Lastminute.com in three-year DVD deal with Lovefilm

Emma Rigby,, Revolution UK 08-Jul-04, 08:00

LONDON - Lastminute.com has joined forces with online DVD rental service Lovefilm in an exclusive three-year deal.

The jointly branded DVD rental service will appear on Lastminute.com's UK homepage, where customers can click to search the 20,000 DVDs on offer. New subscribers benefit from a four-week free trial offer.

The deal includes joint branding on Lovefilm DVD envelopes and ticket wallets issued by Lastminute.com. Access to the DVD rental site can also be found at a special microsite.

Paul Shaw, UK head of lifestyle at Lastminute.com, said: "This deal fits neatly with our mission to offer a comprehensive service for all our customer's lifestyle needs. Lovefilm suits our customer demographic and brand appeal."

Mark Livingstone, chief executive officer of Lovefilm, said: "The partnership with Lastminute.com is a great illustration of two like-minded companies joining forces to create a proposition that truly benefits their clientele. Both of us offer a spontaneous service with a feel-good reward at the end of it."

The deal comes as the online DVD rental market continues to hot up. UK players such as Webflix and Video Island are preparing for an invasion from US brands such as Netflix, which is planning to launch in the UK in the second half of this year.

High street rental giant Blockbuster launched a revamped DVD rental service of its own in May, while Tesco has struck a partnership with Video Island to offer DVD rentals on Tesco.com.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.