EH
-It
MAY 25TH MAY
McGmtys 504 Union St.
World of Heineken 42 - summer 2010
Caledonian Brewery has been brewing beer in the
heart of Edinburgh for 140 years
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest
arts festival in the world and takes place
for three weeks every August. Its appeal
is enormous, and the numbers attest to
its phenomenal success, which just keeps
growing. Last year's event broke all previous
records, with more than 1.85 million tickets
sold, according to the Fringe Society. There
were 2,098 different shows giving a total of
34,265 performances in 265 venues.
For the Fringe organisers, the chance
to team up with a local sponsor was a
decisive factor. "There were a number of
multinationals interested in sponsorship
with the Fringe but Caledonian got the deal.
The Fringe organisers were very keen to
work with a famous local brewer and were
excited by our plans to use the sponsorship,"
says Stephen Crawley, Managing Director of
Fieineken's Caledonian Brewing Company.
Likewise, sponsoring the Fringe is a great
opportunity for Caledonian and Deuchars
IPA. "We have always said that we'd like to
be to Edinburgh what Guinness is to Dublin.
The biggest event in Edinburgh is the festival
and the biggest part of the festival is the
Fringe. We don't think you could pick a better
local event for us to be involved in than the
Fringe," says Stephen.
HITTING THE SPOT
Of course, sponsorship deals are not signed
solely to connect to the neighbours. It's also
a numbers game. For Deuchars IPA, the
festival's numbers add up to an interesting
commercial equation. "Forty-four percent
of the visitors come from England, 62% of
the visitors are male, and the average age of
the drinker is 29. For the audience that we're
targeting, the Fringe really hits the spot and
the fact that it's on our doorstep just makes it
all the better," Stephen explains.
Considering the gigantic scale of
the festival, the proportion of the
audience from the UK is rather
surprising. Cameron Mather,
Marketing Director at Caledonian
Brewery, explains: "The Fringe
is internationally famous but the
majority of people actually come
from Scotland, the north-east of
England and then elsewhere in
the UK. The mix of geography and
consumer is ideal for the Deuchars
IPA brand."
It's one thing to identify the
Fringe audience as an interesting
target group, but where to go
from there? How will Deuchars
IPA make its mark at this year's
event? "It's all about awareness.
There are over 280 venues, and
about 180 are licensed and we
will brand as many as possible.
We will be asking people to
sample the beer as much as
possible," says Stephen. Yet
the branding strategy goes
far beyond straightforward
marketing such as Deuchars IPA glasses
and venues.
Deuchars IPA is making full use of the
latest technology. "We've got an iPhone
application. Whenever it's loaded, the
The biggest prize in UK
comedy comes to Aberdeen
■tan Des McLean and the reg.onal finalists at
Tuesday 25th May, from 7pm
laugh at takethemic.net
•fcket» available now: aoa.
0844 481 8898 takethemic net
ask behind the bar
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