ITV in major ad push for new reality show

Emma Rigby, Revolution UK 22-Jun-05, 16:34

ITV is running an extensive ad campaign online to raise awareness of its new prime-time reality series, Celebrity Love Island.

A range of rich-media ad formats, a viral game, HTML and video emails, and a desktop 'screen-mate' have been developed by digital agency Play.

It was set up by former itraffic directors Matt Gorzkowski, Jon Sharpe and Ethan Segal with M&C Saatchi.

The push will run throughout the series' five weeks of broadcast. Overlays, MPUs and expandable banners will be placed on sites including MSN.co.uk, handbag.com, fhm.com and hellomagazine.co.uk. Planning and buying was by mOne.

The show will be promoted through a viral game called Baby-O-Tronic in which players match contestants to find out what their offspring could look like. Users can also download Crab News Screen Mate, which sits on the desktop and offers news updates from the Island.

The technology for the ad formats was developed by b3 Products, a spin-off company of agency Lawton eMarketing. ITV appointed Graphico to develop and manage the web site for the series (www.celebrityloveisland.tv), which will provide online coverage.

The series stars 12 celebrity singletons who are sent to an island paradise to compete for cash, votes and love.