Nikon renews sponsorship of Hollyoaks with launch of competition

2 November 2011

Channel 4 Sales today announced a unique sponsorship activation partnership with Nikon, Lime Pictures and Asda with the launch of an exclusive competition offering the chance to appear in an episode of Hollyoaks.

The extended partnership is designed to amplify and enhance the year long broadcast sponsorship of Hollyoaks which has run throughout 2011.  The sales promotion is the first-ever competition to give customers of Nikon's COOLPIX S3100 camera the chance to win a walk-on part in a future episode of the popular drama.

The campaign launches exclusively in 348 ASDA stores nationwide on 2 November and on ASDA Direct, and will feature a Hollyoaks branded Free Standing Display Units within Camera Departments. Bespoke packaging will take also take prime position within the main store. 

The partnership will be further leveraged with large poster sites at the ASDA trolley bays, promotional trails on ASDA Radio, through Nikon's Facebook pages, and on e4.com. The campaign will underpinned by the existing sponsorship idents on Channel 4, E4 and 4oD.

As part of a licencing agreement with Lime Pictures, promotional packages of the COOLPIX S3100 will feature Hollyoaks branding and character imagery. The cameras will be available in seven colours, each themed to match a popular Hollyoaks character, and will contain a DVD featuring instructions from that character on how to enter the competition. These videos will also be hosted on e4.com.

The promotional artwork for the competition was designed by creative agency DCH. The deal was brokered by Mediacom Beyond Advertising.

The year-long deal will see Nikon's sponsorship of Hollyoaks continue from 1 January 2012.

Jeremy Gilbert, Group Marketing Manager at Nikon UK, says:

"We are delighted to further build on Nikon's relationship with Hollyoaks with the continued sponsorship of the programme and the launch of the competition with Asda. Nikon's stronger association with the hugely popular drama is further helping to change the perception of the Nikon brand, and attract a younger audience."

Hollyoaks remains at the core of Channel 4's programming with five half-hour episodes transmitting weeknights at 6.30pm. Each exhilarating episode can be seen twelve times across a week with repeats, first look and omnibus shows on Channel 4, it's subsidiary T4 and digital sister channel E4.

The long-running series currently averages 1.3m viewers on Channel 4 and is one of E4's best performing programmes.