Digital Outlook takes Shaun the Sheep online to promote series

The launch of the first solo series for Wallace & Gromit character Shaun the Sheep is to be backed by a major global online initiative.

London-based agency Digital Outlook is to promote the new series from Aardman Animations via a dedicated website and will also develop content for broadcasters and fans for use online.

The website will support the series and aims to nurture a dedicated fan base for Shaun – who shot to fame in the Wallace & Gromit film, A Close Shave. The new site will include content built for the Shaun audience and will offer users games, messenger icons and activity packs.

A broadcaster pack, which is being distributed to national networks worldwide, will feature games and up-to-the-minute news content, which can be streamed on their own sites alongside airing schedules and other relevant content.

"The website and broadcaster packs are designed to cater for a whole range of audiences, from the casual browser to someone who’s really passionate about the character," says Abbie Cranage, account director at Digital Outlook.

The new series of Shaun the Sheep, which starts in the UK on the BBC and CBBC next week, has been sold to 72 countries so far.

Digital Outlook clients include the Walt Disney Company, Buena Vista International, Xbox, Chorion, the Sci-Fi Channel, Cartoon Network and BBC Worldwide.

In January, Aardman ended its exclusive partnership with Dreamworks Animation, which rolled out three feature films: Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit and Flushed Away.