Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall demonstrate commitment to local area through football sponsorship
Stoke-on-Trent Theatres, part of the Ambassador Theatre Group have celebrated their commitment to the local area by once more partnering with the Stoke City FC Associate Programme. The theatre group holds a special place within the community and has joined forces with the Football Club, in order to reach thousands of football fans on a regular basis. As an Associate Partner, the Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall see their company logo broadcast throughout every Stoke home game at the bet365 Stadium.
Ambassador Theatre Group has run both the Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall on behalf of the Stoke-on-Trent City Council for the past two decades, and the venues remain integral to the makeup of the city centre. Having been a central attraction for many years, the business helps provide footfall for many local bars and restaurants within the area. Head of Marketing and Communications Victoria Munton-Davies outlined why Stoke-on-Theatres chose to become associated with Stoke City FC:
“Stoke-on-Trent is quite a small community. We’re not as big as Manchester and Birmingham. One of our biggest goals has been to increase our reach outside of the theatre. We want to reach out to as many businesses and people as possible and the Associate Partnership is one of the biggest and best ways for us to do that!
“It’s an exciting opportunity for us. It allows us to advertise the venue itself, outside of promoting specific shows. We are a major business within Stoke-on-Trent. We’re aware that we’re a commercial business but it’s also important that we’re part of the community as well.”
The Stoke City FC Associate Programme stems from a partnership between Eleven Sports Media and the Football Club. As an Associate Partner, Stoke-on-Trent Theatres see their branding displayed on pitch-facing LED boards, as well as appearing on StadiumTV and StatTV screens, located within the stadium’s concourses. The business is also provided with a selection of matchday hospitality tickets and has been invited to exclusive Partner events, which have included a stadium tour and Q&A evenings with former players.
In addition, the theatres feature on StatTracker social media content that is shared to Stoke City’s official channels. This approach enables the Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall to reach the Football Club’s worldwide audience, raising brand awareness beyond the fans who are attending the games. The element of increased brand exposure was a major factor in Stoke-on-Theatres becoming involved in football sponsorship, Victoria Munton-Davies explained:
“We’ve gained quite a lot of TV exposure through Stoke City’s games being shown on TV. It’s been a way of reaching a TV audience at a relatively low cost, compared with standard TV advertising, and we’ve been able to reach people nationwide. We’re always looking out for our branding.
“Even just from the TV and social media exposure that we’ve experienced, the costs have been more than outweighed by the benefits we’ve seen. The hospitality aspect is also important for us, in terms of networking. We connect with a lot of businesses in the area. To have the opportunity to take businesses to games helps us reach out to those that might have slipped through the net.”
