how to plant an event

Commercial Income Generation Partner

Local Services - Events2013

SponsorshipProposal

Enterprise at the heart of the council’s work

Events_SponsorDoc.vs3_Layout 1 15/02/2013 12:31

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ContentsExecutive Summary..........................................................................3

Introduction .....................................................................................3

Sponsorship Opportunities ..............................................................4

Skyride June – September...................................................................................................4

Birmingham Carnival - August .............................................................................................5

ArtsFest - September ..........................................................................................................7

EID Mela - September .........................................................................................................9

Fireworks Spectacular - November....................................................................................11

Christmas Parade featuring Christmas Lights Switch On - November ..............................12

Major Sporting Events .......................................................................................................14

There are a number of commercial income generation partner opportunities available forCouncil owned sports venues, from naming rights to on site branding. Please see additionaldocumentation.


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Executive SummaryBirmingham City Council is the largest and one of the most prestigious unitary authorities inEurope. As part of its expansive remit the City Council has dedicated significant, time andresource to the development and facilitation of diverse, high quality and sustainable sport,leisure, arts and cultural activity. Through this long term commitment, the City Council hasestablished itself as one of Europe’s market leaders in the provision of community activities andmajor events delivery.

The City Council is committed to maintaining and improving current levels of provision andalso to developing new activities, which help to engage communities in an active lifestyle, buildeconomic strength and improve the profile and Birmingham’s visitor experience.

To achieve these ambitious plans and to maximise the undoubted potential within Birmingham,the City Council has set out to identify and secure new and diverse partnership funding andsupport. The following documentation provides a clear brief of what is required from such anorganisation.

Introduction This sponsorship proposal outlines the opportunities for sponsors to become a key stakeholderand official provider of goods and/or services to Birmingham City Council’s world renownedevents programme.

This unique and exciting opportunity will offer significant brand exposure to a diverse audienceand stakeholders can experience exclusive benefits and placement opportunities. This proposalgives details and examples of what a partner can expect to receive as official sponsors of thisexciting programme.

As the regional capital of the West Midlands, Birmingham is the UK’s premier city outside ofLondon with a population of one million. It is a cosmopolitan, business and leisure tourismdestination with everything you would expect from a major international city.

Birmingham is a dynamic, multicultural centre for business, tourism, conferences, andprofessional services and of course - sport. In recent years there has been a transformation ofBirmingham city centre and it is now home to civic squares and fountains, award-winning canalside developments and designer retail outlets.

Every year the city stages a huge number of civic, cultural, community, sport and leisure events.Many of these stimulate or provide mass participation, significant visitor numbers to the city orextensive media profile.

It is anticipated that Birmingham will secure a value of £10million through publicity and directspend in the city from the impact of the event programme.

Benefits of Association Birmingham has a highly impressive track record for staging events. Event attendances reachone million people over a year and media coverage has been valued to be in excess of £5million, which ensures high national and regional media profile for Birmingham as a diverse,dynamic and cosmopolitan city.


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Sponsors of the city’s events will benefit from association to high quality events that are safe,family-friendly and have well-established reputations for memorable experiences.For example, the 2011 Christmas market attracted over 5 million guests and 4.3 million for the2012 market during its 6 week event period.

Sponsorship with Council events provides an opportunity for a strong association withBirmingham’s extremely popular events and attractions. Customer research indicates thatevents are very well received and bring with them a feel good factor. Sponsors will benefit fromthis positive association and the significant brand exposure from City Council events.

In addition, the public exposure of an activity can be enhanced by sponsorshipproviding better visitor experiences. Therefore increasing the opportunities for a company’sbrand, logo and key messages to be communicated wherever possible.

Communication with large market Our events attract large numbers of visitors from across Birmingham and the region, andbeyond. Promotional material is distributed to a large database of people during the year –offering excellent opportunities to raise sponsor profile.

The Council’s events team has a successful track record in delivering popular public events tothe highest standards and our in house Marketing and PR Team is dedicated to these eventsand has developed excellent partnerships with a wide range of media partners. We have anoutstanding track record of achieving high levels of editorial coverage. We have a dedicatedElectronic Marketing & Communications officer, who looks after the social media accounts of allthe event programmes .

Sponsorship Opportunities

SkyrideJune – September

This event is in partnership with British Cycling and Birmingham City Council.

