Press Releases 2009

Don’t phone a friend – ask Jeeves instead!

Internet search engine Ask Jeeves has signed a sponsorship deal with ITV for the up-coming series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which starts on June 13 and runs for nine weeks.

The sponsorship deal is a first for Ask Jeeves, which recently brought back its iconic butler Jeeves as the face of the brand, and the partnership is aimed at harnessing the site’s strong association with questions and answers.

Sarah Bartlett, Marketing Director of Ask Jeeves, said: "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? builds on our strategy to be the best place for answers online. The timing is also perfect as it comes on the back of our hugely successful Jeeves launch marketing campaign in April. We know our customers enjoyed this because queries to Jeeves are up significantly."

"Thanks to improvements made to the site, Ask Jeeves is better than ever at providing answers so this partnership with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a perfect fit."

Since it began in 1998 the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? format, owned by 2WayTraffic, has been sold round the world with the Indian version of the quiz show featuring in the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire. In the UK, where Chris Tarrant hosts the show, it continues to attract an audience of four million viewers.

The deal, brokered by media agency MPG, gives Ask Jeeves a total of 80 seconds accreditation over eight slots in each programme. Ask Jeeves intends to use new and edited versions of its successful TV ads featuring Jeeves and the famous Ask Jeeves search box in a series of different vignettes.

Yan Li, Sponsorship Manager of ITV said: "We are delighted to partner with Ask Jeeves for the sponsorship of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The show is an extremely successful and proven format and there is an obvious synergy and association which we hope will help to establish Ask Jeeves as the search engine for the answers to all your questions."

Aisling Cahill, Broadcast Account Manager at MPG, added: "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a brilliant sponsorship vehicle to help cement the return of Jeeves, as it provides perfect synergy between the show and Ask Jeeves's core business proposition."

Jeeves was brought back earlier this year after research showed users missed his friendly, human touch when it comes to answering questions. His return caps an extensive programme of radical improvements to the search engine.

Ask Jeeves was created in 1997 with the Jeeves figure able to answer specific questions typed in to the search engine, using groundbreaking new technology. Named after the all-knowing butler to the bumbling character Wooster in the PG Wodehouse tales, Jeeves embodies the spirit of British resourcefulness.

Jeeves left the site in 2006 but is now back serving its 15 million UK monthly users.