Lifestyle: Warwickshire mount massive ad campaign to herald the arrival of McCullum

WARWICKSHIRE County Cricket Club is pulling out all the stops to highlight the arrival at Edgbaston of big-hitting New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.

Following the conclusion of the New Zealand tour of England, McCullum has now joined the Birmingham Bears and will play in seven of the forthcoming NatWest T20 Blast games, starting with tonight’s (Friday) games against the Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford.

To help the Kiwi skipper settle in, WCCC has launched a new ‘Welcome to Birmingham Brendon’ campaign, utilising some of the biggest outdoor media sites across the region, including a giant hoarding next to the Bescot Stadium, close to junction 9 of the M6 (see below).

McCullum is one of the top draws in world cricket and his services are in strong demand around the globe due to his fast scoring. In addition to steering his country to the final of this year’s World Cup, the batsman is also one of the stars of the Indian Premier League where he opens the batting for the Chennai Super Kings franchise.

Thanks to Warwickshire’s official partnership with Elonex, the ‘Welcome to Birmingham Brendon’ campaign will also be seen by commuters travelling in and out of the city on Elonex Outdoor Media’s A38 Aston Expressway site. The club has also partnered with Mercia Outdoor to take eight large static display sites in Birmingham.
 
Gareth Roberts, commercial director at Warwickshire CCC, said: “Brendon is one of the biggest signings that the club has made in our history and we’re getting a huge interest from supporters about the three matches that he will play at Edgbaston.  
 
“Within a two-week period before Brendon’s first game at Edgbaston on July 3, this new campaign with Elonex and Mercia Outdoor gives us the potential to achieve 51 million views on these leading media sites.
 
“We’re the reigning champions and the Bears have made a great start to this year’s NatWest T20 Blast. Hopefully the arrival of Brendon and even more support from our fans will inspire the team to another quarter final place.”
 
McCullum will play three NatWest T20 Blast matches at Edgbaston as part of his seven-match deal with the Bears. These will be against Derbyshire Falcons on Friday July 3, Lancashire Lightning on Friday July 17 and Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Wednesday July 22.
 
Commenting on the campaign, Nick Smith, CEO at Elonex said: “There’s certainly huge excitement about one of the best T20 batsmen in the world joining the Birmingham Bears, and how better to announce his arrival than with a high impact outdoor campaign that will be seen by millions.”