Page 26 - Packaging News Mar-Apr 2020

26 DESIGN |
www.packagingnews.com.au | March-April 2020
Brand in hand
Events and brand partnerships go hand in hand, and the world’s largest LGBTQI+ night-time festival, Mardi Gras, is no exception. PKN speaks with Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger on how brands big and small can impact on events.
Lion joins in on the Mardi Gras celebrations with specialised packaging for its partnership with Brooklyn Brewery’s launch of its Brooklyn Stonewall beer.
BELOW: Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger says there is more engagement from brands now than ever before for the festival.
THERE is no doubting the impact brand partnerships can have on an event. The involvement can extend into many forms, whether it be campaigns, prod- ucts or commemorative collector’s items, where such brand associations have the potential to be recalled by consumers
and event attendees. For Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras festival, the support from part- ners has the potential to go beyond the two- week event.
The theme for this year’s Mardi Gras cel- ebrations focuses in on ‘what matters’ for the LGBTQI+ community, and is presented as both question and a statement, Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger told PKN.
“We wanted our community to come back to us and voice what matters to them so we can realign, refocus and make sure we are delivering on these expectations,” Kruger says.
2020 marks 42 years of Sydney’s Mardi Gras, the biggest LGBTQI+ night-time festi- val in the world, and one of the few parades that has more spectators than participants. Up to 400,000 people gather around Sydney’s Oxford and Flinders streets for the parade, giving Mardi Gras’s 51 partners and stakeholders – such as ANZ, L’Oreal, Yak Brewing, Woolworths Group, and Absolut Vodka – the opportunity to reach communities on an even greater scale.
“Mardi Gras is a globally renowned festi- val, and there is a lot of dedicated focus on how we curate the festival, who we are and how our community, partners and agencies can demonstrate their message in each of the floats,” Kruger says. “All the organisa- tions that partner with us at Mardi Gras have the opportunity to use this platform to drive their key message. These
messages should align and
form part of their diversity and
inclusion programs; it is a win-
win situation to both our part-
ners and Mardi Gras.”
Examples such as Lion’s partnership with Brooklyn Brewery’s launch of its Brook- lyn Stonewall beer, as well as Absolut Vodka’s Absolut Rain- bow, show companies joining
in on the celebrations with their own product packag- ing during Mardi Gras. Kruger says such brand associations to the event can drive particular mes- sages home, as well as dem- onstrating to consumers how these companies are championing these messages.
“It’s a brand building exercise to show consumers how these companies are proud supporters of the community and support- ing the diversity agenda,” he says. “It’s a similar vein to how proceeds from prod- ucts are giving back to development pro- grams, and how brands build trust.”
“There’s more engagement from brands than ever before, but there is an increasing expectation from Mardi Gras to push back on the responsibility of these corporates to demonstrate they are LGBTQI+ focussed, and that they support equal rights and diversity,” he says.
Kruger says for brands to partner with Mardi Gras in the future, the organisation’s stakeholder and partnership team are always on the lookout for new, innovative ways to get the message out there.
“We’re excited to be collaborating with brands overall, there are tonnes of opportu- nities that could be rolled out and exciting activations that can be explored around any aspect of the festival,” Kruger says.
“The festival attracts 100,000 people to Fair Day and 400,000 people to the parade lining Oxford Street to see 200 floats on the night. This a great opportunity for food and beverage companies to activate product launches to a captive audience. Energy
drinks, alcohol suppliers, and beer companies are also now moving into this space.
“A focus for us moving for- ward would be able to offer sustainable options through- out the three-week period. This would mean there’s an opportunity for companies with a sustainable ethos to be integrated as part of Mardi Gras.” ■
ABSOLUT RAINBOW CELEBRATES MARDI GRAS
Absolut Vodka has brought back its Absolut Rainbow bottle and a new love letters campaign to share stories of the LGBTQI+ community and their allies, as part of the 2020 Mardi Gras event.
The Absolut Rainbow bottle is a limited edition run during the Mardi Gras season each year, and was made in collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the designer of the original flag.
The 2020 edition is screen printed on the glass and uses brush strokes for each colour of the rainbow flag across the bottle.
Absolut is aiming to gather one of the largest collections of positive messages in Australia through its Absolut
Love Letters campaign and
share these stories publicly
across the country during
the Sydney Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras 2020.
Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger said: “We’re excited to welcome Absolut back as partner for our festival this year.”
“Absolut has a long-standing legacy of supporting the LGBTQI+ community across the world, and we are proud to partner with them as they Make Love Louder this year.”