Company director to star in tombola bingo's national TV campaign
17 May 2011
Christine Di Ciacca aged 51, from South Leverton, near Retford, stars in the third season of Emmerdale bumpers created by tombola bingo, which launch this month and again stars real online bingo players by the U.K.’s number one online bingo site, tombola.co.uk. The new sponsorship bumpers launch next week on ITV1.
The sponsorship deal includes broadcast sponsorship on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3, online sponsorship at itv.com/emmerdale, interactive sponsorship, mobile interactive bumpers and licensing.
It means Christine, a director who is more often managing the accounts for her family run business, can now be also seen on Emmerdale for the next 12 months, regularly exposing her to audiences of more than seven million people across the UK.
In all, twenty-five tombola.co.uk players took part in a three day fly-on-the-wall documentary style filming. Each individual will appear in up to 21 bumpers and will feature as the main star in at least one of the bumpers for a few seconds, either at the start or end of the show or between breaks on one of ITV’s most popular TV shows.
The idents or ‘break bumpers’ were filmed in March in Cornwall including the pretty coastal town of Looe, Truro and Newquay which is famous for its beaches. tombola.co.uk, which is officially the UK’s most popular online bingo site, put an appeal on its website for players to be a part of their sponsorship deal. Players enjoyed a range of activities on the beach, deep sea fishing, a pasty making lesson, quad biking, and a balloon ride.
Chris said: “I was so pleased to find out tombola picked me to appear in their ads. It was so lovely to be picked as I’ve had a tough few months as my brother was diagnosed with cancer at February and is terminally ill so I’ve been a pillar for my mum helping her through this but for just a few days, it’s been great to escape and have some time for me. I’m looking forward to showing them the TV ads when they come out on telly!
She added, “I feel like I have a new family now – we all got on so well. I will definitely keep in touch and I’m already looking forward to the reunion we are organising!”
Head of Marketing at tombola.co.uk, Dawn-Elizabeth Howe said: “These ads have the same creative format as the previous ads on the Emmerdale show. We had great feedback as the warmth and fun the players have together comes across brilliantly in the final bumpers and it really reflects what tombola.co.uk is all about. So when we decided to produce new ads we knew we wanted to repeat much of the existing look and feel. It’s always difficult when you hear something like what Christine is going through but it’s lovely that we have been able to give her a break at the same time. Everyone needs to recharge their batteries and the final creative has come out really well.”
Every week, £4m is won in cash prizes on tombola. Howe added: “Sponsoring Emmerdale, one of ITV’s leading brands, is a significant opportunity for tombola.co.uk. The show's reach, the affection in which it’s held, and its values of drama, fun and community make it the ideal partner for the tombola brand.”
You can see all the players chosen for the bumpers and play bingo online at tombola.co.uk