Wilkinson Sword nets Sky TV deal

Wilkinson Sword has struck its first broadcast sponsorship deal with Sky Television which gives on-screen branding for its Lady Protector razor, as part of a 3m marketing drive for the product.

The six-figure sponsorship deal includes an on-pack retail promotion offering purchasers of the Lady Protector a free 30-day trial of Sky, including free

installation of a satellite dish.

Wilkinson Sword is sponsoring blockbuster movie premieres on Sky Movies and The Movie Channel for 12 weeks this summer. The sponsorship breaks on air this week.

Titles included in the sponsored movie season include The Piano, Dave, Prelude to a Kiss and Perfect World – all targeted for their high female viewing. The Lady Protector is aimed at women between 16 and 44 years old.

There will also be a competition to win a trip to Hollywood, running in Sky’s Movie Guide.

Wilkinson Sword marketing director Warwick Owen says the free Sky trial deal will appear on 1 million packs. “The market is mushrooming out of all proportion and we need to raise awareness of the product.”

The company plans to spend 3m on Lady Protector this summer – 1m more than last year when an ad campaign by the brand’s former agency, J Walter Thompson, initiated the movie theme. That TV campaign showed a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho to demonstrate the razor’s smoothness.

The Wilkinson Sword account is now handled by Ogilvy & Mather.