Skyride is a mass participation 8km event with over 20,000 cyclists enjoying traffic-free, citycentre roads for the day. The aim of the day is to encourage cyclists of all ages and abilities toget back on their bikes and ultimately to get more people cycling by 2013.

The event is one in a series of up to 14 events taking place across the UK each summer. The sponsorship opportunities for Birmingham Skyride are in conjunction with Sky sponsors ofthe country wide programme. Taylor made packages are available to suit individual sponsorsobjectives.

Product Benefits:• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor in the countdown

to the start of the event.

Product Showcasing• On site product sampling• Product demonstration through interactive experience • Trade stand at the event where appropriate


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Data Capture and Direct Mail• Direct mail opportunities available to BCC’s employee database

(subject to the Data Protection Act)• Data capture opportunities for the sponsor (subject to the Data Protection Act)• Inclusion in direct mail (where mutually appropriate)• Access to BCC Leisure Card Database (80,000)• Social Media Account & QR technology

On Site Branding • Opportunity for placement of barrier covers & branding round the route.

(Cost of production at additional cost to sponsor)

Advertising Opportunities• Your Company logo to be included in local press advertising / publications

in promoting the event• Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on 120 90”x40” roadside poster boards citywide

for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the event• Sponsor will be credited on event related pages of the City Council website• Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Opportunity for Sponsor to donate consumer products/vouchers for promotional

competitions in local press and radio prior to the event and to receive text credits withinassociated editorial

• Copy in the councils e-bulletin delivered to over 100,000 email addresses• Copy in the Councils FORWARD newspaper delivered to every house in Birmingham

Note: all the above are subject to negotiation with primary sponsors British Cycling and Sky.

Birmingham CarnivalAugust

The streets of Birmingham will come alive with the sounds and colour of the BirminghamCarnival on Sunday 4th August at Handsworth Park. Fifty thousand people are expected to linethe parade route and take part in festivities during the day . People will be visiting Carnivalfrom around the Midlands and the whole of the UK.

The procession will proceed along Soho Road, Rookery Road, Oxhill Road, Church Lane,Hamstead Road, Villa Road and Soho Road leading into Handsworth Park via Grove Lane

Handsworth Park will consist of a stage with entertainment from 12.00 noon – 8.30pm, 3satellite “sound” systems, 3 beer tents, 70 food and non-food trade stalls, inflatables and quadbikes.

The Birmingham carnival promotes the culture of the Caribbean and is the visualdemonstration of the strong bond that exists between Birmingham and Jamaica. The carnival issomething we can all be proud of and will be great opportunity for businesses to talk directlyto potential customers, particularly people from Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Product Benefits: Naming Rights Exclusivity• Company/product name in event title• Right to use the term ‘Official Sponsor’


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• Right to use the term ‘Official Supplier’• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor in the countdown

to the fireworks display




On Site Branding • Opportunity for placement of up to 30 barrier covers around the park.


Advertising Opportunities • Your Company logo to be included in local press advertising / publications

in promoting the event• Sponsor’s logo to appear on A4 posters advertising the event and will be distributed to

community venues, such as libraries• Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on 120 90”x40” roadside poster boards citywide

for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the event• Sponsor will be credited on event related pages of the City Council website• Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Regular compare talk-ups from our media partner during the event, denoting your

companies’ title sponsorship and your company’s key messages• Opportunity for Sponsor to donate consumer products/vouchers for promotional



Corporate Hospitality• Invitations to hospitality at event• Invitations to the event• Hospitality packages/tickets to other City events

Event DataCustomer Profile: The following data is an average over 5 years.Over a fifth (21.7%) of attendees were aged under 21. The largest groups in attendance are 35-44 year olds. The largest proportion of attendees were from the £20,800-£31,199 incomebracket (22%), although there was also a high percentage of attendees from higher incomebrackets (17.5% of attendees were from the 31,200-41,399 bracket and 13.5% were from the


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52,000 and above bracket). Six in ten (60.0%) were from within the City of Birmingham. Therewas high representation from Walsall (8%), Coventry (8%) and 34% in total from the other sixmetropolitan boroughs in the conurbation. The remaining (6%) were from outside the WestMidlands.

There is a growing increase of attendees from outside the West Midlands.

Cost of Sponsorship Package: The above can be awarded as the title sponsorship package or as a smaller sponsorshippackage to be tailored to deliver sponsors objectives.

