In-show integrations and an increased online presence are helping brands stand out this year in their sponsorships of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC).
Airing Monday and Tuesday nights, the show revealed the ‘Top 20’ dancers yesterday, and announced seven sponsors who will have brand presence in the third season of the program. It’s the highest number of brand partnerships the CTV has ever arranged, a spokesperson confirmed.
Three of the seven sponsors are returning (Mazda, Aquafina Plus Vitamins 10 Cal and Degree Women) while four new brands are on board including Lise Watier, H&M, Paper Mate and the film Street Dance 3D.
Host Leah Miller will help push several of the brands on TV and throughout external campaigns. She is the beauty ambassador of Lise Watier Cosmétiques, appearing in campaigns this summer and fall. Lise Watier will also be featured on TV with this buy, arranged by Carat, during segments that show the dancers in hair and makeup before they perform.
H&M will run a segment called ‘Get Leah’s Look’ on the show’s website, Dance.CTV.ca. Following both the performance (Monday) and results (Tuesday) shows, viewers can go online in order to find out how to recreate Leah’s style on a budget with clothing and accessories from H&M. The buy was handled by MediaCom for the retailer.
Aquafina, which is returning for a third year as a sponsor, arranged by OMD, has an online video segment called Up Close with the Dancers where the contestants reveal more to viewers about their personal background, and what it is that motivated them to try out for the show.
Degree Women and Mazda are giving viewers the chance to win trips and cars online; Degree will be featured in the ‘Dance for Your Life’ countdown clock as part of the integration, handled by Mindshare, while the 2011 Mazda2 is one of the grand prizes given to the top two dancers at the end of the season. The Mazda buy was handled by both Mindshare and Doner.
Judges Jean Marc Généreux, Tré Armstrong, Luther Brown and Blake McGrath will be featured in various commercials for Paper Mate that will run throughout the broadcast. They will also only use Paper Mate pens to take notes during performances, and a weekly contest is hosted online by the brand. The Paper Mate buy was handled by Wills & Co.
Finally, it’s an ideal pairing of a dance-related show with a dance movie that’s opening on Oct. 1 – Street Dance 3D will be featured in footage where audience members bust out their own creative moves before the filming of each show. Alliance’s sponsorship was arranged by Vizeum.
