Sponsor and Marketing Trail Revealed for Channel 4's 'The Circle'

28 August 2018

Channel 4 has today announced that mobile phone network giffgaff will be the official sponsor of a bold new reality series ‘The Circle.’

Social media has radically changed the way we make friends, assess popularity, conduct relationships, and even fall in love, but how truthful are our internet identities? And what are we prepared to do to be popular, when others can’t see who we really are?

In ‘The Circle’, produced by Studio Lambert and Motion Content Group, players from all walks of life will compete to win up to £50,000. All living in one modern block but separately in individual apartments, the players can only interact with one another through a voice-activated social media platform called The Circle.

‘The Circle’ will enable them to chat, become friends, argue, compete against each other in physical and mental games and challenges and maybe even fall in love. Building their own brand new online profiles, players will only get to know each other from what they choose to reveal via The Circle. The series will be presented by broadcasting talents Alice Levine and Maya Jama.

The sponsorship deal, which also extends to include the show’s accompanying app, features engaging idents by DBLG that will take inspiration from the show. It will begin in September 2018 and will run throughout the series.

The partnership was brokered by Channel 4’s sales house 4Sales and All Response Media. It is the latest in a long line of deals with giffgaff, who are the current sponsors of Channel 4’s ‘The Crystal Maze’.

Rupinder Downie, Partnership Controller, Channel 4 said: “We’re delighted that giffgaff have chosen to continue their history of successful partnerships with Channel 4 by sponsoring our brand new series ‘The Circle’. The themes explored as part of the series around technology, social media and identity will really resonate with giffgaff and their community making them the ideal brand partner.”

Tom Rainsford, giffgaff, Brand Director said: “To say we are excited about The Circle is an understatement. We love the idea of the show and it gives us the opportunity to put our brand in front of loads of people, in a truly giffgaff way. We’ll be celebrating the fans of the show and featuring their tweets every week in our TV Sponsorship. Bring on the first show.”

In addition to announcing the sponsorship with giffgaff, Channel 4 also unveiled ‘The Circle’s’ brand new conceptual marketing campaign, imagined and produced by Channel 4’s in-house creative agency, 4Creative. The 60-second trail will air just before 8pm on Tuesday 28th August 2018 ahead of the much anticipated return of the ‘Great British Bake Off’.

The colourful and fun trail set against a backdrop of different scenarios plays on the premise of the series that in the world of social media you can be whoever you want to be.

Alice Tonge, Head of 4Creative said: “Social media is now embedded in everyday life and can be used to create the ultimate disguise, giving people the chance to be whoever they want to be. This idea sits at the heart of our campaign to create excitement and build up for the new series”

Ends.

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About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned yet commercially-funded public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with over 300 creative companies across the UK every year. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, Channel4.com and digital service All 4.

Credits:

4creative

Executive Creative Director – Alice Tonge

Creatives – Robin Temple and Tom Woodington

Executive Producer - Shananne Lane

Head of Production - Clare Brown

Senior TV & Print Producer – Fiona Wright

Project Manager - Olivia Emmerson

Senior Digital Producer - Christos Savvides

Digital Producer - Madeleine Smith

Digital Production Assistant - Kelly Lacroix

Social Director - James Henry

On-Air

Production company – Pulse Films

Director – Ninian Doff, Pulse Films

Producer - Alistair Payne-James

DoP – Ben Magahy

Production Designer – Tim Gibson

Editor –  Paul O’Reilly at Stitch

Grade –  Jack McGinity at Time Based Arts

Sound Design –   Jack Sedgwick at Wave

VFX- Time Based Arts

Teasers & Opticals

Double G

Off-Air

Photographer – Aorta

Retoucher – Robert Lonario at Curious

Design -  Ollie Booth & Giles Butcher

Channel 4 Marketing

Head of Marketing – James Walker

Group Marketing Manager – Grace Ayres

Marketing Manager – Sean Boles

Marketing Executive – Alan Moss