Thinkbox
Key Points
- JD Williams needed to drive consideration and stand out amongst their key target audience of women aged 45-65
- They sponsored the brand new ITV1 show ‘My Mum, Your Dad’ which was the perfect fit with their brand strategy
- As a result, they grew consideration by 10%
The Challenge
JD Williams is a lifestyle brand with a long heritage of more than 150 years. But despite good prompted awareness and an established presence in British households, the brand was increasingly being overlooked by newer brands with deeper pockets in the world of fashion retail.
The key trading period is around September, when a change in the fashion season coincides with the early ramp up for Christmas. JD Williams needed to find a way to keep their brand top of mind, drive consideration and ensure stand out amongst their key target audience on women aged 45-65.
The TV Solution
Research conducted by the7stars found that this age group of women felt that the media didn’t reflect them accurately and that they were underrepresented in the clothing industry, leading them to feel undervalued and invisible within the world of fashion. The reality is that middle age is a vibrant, energetic and positive time of life and so JD Williams wanted to show the 8.5m middle age women in the UK that they understood this and celebrated them wholeheartedly.
JD Williams had a new creative positioning – ‘Made for Midlife’ with a comms strategy to make the invisible unmissable. They found the perfect property to tie in with this in the new ITV show ‘My Mum Your Dad’ – a dating show for older single parents.
Not only was this a great fit for the brand, but with the show going out in prime time on ITV1, they could expect large numbers of viewers, although as a brand new programme, it was an unknown entity.
The Plan
The series had ten episodes in late peak every weeknight for two weeks in September, providing JD Williams with a consistent presence at a key time and a high frequency of idents.
The idents, made in partnership with House 337, featured midlife women having candid conversations with Davina McCall about their dating experiences. They revealed the highs and lows of midlife dating with humour, warmth and positivity and were a good fit with the programme itself.
The sponsorship was extended into BVOD and by sponsoring the catch-up content on ITVX they were able to increase the reach and scale of the partnership. In addition, they extended the association into paid, owned and earned comms including a photoshoot with the show’s contestants, social support and a PR event to launch the partnership to journalists.
Results
- Brand consideration grew by 10% - impressive for a slow-moving metric in a competitive category
- Search increased significantly and there was a sharp spike in Google Trends data every weeknight when the programme was on air
- Analysis showed that there was a positive and long-lasting effect on site traffic
- The show was a great success and has been recommissioned for a second series
- The campaign was shortlisted in Best Use of Sponsorship at the TV Planning Awards 2024
My Mum, Your Dad was the perfect sponsorship at the perfect time for JD Williams. During a key sales period, our work with the7stars and ITV gave us the chance to integrate deeply with the programme, while driving reach and frequency in a space that resonates wonderfully with our audience. And the results speak for themselves, in just two weeks we achieved the kind of search and consideration lift that a 4-week linear TV campaign would be proud of.
Esme StoneHead of Brand, NBrown group
Databank
Sector: Online Retail
Brand: JD Williams
Campaign objectives: To drive consideration and stand out
Target Audience: Women aged 45-65
Campaign Dates: The sponsorship ran for two weeks in September 2023
TV Usage: Sponsorship idents
Creative Agency: House 337
Media Agency: the7stars