Dinosaur has created a magical campaign for Manchester this Christmas in a year which hopes to be the city's best and brightest yet.
The campaign Manchester's Magical Christmas has been co-ordinated by Cityco, the city centre management company, who have joined forces with Manchester City Council, Marketing Manchester and Piccadilly Partnership and a range of private sector partners, to reaffirm Manchester as the visitors' number one choice for shopping and festivities for 2010.
The campaign gift-wraps a fantastic package of festive fun, showcasing the full range of food, drink and shopping activities in the city centre. This year key events include a new family funfair with Big Top bar in Piccadilly Gardens, the Christmas Markets, the Ice Rink at Spinningfields, Santa's grotto in the Manchester Arndale; plus the city's biggest ever Christmas lighting display.
The campaign has been carried across a wide range of media channels, a large proportion of which have been provided in-kind by participating partners. This includes: outdoor - advertising on 96, 48 and 6-sheet outdoor sites within a 30 minute drive-time of the city centre, lamp-post pendants and city centre digital screens. Posters will also displayed on platforms at train stations across the regional rail network and in carriages and on Metrolink trams, buses and taxis. Also half a million leaflets will be distributed door-to-door to selected postcodes and key visitor attractions in Greater Manchester.
"We're lucky to work on some really exciting briefs with Cityco and this year Christmas has been the icing on the cake," said Mark Beaumont, Creative Director and founder of Dinosaur. "For 2010 their strategy has been much more strongly events focused, which has steered the creative in a different direction. A kaleidoscope of colour, it has been designed to generate a buzz about all the fun and festivities taking place in Manchester this Christmas."
"With Dinosaur's help we have delivered a visually stunning, high profile Christmas marketing campaign," commented Vaughan Allen, Cityco's Chief Executive. "Working closely with a wide range of public and private sector partners we have pooled resources to create a cost effective, value for money solution that captures the spirit of Christmas and will help drive footfall for our city centre businesses. Although we know we have a very strong retail offer, and an unrivalled range of festive activities, we can never be complacent, particularly in these challenging times. Putting Manchester city centre firmly in the forefront of consumers minds will keep the local economy buoyant."