Awards First Impressions a Worldwide Event

As they say, first impressions always count, and if there is someone in the business who knows about that, it is Worldwide Sports, a marketing consultancy that has focusessed on branding and signage management, brand activation and sponsorship graphic design since 1993.

For the second year in a row, Worldwide Sports has been responsible for making that first impression for the SPAR gsport Awards, and what a job the company does of dressing a well-loved grand old lady that is the Wanderers Club, into a classy experience that lingers from the moment it starts, till long after it ends.

“Worldwide Sports is committed to developing and delivering innovative, world class branding solutions across all major sporting codes that are effective and impactful,” says Worldwide Sports Special Projects Director, Jacqui Purchase. “In addition to this, we will further our involvement in the sports industry in strategically-identified opportunities.

“We strive to maintain a profitable business delivering high quality services to all our clients while maintaining an ethos of teamwork, commitment, fun and resilience,” continues Purchase.

And with a theme of ‘Out of this world!’, Purchase and her dedicated team at Worldwide Sports set about making the 2013 SPAR gsport Awards the best ever.

“The gsport Awards offers an awards ceremony unlike any other in South Africa,” notes Purchase. “Most awards ceremonies are male-dominated, with females in the industry fitting into this lifestyle.

“The gsport awards offer a unique event where the focus is on sport, but also on femiminity, and the celebration and success thereof.”

With its big-league sporting pedigree easily identified in its supply of perimeter signage for the South African Sports Awards, the Premier Soccer League, the African Cup of Nations 2013, Cricket South Africa domestic and international tours and Nelson Mandela Day 2013, Worldwide Sport has its finger of the pulse of sport in South Africa.

Purchase elaborates: “The event is the opportunity for consumers to physically touch and experience a brand, and a current trend is to create an experience and an environment through the use of branding, that leaves the consumer with a positivie memory of the brand and ultimately leaves them wanting more!”

What are the benefits of properly branding an event? “The ultimate aim is to place branding in strategic positions, to gain maximum exposure for the brand within the limited budget,” explains Purchase.

“At Worldwide, we have managed to find a suitable balance, whereby companies and brands utilise our knowledge to visually gain exposure of their logos, and effectively create an upper class ‘look ‘n feel’ of the product or service being advertised.”

On her branding advice to someone planning an event? “Make sure to hire suppliers that offer the BEST service in their specified field, whether it be signage, sound and lighting, etc. And then, trust them to know that they are going to meet your expectations. Another suggestion: ‘keep it simple’, leave the guests wanting more once, the event has been completed.”