Esure to sponsor ITV weather in historic deal

esure is to sponsor ITV national weather bulletins from January 1st, 2008, in a landmark multi-million pound partnership, conceived and negotiated by Carat Sponsorship. The two-year package will see the insurance company take over from Powergen as the sponsor of UK broadcasting's longest-running major TV sponsorship. The national reports run daily following the regional weather updates throughout the day across all ITV1 nationally. The deal was negotiated by Krane Jeffrey, Associate Director, Carat Sponsorship and Kevin Giles, Sponsorship Manager, ITV Customer Relations. "Broadcast sponsorship is working really well for our insurance portfolio which is why we decided that it would be a key advertising platform next year", said Chris Bowden, Head of Marketing, esure. "When we were searching for a high profile sponsorship property for 2008, ITV National Weather was top of our wish list. We were naturally delighted when the opportunity to sponsor the program presented itself for the first time in 18 years." Explaining the strategy behind the sponsorship, Richard Morris, Group Communications Director, Carat, said: "The growth of comparison sites is presenting consumers with more and more choice. Brand strength will be key to future success, and we believe this sponsorship to be an ideal platform upon which to develop esure's brands. To secure one of the UK's most iconic sponsorships is a major coup for esure and the ITV weather bulletins give us the flexibility to tailor our creative executions and serve esure's needs appropriately." Mark Rosenegk, Head of Sponsorship and Interactive at ITV, emphasised the significance of the historic deal: "We are delighted to bring esure on board to sponsor ITV's national weather bulletins. This is now the third biggest broadcast sponsorship on ITV. The weather bulletins will bring esure fantastic exposure with a high frequency and we look forward to further developing a long term partnership."   E&OE