leader in broadcasting women’s sports, Sky Media announced a new partnership with leading publisher, Hearst UK, to enhance the visibility and impact of women’s sport across the UK. Launching in 2025, this collaboration will offer advertisers the opportunity to tap into the rapidly growing women’s sports sector and connect with a new generation of fans. Research reveals that these fans are eager for more non-live sports content and want to see female athletes recognised as icons. This partnership will tap in to sporting moments throughout the year connecting them with audiences’ passions for fashion, beauty, and health, with athletes at the forefront.

Connected to Innovation

• FAST channel expansion: Following a successful rollout across Samsung TV Plus and Sky’s platform, Sky’s suite of FAST channels will be available on VIDAA, expanding its reach across Hisense and Toshiba devices.
• Paramount+ and streamers package: Sky’s new solution aggregates reach across major SVOD platforms, providing seamless access to millions of younger viewers – an audience that increasingly prefers streaming over traditional viewing.

• Biddable inventory with The Trade Desk: Advertisers can now programmatically purchase premium VoD inventory, including live sports, through private marketplace auctions. This ensures greater flexibility and accessibility for brands looking to deliver against performance goals.

• Voice-activated ads: Sky unveiled interactive ads that enable viewers to use voice commands to explore branded content directly from their TV screens. Initial tests showed significant uplifts in ad recall and engagement metrics, reinforcing the potential of voice technology in advertising.

Barclaycard Payments and Sky Media partner to champion the small businesses behind some of the UK’s biggest cultural events

On Saturday 1st October, a bespoke TV campaign, created in partnership between Sky Media and credit card and payment services provider, Barclaycard Payments, aired for the first time during Saturday’s Premier League coverage. The greatly anticipated West Ham v Wolves game saw 954k viewers at its peak at 6pm as West Ham scored the first goal of the game.

The bespoke campaign features UK-based small business Piglet’s Pantry. The advertisement is the second installment in a three-part series celebrating the transformational journeys of small businesses – and often the unsung heroes – behind some of the UK’s key cultural moments.

On October 1st 2022, audiences who tuned into the Premier League got the chance to hear from the much-loved pie business, Piglet’s Pantry, about its transformational journey from a small baked goods business to a national enterprise feeding millions of fans at some of London’s biggest sport events. In the clip, Owner and Managing Director, Joanna Hunt, told Businessman & Entrepreneur Tim Campbell MBE how sporting events have been instrumental in her journey and why SMEs are the backbone of nationwide events.

The inspiring 90-second clip, filmed at King Power Stadium and presented by Sky Sports, first aired during the ad break of the West Ham v Wolves game. The clip was also shown during the Leeds v Villa match and airs again tonight during the Leicester v Forest match, with the ad running until 30 October 2022. 30-second cutdown clips of the advert are also being published across other Sky Media channels and platforms including linear, AdSmart, VoD and digital with a longer 120-Second version on @SkyUK social channel.

The three-part series takes viewers behind the scenes of some of the UK’s most loved events to meet the small business community supporting them. The previous installment, presented by Sky Arts, saw Tim Campbell MBE speaking with Electro Love founders, Damian Walshe and Airon Baker, who took their nostalgic 80s and 90s themed experience to the Isle of Wight Festival this summer. In it, the founders discussed how iconic British festivals allowed them to turn their passion into a career (watch it here).

The series is part of Barclaycard’s ‘The Payment Part is Just the Start’ campaign, which aims to get small businesses to rethink what payments can do for them – beyond being used for purely transactional purposes.

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media said: “We’re very excited to see this content go live during the Premier League coverage. Barclaycard’s commitment to supporting SMEs combined with Sky Media’s strength in bringing small brands on to TV makes it a natural partnership.”

Richard Atkinson-Toal, Marketing Director, at Barclaycard Payments said: “The stories showcased in this partnership are not only packed with insightful wisdom from real small business owners, but they’re compelling and feel-good too. At Barclaycard Payments, this is what we do – support small business with their growth. We’re pleased to be partnering with Sky Media to bring these stories to the masses in a way that really aligns with our purpose.”

The third and final part of the year-long series airs in December and will feature a behind the scenes sneak peek of one of the suppliers responsible for filming the latest Sky Original drama Christmas special.

Learn more about the partnership at: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/business-matters/customer-case-studies/sky-partnership