STEPSTONE RENEW PARTNERSHIP WITH CHANNEL 4

STEPSTONE, one Europe's leading career portals, have announced that they have renewed their sponsorship of Channel 4 Sports following the initial 12 month partnership.
The year-long deal worth approximately £4 million starts this month with Channel 4's international cricket coverage.
The decision to renew the sponsorship signals StepStone's continued strength at a time when many Internet companies are struggling to survive. StepStone, which has now been in business since 1996, first sponsored Channel 4 Sports a year ago in what was then the largest ever sponsorship deal by a dotcom.
Giles Clarke, StepStone’s CEO, said: "We have decided to build on last year's success by continuing our Channel 4 sponsorship into 2002. I am particularly pleased at our continued ability to support such targeted marketing activities - which ultimately provide added value to our customers. Unlike many other Internet companies, we have always approached the market with a long-term view - our renewal of the Channel 4 sponsorship is evidence of that."
Channel 4 research estimates that Sport on 4, their largest sponsorship vehicle, will reach 99 per cent of Britain's men on an average of six or seven times per year. The individual sporting events sponsored by StepStone includes international cricket, horseracing, Italian football, motor sports, the World Rally Championships, as well as snowboarding, mountain bike racing and extreme sports.
The StepStone logo will appear on ad break ‘bumpers’, on-air credits, individual programme competitions, the Channel 4 website and affiliated magazines, and additional joint marketing ventures.
A team headed by Matthew Howells at 141, Bates UK's integrated agency, will be responsible for the creative treatment. (CD)