Aldi has agreed to sponsor the 12th series of The Great British Bake Off, in an estimated £4m deal with Channel 4.
The new package includes more of Channel 4's titles as part of the Bake Off franchise. Aldi, which first sponsored the show last year, will now run idents around the main Bake Off show, as well as Bake Off: An Extra Slice; Junior Bake Off; and Bake Off: The Professionals.
Channel 4 has aslo created festive and celebrity specials, including this month’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer.
The deal is worth £4m, according to agency estimates, which is double the amount reportedly agreed for Aldi's sponsorship of the 11th series. It is understood that the larger figure reflects the bigger franchise being sold this year, as well as Channel 4 being able to command a higher fee due to the show's continued ratings success. In 2020, Bake Off achieved its biggest ever Channel 4 audience with 11.5 million viewers.
However, the deal is thought to be smaller than Amazon's reported £5m Bake Off sponsorship in 2018 and 2019, when the agreement included idents only for the flagship show and Jo Brand's Extra Slice programme.
A senior media agency buyer told ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 that sponsorships tend to become less valuable over time as audiences generally fall and there are diminishing returns for successive sponsors. Dr Oetker and Lyle's Golden Syrup first sponsored Bake Off for an estimated £8m in 2017 when Channel 4 bought the show from the BBC.
Neither Channel 4 nor Aldi's media agency, UM Manchester, which brokered the deal, would comment. UM's sister agency, McCann Manchester, is Aldi's ad agency and created the gingerbread family that featured in last year's Bake Off idents.
Sean McGinty, marketing director of Aldi UK, said: “Our broadcast sponsorship of The Great British Bake Off has been a great success to date and we are delighted to be continuing during 2021 after the show pulled in its biggest viewing figures in 2020 and appeals to such a wide audience.”