Sundance Embarks on Branded Entertainment Drive

NEW YORK, June 23: On
January 1, 2007, Sundance Channel will begin offering its advertisers integrated
sponsorship and branded entertainment opportunities, marking its first foray
into on-air advertising since its 1996 launch.

As part of the move, the
channel has upped Kirk Iwanowski to the role of executive VP of marketing,
branded entertainment and sponsorship. He will be offering clients the chance
to connect their brand to a specific Sundance programming franchise on air as
well as off-air, online, on VOD, through electronic sell-through and on
wireless. On-air messaging will include “presented by” credits, tagged
tune-in's, vignettes and custom interstitials. Messages will be integrated into
five specific on-air categories: branded weekly destinations, original series,
acquired series, thematic stunts and customized interstitial series. Feature
films and documentaries remain uninterrupted.

Iwanowski, previously SVP
of marketing, will oversee all integrated sponsorship sales and branded
entertainment initiatives across all Sundance Channel-branded platforms. He
will also develop and oversee a soon to be created sponsorship sales and
branded entertainment team. He will also continue to supervise all marketing
initiatives for the network.

“Our goal is build on our
history of striking alliances with like-minded consumer brands to create high
impact campaigns that resonate in the marketplace,” commented Iwanowski. “The
Sundance Channel offering is quite unique—these are high levels of
integration and customization that closely align the given brand with both
Sundance Channel overall and the specific content or franchise. Our approach
will be select, not mass, as we look to not only preserve but enrich the
viewing experience for our audience.”