• 100 SMEs each to be supported with £10,000 of free Sky TV advertising
• £1m fund to reward businesses ‘demonstrating true resolve and ingenuity’
• The scheme is open to SMEs that have been running for at least one year in the UK and employ up to 50 full time staff

 

Sky Media, the advertising sales arm of Sky has launched SME100 – its AdSmart SME support scheme. The £1 million fund will provide 100 businesses with TV advertising campaigns via AdSmart to support them during the Covid-19 outbreak.

SME100 is open to SMEs that have been running for at least one year in the UK with up to 50 full time employees. Businesses can nominate themselves or be put forward by their own customers. Sky Media is encouraging people to highlight the businesses in their local area that need support during this time and who would benefit from accessing TV advertising at a time of high TV consumption.

“Businesses up and down the country are facing some of the hardest trading conditions in recent memory,” said David Sanderson, director of AdSmart Local & Development at Sky Media. “We want to help our nation’s SMEs where possible by giving access to highly relevant audiences via AdSmart totally for free. SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy, making up 99.9% of all business in the UK. We know that although there are economic slowdowns, people are still spending money and we want to help brands connect to these audiences. This initiative is about giving businesses confidence in advertising and their ability to succeed no matter the situation.”

Creative execution of the ads will be supported by local creative agencies and through an exclusive partnership with image library, Shutterstock, that will see the agencies produce broadcast-ready, 30 second ads remotely.

The campaigns will be delivered via AdSmart from Sky –  technology that would allow a brand to reach households by postcode area, within a designated distance of their store, or by household make-up or lifestyle attributes that best suit their service.

www.adsmartfromsky.co.uk

 

Qualifying conditions:

  • Business must have between 2 and 50 full time employees
  • Businesses cannot replace money already booked/contracted with Sky Media
  • Businesses need to be new to TV or haven’t been on air in 12 months
  • Business must be prepared to produce a TV ad with assistance from Sky, locally approved agencies and Shutterstock content.

The offer:

  • Sky Media will gift a campaign value of £10k comprised of TV advertising using Adsmart that uses geo-demographic targeting across the 100+ AdSmart enabled channels
  • The maximum length of the TV advert is 30 seconds
  • The campaigns must be completed by 31 July, 2020
  • Sky Media will assist where required to provide the TVC. However, it may encourage businesses to use third party tools and service to complete its advert.
  • Shutterstock will offer 100 businesses with complimentary access content for use in the 30 second AdSmart TV ad only.