Carphone

Carphone strikes £20m deal with The X Factor

by Nicola Clark Marketing 19-Jun-07, 09:00

LONDON - The Carphone Warehouse has secured a three-year agreement believed to be worth £20m to sponsor The X Factor.

The tie-up follows a shift in marketing strategy at the phone retailer, which axed its £3m sponsorship of Big Brother following allegations of racism in the most recent celebrity version of the show.

Tristia Clarke, group marketing director at The Carphone Warehouse, said the company will leverage the sponsorship across all its channels. 'Mobile phones form a large part of the digital download market and we understand how much our customers love music.'

It is believed the sponsorship package will contain a substantial interactive element, including a social-networking site that will enable fans to exchange gossip and videos via their phones (Marketing, 13 June).

The fourth series of The X Factor airs on ITV1 this summer, with Dermot O'Leary replacing Kate Thornton as host. There will also be two new judges following Louis Walsh's departure.

The last series averaged 8.3m viewers, a 37.5% viewing share, with the final show peaking at 10.8m viewers and a 45.7% share of viewing.

Nokia axed its sponsorship of The X Factor earlier this year following the exit of its UK marketing chief, Simon Lloyd, who joined directories service 118 118 (Marketing, 9 May).

source : brandrepublic.com