City marketers hope to benefit from Bolt ‘bigging up’ Brum
BIRMINGHAM marketing chiefs are hoping to capitalise on Usain Bolt’s complimentary comments about Birmingham in front of a TV audience in the many millions.
Bolt thanked the people of the city and the University of Birmingham after winning the second of his London 2012 games sprint event gold medals in the 200m final and again after his country’s 4x100m relay victory.
Jamaica’s Olympic team was based at the University of Birmingham before the games and took part in a number of training sessions in front of the public as well as attending other events.
Team-mates Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, who won silver and bronze respectively, also praised the city.
After the 200m win, Bolt said: “The Birmingham people, when we were at camp, they were extremely great to us. They showed us a lot of love, and thank you guys – you guys helped us come out here and do our best.”
Now Marketing Birmingham is hoping to capitalise on the interest the remarks will have generated worldwide.
The city is celebrating Bolt’s win in a number of ways – including Balti belt restaurant Imran’s cooking up a jerk chicken ‘Bolti’, the creation of a 50-inch Jamaican patty by Cleone Foods and visitor centre staff wearing ‘Big up Birmingham’ t-shirts (see picture below).
The name check was watched by around 11m people in the UK alone and went viral on Twitter, with Birmingham trending nationally.
Ian Taylor, commercial director at Marketing Birmingham – which operates Visit Birmingham, the city’s leisure tourism programme – said: “The amazing comments about Birmingham from Bolt, Blake and Weir have already made a huge impact in raising the profile of the city, and are credit to everyone who supported the team during their stay here.
“Their praise has created headlines and led to Birmingham trending on Twitter, demonstrating that the impact of the Games is having a really positive effect on the rest of the UK beyond London.
“We’re working hard to ensure that Birmingham makes the most of the athletes’ remarks.
“Birmingham already welcomes 32.8m visitors each year, and this boost to the city’s reputation for sporting excellence and facilities must create a legacy for years to come.”
