EDf Energy’s Team Green Britain, which lies at the forefront of the utility company’s sponsorship programme, is again backing Britain Bike Week.
A national celebration of cycling, 2011’s Bike Week runs from 18 to 26 June and its objective is to encourage more than half a million people to join in event associated programmes. The core aim is to persuade people, from families and schools, to commuters and those who have never cycled before, to rethink their everyday journeys and switch to cycling as the most convenient way to get around.
Team Green Britain Bike Week is an annual cycling promotional event and aims to show how cycling can easily be part of everyday life by making ‘everyday cycling for everyone’. Demonstrating the social, health and environmental benefits of cycling, the week aims to get people to give cycling a go all over the UK, whether this be for fun, as a means of getting around to the local shops, school, the library or just to visit friends.
The 2011 campaign, a product of the event organisers, the cycling industry, sponsors and agency Limelight aimed to grow what is already the UK’s biggest mass participation cycling event. It is one of a growing number of initiatives aimed to encourage cycling in Britain. Others include SkyRide.
Centered around the Bike Week website, which included an online registration tool for event organisers, event map and an information base for participants, the campaign aimed to raise awareness and facilitate involvement.
The event has clear synergies with EDF’s umbrella Team Green Britain campaign which stretches from vanilla brand, product and service advertising through to its London 22012 Olympic sponsorship activation. The key messages are ‘economic and ecological’
In terms of results, the campaign has seen more than 1 million participants to date and boasts yearly increases of around 20%.
Victoria Pendleton, World and Olympic champion cyclist and Team Green Britain Bike Week ambassador says: ‘With the nation gearing up for London 2012 I would encourage everyone to get involved with Team Green Britain Bike Week 2011. This year we’re aiming for Britain’s Biggest Bike Fix –showing people it’s easier than they think to get their bike back on the road and get cycling. By choosing to cycle down to the shops, to school or for fun, you can save money, get fit and reduce your carbon footprint all at the same time. There are loads of bikes gathering dust in garden sheds and garages, now is the time to get them out, get them fixed and get cycling.’
Comment:
EDF replaced former sponsor Nokia, which backed the event back in 2008 with the title ‘Bike Week Guided by Nokia’. Through that sponsorship Nokia promoted its sat-nav N-Series mobiles (with GPS tracking, pre-loaded maps and voice-guided navigation).
The sponsorship switch from a brand using the property to demonstrate technology to one pushing a combined ecology/economy message is an interesting evolution to Bike Week. But both brands also activated with supporting messages about fun and health. Does this create a lack of true clarity about the event benefits?
Links:
http://www.teamgreenbritain.org/
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