Illuminations Business Opportunities

Blackpool Illuminations Marketing Opportunities

“The Illuminations are an integral part of Blackpool’s high kicking glamour and giddy glitz…”

Celebrity designer and Lights ambassador Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

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WELCOME TO BLACKPOOL Blackpool needs little introduction as a mainstream tourist destination

MORE THAN JUST LIGHT As summer draws to a close, the resort is bathed in a sea of light

FASCINATING FACTS Things you didn’t know about the famous Lights

SWITCH-ON NIGHT The most high-profile event in the UK tourism calendar

WORKING WITH BUSINESS Brand association – the benefit to businesses

MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES How to showcase your business or product

1 ‌the home of the UK’s biggest cluster of tourist attractions outside London.

Blackpool needs little introduction as a mainstream tourist destination.

Loved and visited by millions, it occupies a unique place in the hearts and minds of the British people.

It has achieved that position through an enduring relationship and strong emotional bond with generations of visitors, who have remained loyal to the resort offer in the face of intensifying competition from coastal and urban locations, here and abroad.

Today, Blackpool attracts more than 13m visitors a year, offering a heady mix of extraordinary heritage coupled with contemporary attractions.

The reinvention of long-standing attractions for a modern-day audience is one of the principal reasons why Blackpool has maintained its status as the UK’s most popular seaside destination.

And nowhere is that formula more apparent than in what has been described as the greatest free light show on earth – Blackpool Illuminations.

2 MORE THAN JUST LIGHT Blackpool Illuminations is the UK’s most famous light show – and one of the most iconic sights in British culture.

As summer draws to a close and with many seaside destinations preparing to hibernate for the winter, Blackpool is bathed in a sea of light…..

With more than a million lights stretching along six miles of the famous Promenade, it is little wonder that generation after generation make the annual trip to Blackpool to celebrate this Great British event.

Holidaymakers’ first experience of the Illuminations was back in 1879 when just eight arc lamps lit up the seafront in what was then described as “artificial sunshine”.

The underlying principle might be the same, but the sheer scale, style and professionalism of this fantastic free show make it something very different for a 21st century audience!

It now comprises miles of festoons, features and tableaux, attracting upwards of three million visitors a year with its enduring popularity showing no sign of abating.

3 FASCINATING FACTS There is nowhere quite like Blackpool when the Lights come on‌

The sheer scale of the Illuminations has to be seen to be believed. The number of lights that make up the display; the extraordinary volume of visitors who visit the attraction each year; the “who’s who” list of celebrity Switch-On stars down the years. And so the facts go on…

• Blackpool Illuminations cost over £2m to stage each year • The mountain of lighting equipment is worth over £10m • The millions of people who visit the Illuminations each year spend in excess of £230m • The display stretches for six miles, from Starr Gate in the south to Bispham in the north • The Lights start with the world-famous “Switch-On” event and run for a minimum of 66 nights • The ultra-modern Lightworks building in Blackpool is home to design, production and storage • TV star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is a creative curator for the Illuminations • Electricity consumption has fallen by two thirds in 10 years due to use of LED technology

4 SWITCH-ON NIGHT It is the night when Blackpool moves from summer into autumn with the biggest outdoor party of the year.

The Illuminations Switch-On event, staged on the Friday aer the August Bank Holiday, has become one of the most high-profile events in the UK tourism calendar.

The first official Switch-On ceremony was staged in 1934. Since then, there has been a myriad of celebrity Switch-On guests including Jayne Mansfield, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Terry Wogan, Kermit the Frog, Joanna Lumley, Shirley Bassey, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Top Gear, David Tennant, Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.

The Switch-On event is now held on the Tower Festival Headland, a spectacular outdoor arena capable of housing 20,000 spectators in the shadow of Blackpool’s famous Tower. The event takes the form of a star-studded concert, culminating in the Lights Switch-On. Over the years, the event has attracted TV, radio and other media coverage across the globe. In 2014, an astonishing 77,000 people applied to attend the Switch-On event which featured Little Mix, George Ezra, Texas, Union J and Neon Jungle in concert, before the UK’s favourite comedian, Peter Kay, pulled the famous switch.

