Virgin Media painted several of its broadband cabinets gold to celebrate the achievements of ParalympicsGB at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The ParalympicsGB partner brand, which launched its #WeAreHere campaign at the start of the Games to leverage its tie-up and encourage the country to cheer on the team, painted cabinets gold in all four UK capital cities, plus at Loughborough (a key training base for many Paralympians) and at Stoke Mandeville (the birthplace of the Paralympics).
After the team returned to the UK with a stunning 124 medals – placing second in the overall medals table – Virgin Media marked the achievements of several of its ambassador athletes by painting some of its on-street cabinets gold.
The brand held a special event to mark the occasion in Stoke Mandeville with ParalympicsGB athletes Jody Cundy, Phoebe Paterson Pine, Stef Reid, Ali Jawad and Tom Hamer. The five athletes unveiled the gold cabinet after helping to apply the final touches of gold paint themselves. The cabinet in the town is close to Stoke Mandeville Stadium: which is regarded as the home of wheelchair sport and the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.
The activation was amplified through PR and via the sponsor’s social media channels.
The ParalympicsGB athletes also held a special PE lesson at nearby Booker Park school: to give children tips on how to become Paralympians of the future and to share their experiences of the Games in Tokyo.
“As proud partners of ParalympicsGB, we’ve been blown away by the team’s incredible medal-winning success in Tokyo” said Director of Brand and Marketing at Virgin Media O2 Simon Groves. “As well as supporting our Paralympians with our #WeAreHere campaign, we’ve given our cabinets the golden touch to mark the team’s amazing achievement at the Games. Our cabinets are placed at the heart of communities across the UK and we hope that residents in London join us in welcoming ParalympicsGB home.”
Chief Executive of ParalympicsGB Mike Sharrock added: “ParalympicsGB rewrote the record books at Tokyo 2020 with countless incredible performances to inspire and unite the nation. Painting these cabinets gold is a fitting tribute to the excellence and resilience of the athletes who competed in Tokyo and a wonderful way for the British public to have a lasting reminder of what they achieved. Tokyo 2020 was the most complex Games we have ever been involved in but also one that demonstrated the incredible impact these athletes can have in challenging perceptions of disability and proving that they truly are Impossible to Ignore.”
Comment:
This not only follow on from the brand’s Paralympic #WeAreHere campaign (created with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment), but this activation tactic also echoes that first introduced by the Royal Mail which painted the nearest post box to the home of a GB London 2012 Olympic champion gold.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.