Beldray makes its TV debut as ITV woos first-time advertisers
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Homeware brand Beldray has launched its first-ever TV campaign, ‘Be More Beldray’, via ITV’s Backing Business scheme, which matches ad spend to double the media value — a template for how UK challenger brands and SMEs can finally afford television.
Television has long been treated as the preserve of big brands with big budgets. A campaign from Oldham-based Ultimate Products is a useful reminder that the barrier is falling — and how.
In July 2026, homeware brand Beldray ran its first-ever TV advertising campaign, ‘Be More Beldray’, across ITV and ITVX. Rather than a nationwide splash, it launched as a measured regional trial in Yorkshire, built to test creative and prove return on investment before any wider rollout.
How ITV ‘Backing Business’ changes the maths
The campaign runs through ITV’s Backing Business initiative, which matches an advertiser’s spend to effectively double the media value of the investment. For a first-time TV brand, that halves the perceived risk of a channel long seen as expensive and hard to measure — and it is explicitly aimed at ambitious brands testing television for the first time.
The creative leans into humour and relatable household moments under a ‘Be More Beldray’ platform, rather than a traditional product demo — a deliberately brand-building choice for a debut meant to introduce the name to millions of new households.
Why this is a template, not a one-off
Our read is that this is the more interesting story beneath the ad itself: a repeatable playbook for SME and challenger brands. Start regional, use a media-owner incentive to de-risk the buy, treat the first flight as a measured experiment with clear sales and awareness metrics, and only then scale. It is the antithesis of the all-or-nothing national launch that has scared smaller brands away from TV for years.
What UK SMEs should take from it
If you have written off television as out of reach, revisit the assumption. Ask media owners about spend-matching and test-and-learn schemes; pick a single region to prove the model; and brief creative that builds the brand, not just the product, so the investment compounds. Pair the TV flight with digital and retail activity in the same region so you can read the halo effect. The lesson is that TV is now a test you can run, not just a gamble you take.
Quick FAQ
What is Beldray’s ‘Be More Beldray’ campaign?
It is Beldray’s first-ever TV advertising campaign, launched in July 2026 across ITV and ITVX as a regional trial in Yorkshire, using humour and everyday household moments rather than a traditional product demonstration.
What is ITV Backing Business?
It is an ITV initiative that matches an advertiser’s spend to roughly double the media value of their investment, designed to help ambitious and first-time brands test television with less risk.
How can smaller brands afford TV advertising?
Start with a single region, use media-owner spend-matching schemes to de-risk the buy, treat the first flight as a measured experiment, and scale only once the results are proven.
The smartest thing about this campaign isn’t the ad — it’s the structure. A regional trial, a spend-matching deal and clear success metrics turn television from a leap of faith into a controlled experiment. That is exactly how a challenger brand should approach a channel it has never used before.
— Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Television is no longer an all-or-nothing gamble for smaller brands; with regional trials and media-owner spend-matching, TV becomes a test you can run and measure like any other channel.
If TV could be trialled in one region with your spend matched, would you finally put your brand on the box?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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