Tio Pepe Sponsors Second Series Of Hell’s Kitchen

Tio Pepe will be sponsoring the second series of Hell’s Kitchen on ITV1 and ITV2, with Gonzalez Byass, maker of the top selling Fino putting the sponsorship at the centre of its ongoing campaign to educate consumers that Tio Pepe is a drink to be enjoyed with food.

The sponsorship deal, worth a seven figure sum, includes broadcast credits on ITV1 and ITV2, website activity at http://www.itv.com/hell, SMS, licensing and off-air marketing and, for the first time in the show’s history, interactive sponsorship.

The second series will feature two chefs and two kitchens, with Jean Christophe Novelli and Gary Rhodes pitted against each other in a bid to see who can produce the best from their team of kitchen staff, with ten members of the public being thrown in at the deep end.

Commenting on the deal, Jeremy Rockett, marketing director of Gonzalez Byass UK said: “Like last year’s programme, the new Hell’s Kitchen is bound to be one of the televisual and culinary events of the year.”

Rockett continued: “Tio Pepe, and Fino in general, needs the kind of mainstream exposure, in the context of good food, that this show provides to move to drink onto more consumers’ radar and into their comfort zones. The first Hell’s Kitchen was massively successful for us, both for short-term sales and longer-term brand building, and the sequel can only serve to move the game on.”

The deal was negotiated between Stewart Hunt and ITV Sales and Richard Cox at John Ayling & Associates.

Hunt, senior executive at ITV Sales said: “Tio Pepe’s association with the first series of Hell’s Kitchen was an outstanding success which was reflected in the impact and reach of the sponsorship. They achieved a very high awareness amongst viewers in a short space of time with nearly half of them saying they would like to try Tio Pepe with a good meal. We look forward to developing this relationship further with the second series.”

Peter Manten, commercial manager at ITV Sales negotiated the interactive element of the sponsorship. He said: “This is a great example of how interactivity adds value to the core broadcast proposition, delivering a deeper brand experience for the viewer, with the added element of a fantastic prize for the winner of the bespoke competition.”

The red button element of the show will provide the viewer with a more rewarding and engaging experience, with options for interactivity including voting, recipes and competitions.

Richard Cox at John Ayling added: “Within three days of going on-air Sainsbury’s offered Tio Pepe more prominent shelf space and by the end of the two-week series, sales were up 30%. Overall sales of the brand doubled over the course of the first series whilst the sherry market as a whole was down by around 6%. This proves how powerful the intrinsic link was between the brands and achieved in such a short space of time.”

Earlier this month, ITV announced that supermarket retailer, Sainsbury’s, would be sponsoring ITV1’s Drama Premieres programming strand for the next twelve months, representing a major new approach to the high street giant’s advertising strategy (see Sainsbury’s To Sponsor ITV1’s Drama Premieres).

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com

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