Title Sponsorship: £20,000

ArtsFest September

ArtsFest now in its 15th year and is the biggest, most popular urban arts festival within Europe.It is also the Europe biggest FREE arts festival, which means there are no admission ticketprices for any of the festival events. Its success has filled Birmingham city centre with hundredsof performances, events and exhibitions and attracted 210,000 people in 2012.

The festival utilises all three main squares in Birmingham city centre; Centenary Square,Chamberlain Square and Victoria Square, with a wide variety of programming throughout alldays in these locations. The festival includes musicians, dancers, comedians, spoken wordartists and many more styles of performing art. The festival also showcases visual artiststhrough art installations, creative workshops and the opportunity for work to be sold.

There are numerous indoor venues that are programmed with a wide range of performancesthroughout the ArtsFest weekend, from public houses, to book shops and from coffee shops tomuseums.

ArtsFest celebrates the West Midland region’s astounding wealth of creative talent. It featuresperformances, workshops, exhibitions, installations, across the performing and visual artsgenres. It provides artists with the chance to showcase and celebrate their work and to raisetheir profile with the large numbers of visitors the festival attracts.

Visitors get to sample everything from traditional to cutting edge arts and entertainment, allfree of charge.

Product Benefits: Naming Rights Exclusivity• Company/product name in event title• Right to use the term ‘Official Sponsor’• Right to use the term ‘Official Supplier’• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor in the opening

ceremony on the main stage

Product Showcasing• Multi-site product sampling• Multi-site product demonstration through interactive experience• Multi-site trade stand at the event where appropriate


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On Site Branding • Multi-site opportunity for placement of barrier covers and pop-ups

(cost of production at additional cost to sponsor)• Video Screen Surrounds

(production and installation covered within the overall title sponsorship cost)• Branding on the main outdoor stage (The … Stage)

(production and installation covered within the overall title sponsorship cost)• Branding on all other venue stages (25 approx.)

(cost of production at additional cost to sponsor)

Advertising Opportunities • Your Company logo to be included in local press advertising /publications

in promoting the event • Full page advert in the printed programme and logo under sponsor’s section 25,000 copies

produced and distributed before the event distributed citywide.• Sponsor’s logo to appear on A4 posters advertising the event and will be distributed to

community venues, such as libraries• Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on 120 90x40 city poster boards pasted on sites

citywide for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the event• Sponsor will be credited on www.artsfest.org.uk website.(50,000 hits in 2011) • Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Regular compare talk-ups from our media partner during the event, denoting your



• Company logo on all volunteer clothing and information (150 volunteers work on the event)• Copy in the councils e-bulletin delivered to over 100,000 email addresses• Copy in the Councils FORWARD newspaper delivered to every house in Birmingham

Corporate Hospitality• Invitations to Hospitality at event• Invitations to the event• Hospitality packages/tickets to City events

Event DataCustomer ProfileData from Vector Research report for 2011 event.

Over a fifth (21.7%) of attendees were aged under 18, a slightly higher proportion compared to2010 (18.3%), and exactly the same proportion of 60 plus attendees as in 2010 (14.3%).Six in ten (60.0%) were from within the City of Birmingham. There was high representation from


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Walsall (8%), Solihull (8%) and indeed 34% in total from the other six metropolitan boroughs inthe conurbation. The remaining (6%) were from outside the West Midlands.

Cost of Sponsorship Package:

The above can be awarded as the title sponsorship package or as smaller sponsorshipPackages to be tailored to deliver sponsors objectives.


EID MelaSeptember

Birmingham Eid Mela Organised by the Birmingham City Council in partnership with MuslimOrganisations and the Muslim Community in Birmingham to celebrates the diversity of theMuslim Community in Birmingham through its culture, food, sport, art and entertainment. Nowin its 13th year in 2013, the festival is bigger and better than ever and there is something foreveryone to celebrate.

The Birmingham Eid Mela main aim is a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamicmonth of fasting.

This free annual event in Cannon Hill Park is truly inclusive open and diverse event, andpromises fun for the whole family. The programme includes: Stage performances of Local,National and International artists, funfair rides, a sports area hosting traditional sports activities,including cricket , weightlifting and kabaddi, an Asian bazaar with clothing, jewellery, music andcraft stalls and a whole host of catering units selling traditional Asian food.

Product Benefits: Naming Rights Exclusivity• Company/product name in event title• Right to use the term ‘Official Sponsor’• Right to use the term ‘Official Supplier’• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor in the opening

of the event




On Site Branding• Opportunity for placement of up to 30 barrier covers around the park.



