ITV Sales ditches its free sponsor research service
ITV Sales is axing its free sponsorship research service, run through Ipsos, at the end of the year. It is looking the possibility of replacing it with a new study.
The cross-sector research is provided free of charge to brands that sponsor ITV1 programmes, allowing them to monitor how their sponsorship is performing compared to others on the channel. The service measures consumer awareness of sponsorships for a maximum of 28 brands every two weeks, and is considered by agencies to be a valuable tool not only for clients, but also for ITV in selling sponsorships.
One agency insider says that it is “disappointing” that ITV Sales is dropping the study, which was a “good advocate for sponsorship”.
But ITV Sales managing director Graham Duff says: “We are looking at conducting new sponsorship research to latch onto the growing interest in this form of communication.”
It is likely that any new sponsorship research will be carried out by Ipsos, but it is not known whether it will given away free or how in-depth it will be. ITV Sales has also arranged for two brands to continue sponsorship research through Ipsos using the current methodology, but it is not known whether they will have to pay for the results.
