For Fido, it’s all downhill from here.
The Rogers-owned telco brand is returning as title music sponsor of the 2016 World Ski & Snowboard Festival, with the Fido Outdoor Concert Series. This is the second of a three-year relationship with the event, which is billed as North America’s largest annual winter sports and music festival.
Fido and its music-streaming partner Spotify identified the most searched and listened to Canadian artists from the Whistler and Vancouver area to create the line-up for the concert series, which features A Tribe Called Red, BadBadNotGood, Bear Mountain, Modern Space and SkiiTour.
The sponsorship deal includes naming rights to the Fido Main Stage at Whistler’s Skiers Plaza, as well as a concert series featuring DJ duo SkiiTour taking place March 31 in Calgary and April 1 in Vancouver.
“Music has always been a big part of the festival, so it’s a natural way to highlight our partnership with Spotify,” said Florent Bayle-Labouré, vice-president of brand at Fido, of the sponsorship. “The interactive nature of the event also allows us to create really fun ways to engage with festivalgoers.”
Fido will also activate against the sponsorship with the Fido Doghouse at the Longhorn Saloon, situated at the bottom of Whistler Mountain. The space will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. throughout the festival and will host parties, prizing and giveaways.
Bayle-Labouré said sponsorship continued to play a key role in Fido’s overall marketing strategy. “We are all about connecting our customers to events and experiences they care about,” he said. “Beyond just [the World Ski & Snowboard Festival] it’s important to us that all of our sponsorships are meaningful experience and true value adds for our customers.”
Other sponsors for the 10-day event – Official motto: “Party in April. Sleep in May” – include Monster Energy (which is also sponsoring the 2016 X Games in Oslo), Western Canada beer brand Kokanee, Olympus and cider brand Hopping Mad.
Launched in 1996, the World Ski & Snowboard Festival is estimated to contribute $37.7 million in economic activity to the B.C. economy, with visitor spending and operational expenditure contributing more than $15.7 million into the Whistler economy.
A 2006 economic impact assessment of the event found more than 28,000 hotel room nights were sold during the festival, with 86% directly driven by the event.
Marketing and MarketingMag.ca is also owned by Rogers.
