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SCA Hygiene Products is set to sign a pounds 3m sponsorship deal

with Channel 5 that will link sanitary protection brand Bodyform with

Australian soap opera Home and Away.

Executives from Channel 5 and SCA's media agency, Carat Sponsorship,

were understood to be thrashing out final details as Marketing went to

press.

The year-long deal will mark Bodyform's TV sponsorship debut. The brand

sponsored a season of female-oriented films at Warner Village Cinemas

last year. It will be the first time Home and Away has been sponsored

and one of Channel 5's biggest sponsorship deals to date.

The soap, which Channel 5 poached from ITV last year, launches on July

16, and will air 11 times a week, backed by a pounds 1m marketing

campaign.

As part of the deal, Bodyform is likely to be mentioned on advertising

for the programme and will also have a tie-in with the soap's planned

microsite.

A key part of the tie-in will be the synergy between the Home and Away

audience, which includes a large proportion of 16- to 34- year-old

women, and Bodyform's target market.

The TV series is likely to run after 6pm, helping to ensure that any

tie-in with Bodyform complies with Independent Television Commission

rules which stipulate that sanitary protection products must not be

promoted during children's programmes.

The definition of whether a programme is aimed at children depends on

when it is scheduled and the proportion of children watching.

Last year, SCA Hygiene hiked its investment in TV by 42% to pounds 10m.

The company also uses washroom advertising, postcards, mail drops and

ads in women's magazines to promote the Bodyform range.

No one from C5 or Carat was available for comment.