Major brands continue commitment to Channel 4 content

Channel 4 today announced it has renewed year-long sponsorship agreements for 2013 with Starcom MediaVest on behalf of car manufacturers Honda and Heineken UK’s lager Foster’s for Documentary and Original Comedy output respectively.

Honda has been the exclusive sponsor of ‘Documentaries on 4’ since May 2010 and their branding has appeared around successful big set pieces such as One Born Every Minute and Educating Essex, as well as documentaries within the regular strands First Cut and Cutting Edge. The partnership continues to reinforce Honda’s brand pillars: Innovation, Quality and Customer and will be visible around programmes including Educating Yorkshire and 24 Hours in A&E.

Foster’s have been the official sponsors of Original Comedy programming on Channel 4 since February 2010 and idents for the brand have featured around a wide range of well-loved comedy shows including Peep Show, 8 Out of 10 Cats and annual charity event The Comedy Gala, reinforcing their strong association with the genre. This year will see Foster’s sponsor new series of The Mimic, Derek and The Last Leg.

Rob Ramsey, Partnership Leader, Channel 4 said: “We are delighted that Fosters and Honda have renewed their partnerships with Channel 4. We aim to build upon the existing success of both campaigns and further demonstrate the effectiveness of long-term fully activated sponsorships.”

Both six figure sponsorship deals were negotiated and planned by Starcom Mediavest, and cover transmissions on Channel 4, More4, TV and PC VOD as well as activation online on C4.com.

Wieden and Kennedy are responsible for Honda’s creative and Adam and Eve produce Foster’s idents.

Foster’s were the first advertiser to take advantage of one of Channel 4’s new video ad formats ‘Ad Mix’, which was a specially adapted ‘Ad Bloom’ created exclusively for the brand.