ITV Studios & Sage Re-Team for More Krypton Factor

LONDON: The business software and services provider Sage has renewed its partnership with ITV Studios to fund a second season of The Krypton Factor, as part of its wider Business Brains campaign.

The partnership between ITV and Sage for the revival of The Krypton Factor was last year’s biggest advertiser funded program deal, which provides Sage integrated sponsorship credits around the show and exclusive digital content online and on ITV’s other platforms. The return of The Krypton Factor is part of Sage’s nationwide Business Brains campaign, which tests the business skills of those throughout the country. The Krypton Factor will return to ITV1 in early 2010, produced by ITV Studios.

"The Business Brains campaign has had an enormous impact on our business," said Joanna Elliott, the head of brand marketing at Sage. "In less than a year, we achieved a shift in brand perception and created a much stronger emotional connection with our customers and business partners. With so many people asking for the show to come back, we couldn’t resist. It’s a journey we haven’t finished yet."

Claire Horton, the controller of entertainment at ITV Studios, commented: "We’re delighted to be working with Sage for a second series of The Krypton Factor on ITV1. We have already been inundated with hopeful applicants who, amongst other rounds, will have to tackle the brand-new specially designed assault course. This is going to be our biggest and best The Krypton Factor yet.”

Remy Blumenfeld, the director of formats at ITV Studios, added: "Krypton Factor‘s successful come-back has proved that viewers of all ages are still attracted to the show’s unique combination of brains and brawn. We are thrilled that ITV1 is bringing it back for another series and I’m hopeful that broadcasters around the world will follow suit."

"We were all really pleased by the success of The Krypton Factor this year and are excited that Sage is able to fund a second series in 2010," commented Ben Kerr, the content director at the advertising agency Drum. "In 2009, The Krypton Factor was the first ad-funded program to establish itself as a peak-time property on terrestrial TV. Viewing figures, online results, changes in brand tracking and a Silver Lion at Cannes are all testament to the success of the current campaign. In 2010, our ambition is even greater and we will continue to use branded content at the heart of our campaign to drive broader customer engagement."