Christmas in Birmingham is hoping to be ‘unbelievable’ this year, with the launch of a new advertising campaign to boost the city’s image as a retail destination.
The campaign, which will include 30-second and 10-second television commercials as well as national and outdoor advertising, is aimed at increasing visitor numbers in the city during the Christmas shopping period.
It also aims to highlight seasonal entertainments including the Frankfurt Christmas Market and the T-Mobile Street Ice skating rink in Centenary Square.
The centrepiece of the campaign, which is backed by Birmingham City Centre Partnership and Marketing Birmingham, is the stylised angel-wing B logo.
The logo, along with the other creative ideas, visuals and production were developed by Moseley-based advertising agency KLM.
The contract is the first major campaign that the company, which employs 75 people, has run in Birmingham.
Jon Derry, of KLM said: "I believe Birmingham’s creative communications should always project the City’s style, confidence and international stature.
"This is the first time I can remember seeing a campaign for the city which is fully integrated – not only across key media like TV, press and outdoor media – but across lots of different city groups.
"KLM’s campaign leaves cliched Christmas icons to our provincial competitors - Birmingham at Christmas is big, enticing, stylish – Unbelievable!"
Marketing Birmingham said it had chosen KLM because their
'unbelievable' campaign was "bold, contemporary and highly impactful" and fitted in with the objective of presenting Birmingham as a stylish shopping destination.
Chief executive Neil Rami said: "Co-ordinating Birmingham’s 2006 Christmas advertising campaign is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the city’s world-class leisure, shopping and entertainment offer.
"We’ll be doing this in a number of ways, from TV commercials, which will run in between programmes including Coronation Street and This Morning to giant poster sites at key gateways to the city and out towards Worcester, Stratford and Solihull.
"Promotional literature will be distributed through newspapers. There will also be a 60 second commercial promoting the city’s Christmas events on Central Trains for a month from 27th November."
Kevin Breese, chair of Birmingham City Centre Partnership, said it was important that the city ran a dedicated Christmas campaign.
He said: "Birmingham’s shopping is now officially the best in the UK after London’s West End and with more than 1,000 shops within a 20 minute walk, the city is a real magnet for people from all over the region.
"Our recent Style Birmingham campaign with its international-standard fashion show and glossy magazine has played a huge part in changing perceptions about the city.
"For retailers in the city, large and small, it is important that the Christmas campaign follows the same sophisticated and progressive approach, helping to reinforce our new image."
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