X marks the spot for new sponsor

TELEPRINTER: IT'S THAT time of year again: X Factor is back on our screens this Saturday but, after four years, Domino's Pizza has bowed out as TV3's sponsor – with the honour taken up by online department store Littlewoods Ireland in a "significant" six-figure deal.

Littlewoods will provide stings for both the X Factor proper and the X Factor USA in a multi-platform sponsorship involving click-to-buy “activation elements” and more than 30 different idents, many of which will be produced during the run to reflect the unfolding cast and script of this year’s reality contest drama.

The deal will build on Littlewoods’ previous two-year sponsorship of Coronation Street, according to Littlewoods Ireland commercial director Geoff Scully.

“I think what the X Factor is going to do is support our above-the-line advertising, but it will also put the brand front of mind at what is the most important time of the year for us. We want it to drive sales as well as brand awareness.”

This means capturing the seasonal purchases of second-screeners – already a fifth of Littlewoods Ireland’s online sales is generated by mobile devices.

TV3 is optimistic that this year’s UK series – the ninth in its history – will enjoy a strong showing. Its X Factor audience dipped in 2011 compared to

the bumper year of 2010, but was still higher than in 2009. “It has been tremendous from our perspective,” says TV3 group head of sales Daragh Byrne of the franchise.

The X Factor USA, which will be broadcast in Ireland on Thursdays and Fridays, may also win more Irish eyeballs this year as Louis Walsh appears as a stand-in judge during the audition stages.

The word is that the UK series producers, having looked closely at the elements that worked for their (intermittently successful) BBC counterpart, The Voice, are planning to engineer a higher standard of finalist for the live shows this time around.

Expect all the judges’ cliches – “you’ve made that song your own”, “you’ve got that likeability factor”, “it was a bit karaoke for me” – to remain present and correct.