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in promoting the event• Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on the front page and included in the main body of

at least 50,000 6pp leaflets distributed citywide• Sponsor’s logo to appear on A4 posters advertising the event and will be distributed to

community venues, such as libraries • Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on 120 90”x40” roadside poster boards citywide

for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the event • Sponsor will be credited on event related pages of the City Council website• Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Regular compare talk-ups from our media partner during the event, denoting your





Event DataCustomer Profile:30,000 visitors from across the region



Fireworks SpectacularNovember

Birmingham has a long track record of staging family-friendly fireworks events to the highestsafety standards, regularly attracting over 20,00 spectators. The City’s free November fireworksevent provides a prime spectacular pyrotechnics show fit for the 21st Century.

This popular event has been staged in Pype Hayes Park since 1961 and is one of the mostpopular annual Birmingham events. The visitor’s car park at the Fort Shopping Centre nearbyprovides an opportunity for extensive exposure.

Product Benefits: Naming Rights Exclusivity• Company/product name in event title• Right to use the term ‘Official Sponsor’


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• Right to use the term ‘Official Supplier’• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor

in the countdown to the fireworks display




On Site Branding• Opportunity for placement of up to 30 barrier covers around the park.


Branding at Fort Shopping Centre• Opportunity to place up to 6 branded banners at the Fort Shopping Centre, which connects

the Park and Ride operation for the event(Cost of production at additional cost to Sponsor)


in promoting the event • Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on the front page and included in the main body of

at least 50,000 6pp leaflets distributed citywide • Sponsor’s logo to appear on A4 posters advertising the event and will be distributed to

community venues, such as libraries • Sponsor’s name and logo will be printed on 120 90”x40” roadside poster boards citywide

for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the event• Sponsor will be credited on event related pages of the City Council website • Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Regular compare talk-ups from our media partner during the event, denoting your






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Event DataCustomer Profile:The following data is an average over 5 years.The largest group in attendance are 35-44 year olds. There are a very high proportion of youngchildren under 10 years. The largest proportion of attendees were from the £20,800-£31,199income bracket (22%), although there was also a high percentage of attendees from higherincome brackets (17.5% of attendees were from the 31,200-41,399 bracket and 13.5% werefrom the 52,000 and above bracket). The majority of attendees were from Birmingham,however there some visitors attend from outside the City. There is a growing increase ofattendees from outside the West Midlands.



Christmas Parade featuring Christmas Lights Switch On November

The Christmas spirit starts each year with this event and it is probably the most significantfamily-friendly annual event within our events calendar with over 40,000 attending. This is trulya family event with all the excitement you would expect from the imagination of youngchildren.

Leaving from Victoria Square, the Christmas Parade is synchronised with the grand switch-on of Christmas decorations across Birmingham city centre. The route makes its waythrough the heart of city centre via Colmore Row, Temple Row West, Temple Row, Bull Street,High Street and New Street before finishing in Victoria Square.

Each year the Christmas Parade has a specific theme but it is always crammed full of seasonalcharacters, from Snowmen, Jack Frosts, and stilt walking Christmas trees to roller skatingpuddings, baubles and Christmas crackers, all on hand to meet and greet the crowd after theparade.

Leading the first of a number of floats is a traditional nativity scene, closely followed by realcamels carrying the three wise men. New for 2012 were decorated floats showcasing theTwelve Days of Christmas in all there entirety. This is a new addition and will give thecommercial opportunity for sponsors to have a float in the parade to showcase products. It willalso give local theatres a chance to highlight their Christmas production. For a closer look atthe animals involved in the parade, families can visit the reindeer, camels and donkey penssituated in Chamberlain Square before and after the parade.

Product Benefits: Naming Rights Exclusivity• Company/product name in event title• Right to use the term ‘Official Sponsor’• Right to use the term ‘Official Supplier’• Opportunity for a representative of your company to join the Lord Mayor

in the countdown to the start of the parade• Floats in the parade


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On Site Branding• Opportunity for placement of barrier covers & branding round the route.


