National Geographic Channel revs up its sponsorship with biggest ever deal

National Geographic Channel has signed a sponsorship agreement with Jeep Grand Cherokee alongside the channel's prime time programming in the UK

The seven figure deal is the biggest in the history of National Geographic Channel and was created and negotiated by Sky Media and Maxus Partnerships.

The sponsorship starts on 1st February and will run for one year. Every day National Geographic Channel's prime time programming will be introduced by Jeep's impactful sponsorship idents – drawing a close association between these two iconic brands. There will be over 1,300 sponsorship idents shown over the year totalling 78,000 seconds of Grand Cherokee branding which will reach 2.7 million upscale men.

As part of the sponsorship deal, Maxus Partnerships has created a programme of activities including short form content, a pop-up dealership in London’s National Geographic store, a second-screen app and a competition mechanic to support the campaign.

National Geographic Channel's award-winning creative team will be producing a series of documentary-style content pieces, bringing to life the unique aspects of the Grand Cherokee. National Geographic presenter Tim Shaw (Car SOS, None of the Above), who is a keen motor enthusiast himself, will act as spokesperson for this amazing model. These spots will run across the Sky Media portfolio reaching 6.4 million upmarket men in the UK.

The deal was brokered by Laura Wade, head of Maxus Partnerships, Wesleigh Lewis at Sky Media and Sophie Lintott at National Geographic Channel.

Damien Dally, head of brand – Jeep, Fiat Group UK, said: "The Grand Cherokee target audience are inherent adventure seekers, and this partnership with National Geographic allows us to align with exciting programming as well as create bespoke content that resonates with them".

Sophie Lintott, Brand Partnerships, FOX One Stop Media, said: "We are delighted to have Jeep Grand Cherokee on board as sponsors of National Geographic Channel. We feel it’s an excellent brand fit, with both companies being closely associated with innovation and quality – brands that you can trust".

Laura Wade, head of Maxus Partnerships, said: "To have brokered the biggest sponsorship agreement in the history of the channel is a great achievement for Maxus Partnerships. This is a genuine collaboration with multiple activation points throughout the year".