Dove teams up with Lorraine Kelly for TV sponsorship deal

by Julia Pearlman, Brand Republic 14-Nov-05, 11:00

LONDON - Unilever's Dove brand is to sponsor 'GMTV''s 'LK today' programme for 2006 for a second year, in a deal negotiated by MGA Broadcasting.

Dove, which is famous for its "Real Women" campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather, will reinforce its ad strategy by linking with the daily news and features show, which features health and beauty items, celebrity interviews and information and advice for women.

The deal was negotiated with Ray Magness of GMTV and Malcolm Grant at MGA Broadcasting, Unilever's sponsorship agency, and will run from January until December 2006.

Caroline Philiponnet, Dove's senior brand activation manager, said: "The sponsorship of 'LK Today' reinforces Dove's association with 'real women' in a topical magazine format programme and gives Dove the opportunity to promote Dove's association with our 'Campaign for Real Beauty'.

"'LK Today' deals with real people in real situations, something that is an integral part of Dove's communication strategy."

Ogilvy & Mather's "real women" campaign has scooped several awards including the Grand Prix at this year's Euro Effies as well as gold in the Toiletries & Beauty category and the Yahoo! Big Idea Award.

The campaign is based on the idea that women are more likely to buy a beauty product if it is endorsed by "real" women who are not airbrushed, or skinny teenage models.

Grant, chief executive of MGA, said: "'LK Today' and 'GMTV' has proved to be an ideal association for Dove because the programme delivers a high coverage and frequency of Dove's target audience and offers Unilever good media value.

"Additionally, because of the programme frequency of 'LK Today', Dove has the opportunity to highlight the values of Dove's variants to their consumers."

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