Advertising Opportunities• Your company logo to be included in local press advertising /publications

in promoting the event• Sponsor’s logo to appear on A4 posters advertising the event and will be distributed to

community venues, such as libraries • Sponsor will be credited on event related pages of the City Council Website • Hyperlink from your logo on this page, to your company’s website• Website promotional copy• Regular compare talk-ups from our Media Partner during the event, denoting your

companies’ title sponsorship and your company’s key messages• Opportunity for sponsor to donate consumer products/vouchers for promotional


• Customised floats in the parade • Copy in the councils e-bulletin delivered to over 100,000 email addresses• Copy in the Councils FORWARD newspaper delivered to every house in Birmingham

Corporate Hospitality• Invitations to Hospitality at event• Hospitality packages/tickets to City events

Customer Profile: As this event has under gone a transformation of content in the last few years, we do not havedetailed customer profile data.Majority are families with a large percentage of children under 16years.

Cost of Sponsorship Package: The above can be awarded as the title sponsorship package or as smaller sponsorshippackages to be tailored to deliver sponsors objectives. Individual floats can be entered at acost.



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Major Sporting Events

Birmingham is also a city which is passionate about sport. The city is an International City ofSport, a European City of Sport for All, has some of the finest sports facilities in Britain and hasstaged more International sports events than any other UK city.

The city has hosted world sporting events such as :-

• World Indoor Athletics• European Indoor Athletics• World Half Marathon Championships,• European Gymnastics Championships• World Wheelchair Basketball Championships• World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships • World BMX Championships • Olympic Training Camps for the Jamaican and the USA track and field team

There are three levels of sponsorship available for businesses to become involved in majorsporting events to promote their services/products. They are :–

1. International SponsorMajor governing bodies such as the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF),European Athletic Association (EAA) and Federation Internationale Gymnastique (FIG) offer asponsorship package for companies to have promotional rights at a series of events over say a3 year period organised by the International Governing Body, e.g. IAAF World Series ofAthletics.

Large multi-national companies like Coca Cola, Epson, Seiko, Longines, and Car Companiesusually take these opportunities.

It is normal for an International Governing Body to employ its own marketing organisation tosell such sponsorship opportunities.

Birmingham City Council can broker sponsorships with International Governing Bodies.

Rights for the company include:• 2/3 advertising boards in prime locations• Right to use official title of International Supplier/Sponsor for the event• Invitations to hospitality dinners• Access to hospitality packages for entertaining Corporate Clients• Advertising on all major promotional material and media back drops etc• Full page advertisement in programme and logo on composite page• Limited free tickets to events for Corporate Chairs and access to hospitality packages• Right to use brand of event on all their advertising e.g. Patron of World Indoor

Championships etc• Web site links• Trade stand site• Car parking passes• Use of event transport


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The packages tend to be relatively expensive and the proceeds go to the Governing Body.The Local Organsioning Committee benefits from Value In Kind for any product supplies by theSponsor e.g. computers, timing equipment, drinks for competitors etc.

2. National Sponsor/SupplierThere are usually recruited by the Local Organising Committee and relate to a single eventrather than a series. Companies tend to relate to the domestic/local market and thesponsorship package can be either in cash or goods and services supplied or a combination ofboth.

A typical package would cost in the range of £15k to £40k, depending on the size/length ofthe event and critically the level of live TV coverage.

In return the companies receive the following rights:• Up to 2 Advertising Boards in the venue (less as prime TV site than International Sponsors)• Advertising on all major promotional leaflets, programmes, building, posters (2/3 of size of

International Sponsor)• Limited free tickets to corporate Dinners at events• Access to hospitality packages for entertaining Corporate Clients• Ability to host a dinner and host a small introductory welcome at a reception• Right to use official title of National Supplier/Sponsor for the event

3. Local Sponsor/SupplierThese are aimed at local suppliers or companies based in the WM Region and the cost tendsto be less than the National Sponsor package.

Typical rights include:• Limited free tickets to events for corporate clients• Access to hospitality packages for entertaining• Acknowledgement of support in official programmes• Right to use official title of Local Supplier/Sponsor• Ability to purchase advertising on main arterial routes pennants/flags on lampposts, banners

of key buildings in the City Centre e.g. Central Library• Host a dinner/function associated with event• Right to organise promotional activities associated with the event• Displays/Trade stands at the arena (Concourse Area)• Goods/Services supplied can typically be clothing supplied e.g. House of Fraser• Vehicles/transportation• Photocopiers• Furniture and equipment

The above are subject to Birmingham being successful in biding to host the rights to stagemajor sporting events.


Contact Details

For more information please contact:

Garry PealBusiness Development Manager, Birmingham Sport & Events

Back Straight StandAlexander StadiumWalsall RoadBirmingham B42 2LR

Tel: 0121 675 2799Mobile: 07766925323

Email: [email protected]


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