ITV is predicting the best year ever for its Love Island TV franchise, with brands being asked to pay £100,000 per advert to attach themselves to the reality show.
After more contestants are revealed this week, the seventh series debuts on 28 June. This year, Love Island has coupled up with nine official partners – led by returning headline sponsor Just Eat in a deal thought to be worth well in excess of £5m annually. Four other partners are new: JD Sports, official “Feel Good” partner Boots, dating app Tinder and drinks brand WKD.
Some advertisers have hung back, concerned about the mental health issues associated with the programme following the suicides of two former contestants and that of longtime host Caroline Flack last year. Last week, ITV put out the latest update to its duty of care protocols, which detail how contestants are prepared, looked after during filming and given “aftercare” to deal with a new celebrity lifestyle when the season finishes.
Despite the shadow that hangs over a once-carefree primetime staple, many brands are still prepared to pay big sums to be associated with it. All nine sponsorships were signed before the economy began to reopen in March.
“We do partner associations on many shows but Love Island always has the most, and the most demand,” says Kelly Williams, ITV’s managing director, commercial. “We were selling this before Boris announced the roadmap, before we had any idea where the show would be filmed, and we sold out.
“That demonstrates the demand – we are really, really pleased. The commercial value overall will be more than pre-pandemic, the most we’ve ever made from Love Island.”
This year, ITV has significantly ramped up investment in the franchise. The number of apps has been doubled to four – the show’s companion app, the Love Island story game, an app featuring fictional interactive story Love Island: The Drama and a fitness app.
Merchandise is also being expanded with the addition of a personalised tote bag to ITV’s Love Island store, to go alongside branded products from baby bottles to suitcases. The price of a Love Island water bottle has been raised by a third to £20 as the previously plastic container is reissued in stainless steel.
The franchise is a juggernaut but not every brand extension has worked. A foray into makeup was short-lived and a beach-themed attraction at Thorpe Park turned out to be a one-off.
“With the retail offering we think we have it at a place where we are happy with it,” says Williams. “The advantage is we own Love Island globally, and we have tried to be very focused.”
The average audience hit 5.9 million last series, comprised mostly of the incredibly hard-to-reach and highly sought after 18- to 34-year-old demographic, making Love Island advertiser gold.
Williams is “quietly confident” it will match those numbers this season, as the 18-month break since the last edition “creates not just demand in the ad business but demand among viewers”.
An association with the show can be transformative. In its first year as a partner, in summer 2019, sales of the online fashion retailer I Saw It First rose 67% when the show started, with web traffic increasing 60%. On Instagram, follower numbers leaped 254%. On Twitter, follower numbers climbed 61%. The brand is back this year as official fashion partner.
“We owe a lot to Love Island,” says Bryony Frith, partnership manager at the online retailer. “It put I Saw It First on the map. We are a small brand compared with a Pretty Young Thing or Missguided, and what we have achieved in a short time is incredible. It is the perfect target audience and they’ve been a huge part in making our success.”
When contestant Molly-Mae Hague wore a custom-made yellow dress, it sold out in 10 minutes. “It was insane,” says Frith. “It was by far the most liked post we’ve ever had.”
But with the pandemic putting the issue of mental wellbeing in the spotlight, a note of caution has been sounded by advertisers who wonder whether the stress experienced by some contestants, and the tragedies linked to the show, will have implications.
“We are seeing less demand from clients for [ads in] Love Island than previously,” says Fleur Stoppani, the managing director at media agency MindShare UK, which has clients including Superdrug, a former headline sponsor of Love Island. “There is a bit more of a challenge with Love Island from a mental health and wellbeing perspective, especially around youth, some brands just won’t take the risk.
“There are still a mountain of brands that probably will, but we are now in a cultural moment where everyone is much more aware of mental health issues.”
This season will be the first since the death of former host Flack, who killed herself while awaiting trial on assault charges after allegedly attacking her boyfriend.
The ITV chief executive, Carolyn McCall, who has said she would let her children be contestants, has pointed out that the deaths of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis occurred a number of years after being on Love Island and after they had appeared on other reality shows. Nevertheless, the broadcaster is aware that when Love Island returns it will come in for close scrutiny.
“As a business we take our duty of care very, very seriously and our protocols, I suspect, are the best in the world,” says Williams. “We look at some shows around the world and there are some celebrities and contestants that would just never get on Love Island. We prepare all Love Islanders in advance. Not just the ramifications of being in the public eye and being a celebrity, but financial matters and also how their families deal with it. Love Island is a joyful show with young people trying to find love and that is what brands buy into.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
