Channel 4 Partners With Direct Line For Film On 4 Sponsorship

18 June 2019

 

Channel 4 announced today that it has signed a brand-new sponsorship deal with Direct Line for its network film package - Film on 4.

The deal, brokered by 4Sales and MediaCom, will see the insurance company exclusively sponsor all films on Channel 4, E4, More 4 and Film4 (up to 9pm). The partnership covers over two thousand movies and will see Direct Line’s idents appear around a series of films including premieres of T2 Trainspotting, Patriots Day, Moonlight, Ice Age Collision Course as well as classics such as Men in Black, Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire, throughout the year. 

Saatchi & Saatchi London and award-winning director Daniel Kleinman, who has designed several title sequences for the James Bond films, have created the sponsorship idents for Direct Line. The 15 second, 10 second and 5 second spots imagine Direct Line call centre staff dealing with a series of extreme insurance claims inspired by the damage caused in hit movies.

In addition, themed sets of idents have been produced especially for four blockbuster films which will air on Channel 4. These idents have been matched to specific scenes in the films and depict what would happen if the protagonist took time out of the situation to put a call in to Direct Line. These special idents will play out during the ad break closest to when the scene airs.

The sponsorship and idents launch on Tuesday 18th June at 11am on Film4.

Direct Line previously sponsored Channel 4’s Homes on 4 in 2004 and 2005.

Rupinder Downie, Brand Partnerships Leader at Channel 4 said: “This exciting new partnership gives Direct Line the opportunity to have their brand associated with critically acclaimed, award winning films, which consistently deliver strong audiences across our portfolio of channels."

Kerry Chilvers, Brands Director, Direct Line Group, said: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to reach new audiences, and showcase just how good we are at fixing customer problems. Our customer service teams are our front-line fixers, so it is fantastic to put the spotlight on them in this campaign. TV has been hugely successful for us in driving both awareness and consideration, and with this partnership with Channel 4 we’re looking to take things up another gear. By actively engaging viewers to decode the film references, we hope that the campaign will compel the audience to find out how Direct Line can solve their insurance problems too.”

Oli Scargill, Partner, MediaCom said: “This represents another huge step in, what has already been, an incredible brand journey and an opportunity to regularly engage with our customers over the course of a year. There's no denying the mass appeal of film, for both the younger and older generations and we are excited to be partnering with a film brand with such prestigious movie heritage”.

Guillermo Vega, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi London, said: “We decided to insure the movie world. On a Channel 4 movie, chaos will happen and then we’ll have an ident lined up to show the insurance claim in the call centre for that very incident.”

-Ends –

NOTES TO EDITORS

Example of idents:

Wrong Number - https://youtu.be/LYLS0Y6HdvA
Callback - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxz4FVCQ-8Q
Axe Damage - https://youtu.be/x8Ux9ioOYbo

Credits:

 

Brief	Direct Line sponsors Film on 4
Agency	Saatchi & Saatchi London
Brand	Direct Line
Client name	Kerry Chilvers / Kirsty Hoad / Claire Sadler / Emma Taylor
Client job title	Brands Director/ Marketing Manager / Marketing Director/ Head of Marketing & Communications
Copywriter	Barney Spiro // Ryan Price
Chief Creative Officer	Guillermo Vega
Executive Creative Director	Dan Treichel
Creative Director	Franki Goodwin
Art director	Harriet Ronn
Planner/CSU Director	Rui Ferreira
Account Handlers	Richard Sweetman, Paul McHugh, Juliet Cornick
Agency Producer	Marie Hughes
Media agency	Mediacom
Production company	Rattling Stick
Director	Daniel Kleinman
Exposure (media channels)	4, E4, More 4 and Film 4

 

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 around 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.

About Direct Line

Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main channel of communication. It provides motor, home, travel and pet insurance cover direct to customers by phone or on-line.

Direct Line general insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Direct Line and U K Insurance limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc.

About MediaCom

MediaCom helps brands unlock growth through media. We do this by applying our unique Systems Thinking approach to data, technology and creativity to design communication strategies that build brands and generate sales. We believe in “People First, Better Results.” This means that we invest in our people’s careers and capabilities to help grow our clients’ businesses.

Employing over 1,200 staff across five regional offices, MediaCom is the leading agency in the UK in terms of billings and has a client roster that includes Sky, DFS, Coca-Cola, Tesco and Cancer Research UK.

In 2018, MediaCom UK won the Grand Prix: Agency of the Year award at the Campaign Media awards, the Grand Prix for Excellence in Media Planning at the 2018 Cannes Lions and Media Agency of the Year at the 2018 Media Week Awards.

MediaCom is a member of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and part of GroupM, WPP’s consolidated media investment management arm.