Aviva TV Ad Celebrates 12 Year Sporting Partnership

Olympic Champions Christine Ohuruogu and Darren Campbell, along with World Champion Jessica Ennis will feature in a new national TV ad for Aviva launched this week, celebrating the insurer’s 12-year athletics sponsorship.

Best known for its humorous car and life insurance sketches featuring Paul Whitehouse, for this ad Aviva has changed its focus to celebrate its long-standing commitment to British sport. The TV ad, which premiered following the ITV Evening News and runs for one month, will showcase the best of British athletics talent during peak ad breaks. The adis the insurer’s first non-product led TV advertising campaign since Aviva’s rebrand in 2009.

The 40 second ad shows the blood, sweat and tears each athlete goes through in their intensive 24/7 preparation for the competition of a lifetime. Each athlete’s journey is depicted by a yellow track - representing Aviva’s support both past and present - on their path to glory. The voiceover describes how Aviva has been paving the way for British athletes for the past decade, giving the best of British every chance to be the best in the world.

Heather Smith, Marketing Director, Direct Insurance, Aviva UK commented: ““Jessica Ennis first tried athletics at an Aviva ‘Startrack’ taster event in Sheffield at the age of ten; just one example of the continued support which we have given British athletes over the years - from humble beginnings right up to the pinnacle of international competition. We truly believe that no-one knows athletics like Aviva, and are delighted to be celebrating this heritage at a great time for British sport.

World Heptathlon Champion Jessica Ennis commented: “I am really proud to be part of the new TV ad as Aviva has continually helped to develop and promote my sport at every level since the very beginning of my sporting career. It’s good to tell the story behind the big events, we don’t just turn up to a championship event and perform - it’s your personal preparation that counts for everything, as any athlete will tell you. Aviva has always supported me and my fellow athletes in the GB Team through both the good times and the bad, and ahead of an important time for athletics, including the World Championships in Daegu this year; this advert demonstrates Aviva’s continued commitment to athletics. I look forward to seeing the ad on TV soon!”

The ad features Olympic Gold 400m medallist Christine Ohuruogu and Heptathlon World Champion Jessica Ennis, as well as sprinters Laura Turner and Conrad Williams, Commonwealth Heptathlon Champion Louise Hazel, Wheelchair 1500m racer Danny Lucker, F54 Shot putter Danny Nobbs and World Indoor Champion long jumper Chris Tomlinson. It also includes shots of former Olympian Darren Campbell conducting a children’s training session, demonstrating Aviva’s wide-ranging and continued commitment to grassroots sport. The ad was filmed throughout the UK, including locations in London, Sheffield and Norwich. The creative was developed by Norwich-based agency Balloon Dog and is the first national TV advertising campaign for the athletics sponsorship.

Aviva’s partnership, the longest-running athletics sponsorship deal globally, ensures British athletes are able to perform at the highest level in all major competitions, both at home and abroad. Since the sponsorship began in 1999, the insurer has made a significant investment into the sport each year.

The ad is one element of Aviva’s 2011 integrated athletics sponsorship marketing campaign and sits alongside press, online and outdoor media. Aviva is headline sponsor of the six televised indoor and outdoor elite level UK athletics events ‘The Aviva Series’, including this summer’s Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, Aviva UK Trials and Championships, and Aviva London Grand Prix. A third of Aviva’s sponsorship funds the Aviva Athletics Academy, which encompasses seven school and community schemes and aims to give every child in the country the opportunity to get involved in athletics by 2012. From September, Aviva will also be touring the country with a Roadshow, allowing consumers to meet the stars of British athletics, and get a behind the scenes view of the world of elite sport.