NZME and Skinny take innovative approach to content sponsorship

The Hits Breakfast hosts Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce. Photo / File

New Zealand Media and Entertainment and Kiwi telco Skinny have taken an out-of-the-box approach to content sponsorship.

The new "friendship" will be launched with The Hits Breakfast hosts Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce.

NZME's chief commercial and radio officer Wendy Palmer says all great sponsorships are based on great partnerships, but the Skinny "friendship" takes it to an entirely new level.

"It means we move away from the traditional 'thanks to' and 'brought to you by' credit and badging model. Instead, Jono and Ben will share integrated content that focuses on supporting Skinny's key messages of care, trust and credibility."

The "friendship" has already taken off, with on-air activity such as Jono getting his daughter Poppy to put together a new commercial for Skinny and a gag involving Jono announcing he's found a sponsor for him - but not Ben.

That scenario gets resolved on air when Skinny's Ally Young joined the show to announce she's actually friends with both Ben and Jono.

"Skinny isn't your regular telco. We always do things a little bit differently and try not to take ourselves too seriously. Our Kiwi brand aligns with Jono & Ben's Kiwi humour perfectly and we're very much looking forward to having a few laughs with them," Young said.

PHD Media took the now familiar challenge of sharing Skinny's story of keeping prices low and customers happy in a particularly Skinny way.

"Working with Skinny we always look at unique approaches and we knew a traditional sponsorship wouldn't work," PHD Media's Jas Gierlinski said.

"In close collaboration with NZME we developed a tailored-made concept of a "friendship", allowing Skinny and Jono and Ben to create a strong commercial partnership, but with our distinctive Skinny twist".

Jono and Ben started celebrating their Skinny "friendship" last Friday – featuring caller topics, stories, experiences and integrations all linked back to Skinny's values.

• Jono and Ben, Skinny's new BFFs Weekdays from 6am on the Hits Breakfast and iHeartRadio.