Blind Date gets a sweet smelling sponsor for Channel 5 revival

Channel 5’s revival of Blind Date has signed up a sponsor for the programme with the smell of love in the air.

“We’re excited to have enabled The Perfume Shop’s sponsorship of the iconic return of Blind Date this Summer. This partnership will showcase The Perfume Shop’s vibrant brand to a whole new generation of Blind Date viewers and demonstrates our ability to pair relevant brands with our channel partners.” – David Shore, Head of Sponsorship at Sky Media

The Perfume Shop has signed a partnership with Channel 5 to become an official sponsor of Blind Date, which is set to return to our screens after a 13-year hiatus this weekend. The six-week partnership, planned and executed by WPP owned media agency, Mindshare, and timed to coincide with The Perfume Shop’s 25th birthday, will kick-off on 17th June across TV and video on demand, which is forecasted to deliver 2.5m VoD bumper impressions.

As part of the sponsorship, 5 second, 10 second and 15 second promotions will be played at the start and end of each episode of the UK’s much-loved dating show, as well as The Perfume Shop’s logo being placed in TV promos before it airs at 7pm every Saturday night.

“Blind Date’s audience is perfectly aligned with what we wanted from a media sponsorship package. Everyone in the UK knows Blind Date and after relaunching to much fanfare, we’re delighted with the package and can’t wait for it to air.” – Michelle D’vaz-Plant, Head of Brand at The Perfume Shop

Related Story: Paul O’Grady like a brothel madam on new Blind Date

The campaign is aimed at growing awareness of the brand’s extensive product range with fragrance-loving, beauty enthusiasts, as well as driving traffic to The Perfume Shop’s website as well as footfall to stores across the UK. Through sponsorship, The Perfume Shop will also align its offering with Blind Date’s highly-engaged and fun-loving audience by creating a compelling narrative that reflects The Perfume Shop’s core values and messages in a range of bespoke idents Sky Media, who manage the sponsorship for Channel 5, state.

Blind Date is to air a new six part series on Channel 5 with chat show host Paul O’Grady taking over the role of host. The original series, produced by London Weekend Television for ITV, was fronted by the late Cilla Black. O’Grady and Black were close friends, and he takes over the role on the match finding show with the full support of Cilla’s family.

The original LWT show ran from 1985 until 2003. Cilla also hosted Surprise Surprise and Moment of Truth for ITV, while in later years she also was a regular on Loose Women. The presenter and singer died in 2015 aged 72. Paul O’Grady was for most of the 1990s and early 2000s better known as his drag persona Lily Savage hosting programmes such as Viva Cabaret for Channel 4 and Blankety Blank for BBC One. He dropped the frock and forged a name as himself hosting his own chat shows and documentary series for both ITV and Channel 4.

“The show’s comeback is a major fixture in the media and we knew this would be an ideal audience for The Perfume Shop to target on a regular basis. Blind Date’s continued popularity in the UK provides a great platform for friends and families to get together and talk about the most exciting moments from each episode. This helps to not just drive huge awareness but also increase online and in-store engagement for The Perfume Shop right across the UK.” – Jodie Miles, Invention Account Director at Mindshare