Nine has announced the major sponsors for its reboot of Beauty and the Geek, with KFC, Fantastic Furniture and ALDI aligning their brands.
Hosted by Sophie Monk, Beauty and the Geek premieres this Sunday, July 11, on Channel 9 and 9Now as 10 Beauties and 10 Geeks work through a series of real-life challenges in the search for a romantic spark or lifelong friendship.
Complementing the action, the series will feature bespoke in-show branding.
Nine’s director of Powered, Liana Dubois, said the timing of the reboot of family-friendly Beauty and the Geek is perfect for brands.
“We’re tickled pink with the return of this feelgood favourite at a time when Australia needs a little escapism and a wholesome reason to smile. Beauty and the Geek is the perfect platform for brands looking to connect emotionally with the audience as we watch our couples step through the spectrum of human experiences,” Dubois said.
“The reach and deep engagement of the Beauty and the Geek audience is a delightfully geeky match for our brand partners, who are also capitalising creatively across the series.”
As part of KFC’s sponsorship, the in-show integration sees the KFC Food Truck featuring for the first time in an entertainment format. The truck will appear as the centrepiece of a themed Fancy Dress Party, playing a key moment as KFC caters for the Beauties and Geeks as they let their hair down. KFC integration will also appear late in the series as five Geeks play a game of “chicken and [poker] chips” and celebrate the achievement of being the last ones left in the hunt for love.
Kristi Woolrych, CMO of KFC Australia, said: “As Beauty and the Geek makes a return to our screens, we’re thrilled to be partnering with the show, which will see us bring our famous KFC Food Truck on-air for the first time.
“At KFC we love to bring people together over our signature Kentucky Fried Chicken, and we’re excited to see the Beauties and Geeks get to know each other and hopefully put a ‘wing’ on it at the end of the season.
“As we encourage fans to live in the moment with our ‘Fried Side of Life’ campaign, the partnership with Beauty and the Geek is a match made in heaven with the contestants putting themselves out of their comfort zone and hopefully finding the secret recipe for love.”
In-show integration will also see the Beauties and Geeks stumbling through the time-honoured tradition of ordering and assembling furniture together, all ordered online from Fantastic Furniture.
With brand integration complementing episodic storylines of the Beauties and Geeks “making nests”, Fantastic Furniture helps to make the couples feel that their apartments are more like a home and reflect their personalities. Fantastic Furniture will also have commercial break engagers with the tagline “when it feels like home, you feel like you”.
Will Dance, head of marketing for Fantastic Furniture, said: “As longtime fans of the show, we’re extremely excited to be partnering with Beauty and the Geek Australia. Whether you’re in the market for an Aussie-made sofa, a display cabinet for your model robots or a makeup mirror that shows your best self, at Fantastic Furniture we’ve got something for everyone.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the Beauty or the Geek, because at Fantastic we know that when it feels like home, you feel like you.”
ALDI will also be in commercial break engagers that highlight fun and quirky moments with Geeks throughout the series.
Beauty and the Geek will premiere this Sunday, July 11 at 7pm on Channel Nine and 9Now.