FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), the brand extension division of FremantleMedia, with the German casting portal Your Chance and Fressnapf, Europe’s largest specialty chain for pet food and accessories, today announced details of a branded entertainment deal for Germany’s top rated soap opera Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (GZSZ), which is broadcast on RTL Television and produced by FremantleMedia’s German production arm UFA.

The “Your Pet as a TV Star” project will give animal-loving fans of the show the opportunity to audition their pets at Your Chance casting booths which will be in 90 Fressnapf stores across Germany throughout summer 2010. The chosen pet will win a guest role in GZSZ as well as being entered in the UFA central casting database for future opportunities.

Diana M. Dieckmann, VP Licensing, Germany & Eastern/Central and Southern Europe, FME, said, “GZSZ has been Germany’s most loved daytime drama for 18 years and this innovative Branded Entertainment project with Fressnapf on UFA’s Casting Channel is a fantastic partnership and shows a complete new way of cooperating on a exciting level. We’re looking forward to the campaign which we’re confident will be a big success for Fressnapfs animal fans as well as the fans of GZSZ.”

"This multichannel-campaign and live tour is the result of a very close collaboration between Fressnapf, UFA and us, which started with a unique idea in autumn 2009. It’s a 360 degree user experience and follows our strategy of innovative TV extensions and brand partnerships", said Bjoern Hoven, Interactive Licensing Manager Germany, Eastern, Central & Southern Europe at FME.

The casting tour will take place from 26 June to 9 October 2010 in Fressnapf stores where participants are auditioned, photographed and registered on yourchance.de by the Your Chance team. Very special talented pets will be filmed. Alternatively, people can upload videos of their pet on yourchance.de. Fressnapf customers and the Your Chance community have the chance to vote for their favourites then an UFA jury will choose the winner out of the final three. In some stores, there will also be autographing sessions with Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten stars. The campaign will have its own website - www.fressnapf-tiercasting.de - where consumers can watch and upload videos and vote. It will also cross-media promoted on all Your Chance and Fressnapf platforms (online, newsletter, social media, advertising, flyers, instore radio, radio spots, PR). Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten is marketed by FremantleMedia and RTL interactive licensing.

Marco Theuring, Head of National Marketing, Fressnapf, is happy to announce this great Casting Tour with Germany’s top rated soap opera Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (GZSZ) and Fressnapf, Europe’s largest specialty chain for pet food and accessories.

Miriam Bald, Marketing Manager Fressnapf, says “This is an amazing deal that we were really enthusiastic about right from the first contact and we are looking forward to this partnership.”