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An innovative development in advertiser-invested television begins to hit the screens in March. The Sure/Rexona Fans United series is funded by Unilever and masterminded by MindShare Team Unilever Europe. This factual documentary series will be distributed globally, in the lead up to the World Cup.

Sure/Rexona Fans United is a 13 x 30 minute TV series and international production. It examines the universal passion of football fans, their attitudes and love for the game. The series sits alongside other promotional media activity for Sure/Rexona for Men.

The series kicks off on March 22, 2006 on ITV1 in the UK, followed by Germany and Russia, and is planned to roll out in multiple markets in Europe and Latin America in the coming months.

"TV is still a very important medium for Unilever, but we have to be much smarter about how we use it. This new development from Sure/Rexona is a great example of the sort of approach we want to develop more and more. It's all about using material that is relevant for consumers as part of a 360 degree campaign."

"Football is clearly relevant to the guys who use Sure/Rexona Sport for Men and taps into a global passion because it's all about fans, not players," said Alan Rutherford, Global Media Director at Unilever.

The project sets a new benchmark in the scale and ambition of advertiser-invested programming. It also represents a genuine collaboration between programme maker, client, media investment agency and distributor, with a truly international appeal.

Gary Knight, Brand Partnerships Director of ITV stated: "ITV is delighted that we have been able to engage with one of our most important advertisers on this exciting project. The acid test for any show that has a direct advertiser investment model remains as per any normal ITV commission - it should offer a compelling TV proposition and have the potential to attract a real viewer franchise. Unilever and the MindShare team have clearly developed a programme series that can achieve these objectives."

The series of TV programmes sits alongside other promotional media activity for Sure/Rexona for Men, planned by MindShare.

Working with MindShare Team Unilever Europe to create a brief, Unilever provided the finance for the project. It is produced by Steadfast Television, and distributed by SET, both part of Apace Media plc. The initial programme concept came from Neil Osborne, Managing Director of SET and was developed jointly with MindShare.

Kate Marsh, GroupM Director Entertainment Europe commented: "This is a truly ground-breaking project in its scale and ambition. The result is universally-appealing television programming, which has the ability to engage viewers in markets around the world."

"Sports & Entertainment Television is delighted to be working with Unilever and the MindShare/GroupM team on such an exciting and effective multi-market Advertiser Invested Programme. SET sees this factual entertainment series really take AIP to a new level," said Neil Osborne, Managing Director Sports & Entertainment Television Ltd (SET).

MindShare, enabled by WPP's GroupM, is leading the field in making initiatives like these possible. It has the resource, scale, expertise and strategic capability to deliver innovative solutions around the world.