Fitbit aims for the mass market with The X Factor sponsorship

Product placement deal will see the fitness wearables brand help contestants on this year’s show stay healthy and let viewers track their heart rate as the pressure builds.

Fitbit has inked a partnership with The X Factor in the UK that will see its products used by contestants during the ongoing live rounds of the talent show.

Contestants will be provided with Fitbit activity trackers to help them manage their overall health and wellness, with a weekly personal trainer able to answer any of their questions. Each contestant’s Fitbit experience will be detailed in a series of exclusive weekly videos that will be released through digital channels.

And across Fitbit’s social channels, as well as its brand page at Argos, there will also be a consumer competition to win tickets to The X Factor live final in December.

Read more: Why Fitbit is shifting focus from fitness to fashion

“We are very excited to be an official X Factor partner this year, this is a first for us as a brand. Much like Fitbit, The X Factor celebrates feel-good moments that bring people together,” says Lucy Sheehan, Fitbit’s UK marketing director.

“Using a Fitbit tracker offers people the ability to monitor so much more than just steps, we can now look at our sleep productivity and maintain a healthier outlook on wellbeing”.

The move follows increasing mainstream momentum for Fibit, which become an official sponsor of the BBC’s Sports Relief this year for the first time. It aimed to raise £500,000 for the charity event by donating a percentage of sales from a range of its trackers.

Globally, Fitbit sold 21 million of its fitness trackers last year, making it the biggest brand in the wearables market ahead of Apple, Xiaomi and Garmin, according to IDC. And in 2015, 7% of UK consumers owned a fitness band, according to Mintel.

A focus on healthcare

The partnership with The X Factor will also provide a greater platform for Fitbit to talk up its brand connotations with health.

Speaking at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco last week, Fitbit’s CEO James Park revealed it was trialling products that were more tailored to combatting diseases.

“We want to help customers with hypertension, pre-diabetes, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions,” he said. “We are involved in over 200 clinical trials, including studies that look at how exercise could possibly reduce the occurrence of breast cancer.

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