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At some point in the past few years sponsorship morphed into content and new deals seem to be being struck every minute.
***Media agency Maxus’s hyperactive Partherships division has brokered a deal between Fiat for its trendy 500L small car and Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute, a programme about giving birth and parenting (one I, somehow, seem to have missed) to highlight the car’s benefits for parents. The deal runs for a year across C4, More4 and 4seven.
The campaign which features ‘Brian the Bear’, voiced by comedian Arthur Smith and not to be confused with Confused.com’s ‘Brian the Robot,’ was devised by krow communications. Brians across the nation will be feeling more embattled than ever.
***Media agency Arena has also been busy, striking a deal with ITV2 for Tesco’s blinkbox music streaming service to sponsor the channel’s The Big Reunion, which reunites defunct pop bands for another go at the charts. The new series features Eternal, A1, Damage and A Girl Thing. There’s also a nationwide tour.
***Meanwhile Evolve Media, which describes itself as an integrated digital media company (or content provider), has made three new hires: Laura Holmes from lastminute.com, Gemma Coffee from Tapjoy and Victoria Beale from Specific Media.
The growth of such companies is rather reminiscent of the early days of media independents. We wait to see which ones will evolve into the Carats and MediaComs of the future.
