Sky Media will award £20,000 in media value to nine small businesses to get their message out on TV.
Through its new sustainable small business initiative, Local Heroes, Sky wants to help start-ups create positive behavioural change through the medium of television.
Sky Media, the broadcaster’s advertising arm, will support nine small and medium-sized businesses and local businesses in the UK and Ireland to get their message out on a national scale as part of its existing Zero Footprint Fund.
The fund will award each brand up to £20,000 in media value to spend on a TV campaign, as well as provide up to £2,500 to create adverts in collaboration with local production companies.
The winning brand will then be put up for public voting and local judging, with the community voting for their favourite local business.
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“Businesses of all shapes and sizes across the UK are making a real difference in the fight against climate change,” said David Sanderson, local and development director at AdSmart, Sky’s targeted advertising platform.
“We want to reward these businesses by giving them the opportunity to grow their business and spread their sustainability message. Sky’s AdSmart is the perfect platform to do that in a targeted way for local businesses and has already helped thousands of businesses get on TV for the first time,” he added.
Now in its fourth year, Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund has previously won awards including Grub Club, Serious Tissue and Here We Flow. The maximum amount available to brands through the fund is £1 million, with the five finalists each year awarded £250,000 in advertising value.