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| Meet Canadian Idol wannabe Ron Ronn, presented by TELUS |
July 17, 2008 |
Canadian Idol's mobile sponsor brings new approach to season 6 of popular TV show
Toronto, ON –TELUS, the mobile sponsor of CTV's long running hit "Canadian Idol", is introducing viewers to Ron Ronn to rock Candian Idol fans during season 6 of the show. Ron Ronn is a 23-year-old aspiring singer/songwriter character who relies on a lucky dolphin, his best friend Mueller and a TELUS smartphone to manage his burgeoning career. Beginning Monday, July 14 in the Top 10 performance on CTV, Ron Ronn will tell his story through ten episodic instalments of content, created by TELUS' ad agency, TAXI Canada.
TELUS and TAXI created Ron Ronn specifically for "Canadian Idol" as part of TELUS' sponsorship of the popular show. Under terms of the sponsorship agreement, negotiated by Media Experts, each of the 30-second Ron Ronn clips will run at the end of an "Idol" segment and before the regular TELUS commercial spot. A hilariously earnest young man who launched his music career at the age of 18, Ron Ronn auditioned for "Canadian Idol" but the show's judges rejected him.
"Canadian Idol is a great media property that we've always seen as a natural fit for promoting TELUS products and services," said Tammy Scott, TELUS vice-president of Marketing Communications. "This new character will resonate with Idol fans while filling them in on the cool features and services they can enjoy on TELUS smartphones."
In addition to the Ron Ronn content, TELUS will also run its award-winning nature campaign during Canadian Idol broadcasts.
Despite being passed over by the "Idol" judges, Ron Ronn continues to pursue a musical career, and relies on the many features of a TELUS smartphone in the process – text-messaging, global positioning systems, UPS package tracking and instant messaging, to name a few. In addition to the ten content episodes, fans can also learn more about Ron Ronn and his life by visiting a dedicated microsite, www.telus.com/ronronn. There, full-length song tracks, downloadable wallpaper, and a full set of musical jingles, each dedicated to a particular smartphone function ("Oh sweet, sweet GPS, my orientation is no longer a mess.") are available, as is assorted concert swag, such as tour T-shirts and recorded songs for download. Of course, Ron Ronn has a Facebook fan page and a YouTube channel.
"Many Idol fans like to rally behind an unlikely winner, so it made sense to create a story around an underdog character viewers can root for. With this insight, we could seamlessly integrate the everyday usefulness of a smartphone," said Rose Sauquillo, creative director with TAXI Toronto. " "The Canadian Idol sponsorship offers a unique opportunity to connect with the show's millions of fans. We departed from our past approaches by bringing to life a character, developing details of his life and aspirations, someone viewers can respond to emotionally."
To learn more about RonRonn, go to www.telus.com/ronronn.
Canadian Idol was created by Simon Fuller and is produced in association with CTV by Insight Productions. John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby are Executive Producers. Mark Lysakowski is Supervising Producer. Senior Producer is Sue Brophey. Jane Rimer is Executive Consultant for FremantleMedia. Ed Robinson is Executive Vice-President, Programming, CTV Inc. Susanne Boyce is President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc.
About 19 Entertainment
Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment is recognised as a leading creator, provider and promoter of globally successful music based entertainment, or "entertainment brands". The company has attracted a unique collection of expertise in people who work together to integrate and leverage activity across television, film, touring, merchandising, music publishing, recording, artist / writer and producer management, sponsorship and promotion. Simon Fuller is the most successful British music manager of all time having sold over 116 million CDs in North America alone, and is known as the creator of "American Idol", the most valuable TV format in the world with an estimated value in excess of $2.5 billion.
About FremantleMedia:
FremantleMedia is one of the largest international creators and producers of programme brands in the world, with leading prime time drama, serial drama, entertainment and factual entertainment programming in over 40 territories. FremantleMedia has production offices in over 20 countries worldwide, providing local sales and production support for its international TV brands such as Idols and the world's longest running game show, The Price is Right.
The company's licensing operation, FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, exploits FremantleMedia's many strong brands across multiple off-screen platforms including merchandising campaigns, interactive and wireless support, home entertainment and music publishing. Fremantle International Distribution, the company's international distribution division licenses over 19,000 hours of programming to 150 countries worldwide. FremantleMedia is the content arm of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company. For further information please see FremantleMedia's website www.fremantlemedia.com.
About CTV:
CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multi-media company which owns CTV Inc. and The Globe and Mail. CTV Inc. also owns radio stations across the country, and leading national specialty channels. Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and in Dome Productions, a North American leader in the provision of mobile high definition production facilities. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.2 billion of annual revenue and 11.2 million customer connections including 5.6 million wireless subscribers, 4.4 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. Committed to being Canada's premier corporate citizen, we give where we live. Since 2000, TELUS and our team members have contributed $113 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 2.1 million hours of service to local communities. Eight TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead our local philanthropic initiatives. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.
About TAXI:
TAXI Canada Inc. and TAXI Inc. are independent, wholly owned companies with core expertise in Strategic Planning, Advertising, Design, Interactive, Relationship Marketing and Content. Founded in Montreal (1992), offices also include Toronto and TAXI 2 (1992, 2006), New York (2004), Calgary (2005) and Vancouver (2007). TAXI's business is built on a media-neutral approach that allows strategic and creative agility and a consistent brand experience across multiple consumer touchpoints. TAXI ranked 9th in the world per Creativity Magazine, August 2006, was named Canadian Agency of the Year by Marketing Magazine in 2001 and 2005, and won the Strategy Magazine Agency of the Year award in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. TAXI was also named one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Deloitte. TAXI New York in 2007 and 2008 won the O'Toole Award for Creative Excellence from the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Client assignments in Canada include TELUS Consumer Solutions, MINI Canada, Pfizer's VIAGRA, WestJet, McCain's, Canadian Tire, Reitmans Group, Bombardier and Dairy Farmers of Canada. New York clients include Coors Brewing Company, Johnson & Johnson (Motrin, Children's Motrin), New York Life, Blue Shield of California, Rail Europe Group, OpenSkies and Versus.
For more information, please contact:
Anne-Julie Gratton
TELUS Media Relations
(416) 279-8522
aj.gratton@telus.com
For more information about CTV or "Canadian Idol", please contact:
Allie Page
CTV Communications
(416) 332-4596
apage@ctv.ca
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