Addiction wins B&Q sponsorship ident work for Channel 4 shows

B&Q has appointed Addiction to handle its £5m sponsorship idents. The independent agency beat advertising incumbent JWT London to win the account.

Addiction also pitched against 4Creative, the in-house agency at Channel 4 that is being downsized due to cost-cutting measures at the broadcaster.

The appointment follows B&Q’s decision to sponsor Channel 4’s property strand, 4homes, for the next year. The deal begins on January 1 and is B&Q’s biggest sponsorship deal.

Addiction will develop sponsorship idents for the series and shows in the strand. It includes Grand Designs, Property Ladder, Location Location Location and Relocation Relocation across C4, E4, More 4 and video-on-demand content online. Channel 4 is also expected to launch new property formats in 2009 to reflect the changing property climate.

Addiction specialises in sponsorship work and has run ident campaigns for a number of brands across broadcasters, including ITV, and Virgin Media channels.

JWT has held the advertising account since 2003. Its latest work for the DIY and hardware store broke in October and reintroduced its staff as the stars of its advertising. The campaign “Real staff, real value” charted the progress of B&Q workers as they rehearsed their lines for the ads.

The sponsorship deal aims to position B&Q alongside “quality property programming” in a bid to encourage consumers to re-evaluate the brand.