Visit Birmingham - The Big Blues Curry
Background
Hatch was appointed in September 2009 by Marketing Birmingham, the city’s destination marketing agency, to carry out a sponsorship maximisation PR campaign for Visit Birmingham’s sponsorship of Birmingham City Football Club.
The goal was to use the partnership to highlight the city’s destination offer to home and away football fans and UK wide potential visitors.
Objectives
In the face of a competitive sports news environment, Hatch’s task was to deliver an idea which would engage the fans and the media, ensuring cut through.
Deliver three standout national media hits for the campaign promoting Birmingham as a great sport and entertainment destination.
Align visitbirmingham.com with Birmingham City FC.
Showcase the visitbirmingham.com brand and engage directly with football fans, generating awareness of The City of Birmingham.
Strategy and Tactics
Hatch identified National Curry Week as a platform from which to launch a specific Birmingham City FC campaign. The concept was to create a very special Blues (BCFC) themed curry, designed to highlight Birmingham’s heritage/offering and showcase Birmingham as the perfect weekend destination, combining top class football and the nation’s best Indian restaurants. The initiative would then be launched ahead of National Curry Week, via sampling at St Andrews at the Fulham home fixture on Saturday 21st November.
Event Launch of the Blues Curry-Off
With the help of award-winning Birmingham restaurant Lasan, two Birmingham FC players (James McFadden and Frank Queudrue) went head to head to produce their very own curries for Blues fans, at the Birmingham College of Food.
The two creations were then judged by a panel of local representatives, including journalists, local chefs and BCFC Vice President, Mike Wiseman. Key media in attendance included Soccer AM, Soccer Saturday, Sunday Mirror, Premier League World, The People, BBC West Midlands and ITV Central.
Broadcast media, in particular, ran fantastic branded pieces, with the curry eaten live on air by football legend Jeff Stelling and his pundits on Soccer Saturday, as well as Soccer AM presenters Max Rushdon and Helen Chamberlin, encouraging Blues fans to head to the pub serving the curry on the day of the game.
Pre Event
To drive interest and engagement, fans were given the opportunity to vote for the perfect name for the specially made curry via visitbirmingham.com. The competition received over 250 entries, with local Blues fan Ian Treadwell choosing the name, The Blue Queudrue. The name was revealed in the week leading up the game via media relations, social media and club channels.
Event
Over 1,000 samples were given away to hungry Blues fans at the Royal George pub next to the ground on the 21st November. The Daily Star ran a full page the morning of the game and BBC Radio West Midlands carried out a live feed from the pub. Announcements on the PA system, along with the match-day programme and web coverage, ensured fans were informed of the activity. The Blue Queudrue was also served to around 2,000 hospitality guests at the ground.
Post Event
Before the game, all the attendees in the press box were given the curry as their pre-match meal. In match reports the next day, visitbirmingham.com had a large presence within a number of national newspapers, including the News of the World, Sunday Express, Sunday Telegraph and The People.
Outcome
Over a three week period stand out media coverage on the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, Sky Sports News and Premier League World.
The media coverage delivered an opportunity to see/hear figure of 15.8m above target.
The campaign generated an equivalent media value of £509,220 and a 3864% return on campaign investment
Media coverage delivered verbal and visual mentions for the Visit Birmingham brand and a call to action with reference to Visit Birmingham website hits to the website spiked over the weekend of the event
The campaign engaged directly with hundreds of fans, who voted to name the curry and drove a positive association with BCFC. The campaign directly engaged with 25,000 plus attendees on match day, promoted Visit Birmingham talk-ability and tasting of The Blue Queudrue was carried out with both home and away fans.
