Martin FullardThe organisers of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have confirmed which local businesses the Games will be working with to deliver the event, as part of £300m worth of contracts.
Businesses include full-service agency DRPG, which will deliver supporting events alongside TBA Group and Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces (OPUS).
In what is a welcome boost for the region’s marketing and creative services sector, other West Midlands-based businesses include Rainbow Productions, which will manage mascot design and production, McCann Central will take care of design and creative services, and BMG Research will handle consumer insights and polling.
“The Games could be the perfect opportunity to bring the city and the country together, for an uplifting celebration of sport and culture.”
Additionally, Gung Ho, Grayling and Pitch Marketing Group have been contracted for PR support, and Goodform hired for customer relationship management.
The businesses contracted to help run the games have made commitments that include creating apprenticeship roles, up-skilling local people on creative disciplines, school outreach programmes, and collaboration with local universities. This underlines the importance of events as an economic and social driver across the UK’s regions.
John Crabtree, chairman of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, noted that despite the “uniquely challenging times” for business, they remain focused on ensuring that the event brings benefits to Birmingham and the region.
He added: “Adding these businesses to our marketing and creative services framework is just the start and our procurement drive continues at full speed. Backing local business is just one of the ways the Games can help to benefit the local economy and local people. Our cross-partner Legacy and Benefits committee will approve and oversee the implementation of a full programme of activity over the next few months.”
In addition to the agencies that have been added to the list of partners, Birmingham-based MediaCom has also been appointed by Birmingham 2022, to undertake media planning services from the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Communication Services Framework.
The successful suppliers will work on a large variety of projects, including the Queen’s Baton Relay, the art and cultural programme, community engagement, volunteer recruitment and the launch of ticket sales.
Josie Stevens, chief marketing and communications officer for Birmingham 2022, said: “Birmingham is a city well-used to successfully staging major international events. The 2022 Commonwealth Games were awarded in extraordinary circumstances in 2017 and we have less than half the time of previous host cities to raise awareness and engage a hugely diverse population.
“The current global pandemic also means that we’ll be operating in a very different environment; something we will need to carefully consider. The Games could be the perfect opportunity to bring the city and the country together, for an uplifting celebration of sport and culture.”
“We are rising to these challenges with some bold thinking and we’ve chosen agency partners who are creatively brave, fleet-of-foot in delivery and hugely collaborative. Their passion for this city, the region and Games is clear.”
The businesses announced will be part of a long list of Birmingham 2022’s regional suppliers which by the end of the summer of 2022, will have benefited from an estimated £300m worth of Games contracts.
Working with chambers of commerce and other organisations in Birmingham and beyond, Birmingham 2022 has already presented to more than 2,000 businesses and nearly 7,000 receive notifications about Games procurement opportunities via Find It In Birmingham and the business portal created especially for the Games.