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WORKING WITH BUSINESS From a business logo up in lights to naming rights of an entire section, from a bespoke feature to a personalised tableau - the opportunities are endless.

These are just some of the national and international brands that have been associated with Blackpool Illuminations down the years: • KRS • McDonald’s • Nickelodeon • Norweb • Nestlé • Sony Entertainments

THE BENEFITS Involvement in Blackpool Illuminations offers the most unique way to showcase your business or product.

These are just some of the benefits that can accrue: • Exposure to over three million visitors over 66 nights • Association with one of the most iconic free tourist events in the UK • Involvement in the Switch-On celebrations

• Beaverbrooks the Jewellers

• Coverage across a wide range of media

• BBC Worldwide

• Extensive PR and social media activity via the VisitBlackpool website and associated publications

• HIT Entertainment • Graham & Brown • eviivo • Disney

Marketing Opportunities There are various ways in which businesses can get their name in lights and displayed in front of some three million visitors as part of the iconic Blackpool Illuminations show. Involvement in the Illuminations is a unique business opportunity – there is no other attraction quite like this:

• Premium Opportunity: Headline Sponsorship This gives a company the opportunity to become the name behind the Lights.

Headline sponsorship will deliver you multiple points of content within the six miles of the show, as well as embedding your company brand within marketing and promotional campaigns associated with the Illuminations.

• Premium Opportunity: Sponsorship of Switch-On The Illuminations Switch-On celebration is the biggest night in Blackpool’s events calendar. Played out in front of an audience of more than 20,000 people in front of Blackpool Tower, the Switch-On ceremony receives millions of pounds worth of local, national and international PR coverage.

There are various opportunities for businesses to become involved in Switch-On through sponsorship, advertising and product placement.

• Premium Opportunity: Digital Mapping From 2015, a new state-of-the-art digital mapping feature will be introduced. During the nightly shows, the front of the iconic Tower building will be transformed by stunning 3D technology. There are new opportunities for businesses to be associated through sponsorship, advertising and merchandising.

Other Opportunities: • Associate Sponsorship Associated naming opportunities clearly identified throughout the display. Company name widely featured in marketing and promotional campaigns.

• Roadway sections from Starr Gate to Bispham Sponsorship of existing sections including the spectacular Bling display. Participating companies will be featured in all marketing and promotional literature for that season’s show.

Sponsorship of bespoke section, tailor-made to your requirements. With the expertise of designer Laurence LlewelynBowen and the Illuminations design team at hand, we can work with your marketing team to produce an illuminated feature as well as a unique marketing opportunity for your business.

• Tableau Sections Individual items either located on the Cliffs section to the North or South Pier areas of the promenade.

Logolights: Enjoy seeing your business’ name up in Lights. Logolights were introduced in 2014 for giving businesses large and small

the chance to have their logo displayed in the Illuminations at an easily affordable price.

Light Box: Bespoke individual commercial opportunity from 2.5mx2.5m square. A light box is a simple but effective illuminated feature situated among the tableaux or road section of the display, offering an excellent opportunity to get your message across in a very cost-effective way.

Tableau Sponsor: An opportunity to brand an existing Illuminations tableau. There are varying sized tableaux available, some over 30m long therefore offering numerous branding opportunities.

• Arrival Point Kiosks: Opportunities to brand the kiosks, leaflet distribution and sampling at key points of contact for the public. Situated at both arrival/exit points to the south and north of Blackpool Promenade, the arrival points are a focal point of attraction for visitors starting and finishing their journey through the Illuminations.

To discuss your business requirements in more detail, please contact Jo Ashton on 01253-478240, email: jo@visitblackpool.com or go to visitblackpool.com/illuminations Prices for all of the above are available on application.