The organisers of the Hi-Tec Men’s and Women’s World Squash
Championships – Manchester 2008 have appointed Capitalize, True
North and Reading Room to respectively implement its PR and
communications, visual identity and website. The three
agencies were selected by an event stakeholder group comprising
title sponsor Hi-Tec, Manchester City Council, England Squash, UK
Sport, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Dunlop Sport,
Manchester Evening News and online sport retailer
Sportdiscount.com.
Capitalize has been briefed to activate an
international PR and communications campaign as well as managing an
on-site Press Office during the event, which will take place at the
world renowned National Squash Centre at Sportcity in Manchester
from 11-19 October 2008. In addition Capitalize aims to raise
the profile of the sport both in the UK and overseas, using the
UK’s own stable of world-class players as event ambassadors.
Capitalize will draw on its extensive experience activating similar
campaigns for flagship international sport events as well as
working each year to promote the National Squash Championships in
Manchester.
Manchester-based design consultancy True North
has played a key design role in the Championships having created
the distinctive logo and visual identity that will help to give the
event global stature. The award-winning consultancy –
currently ranked as one of the UK’s top 3 agencies for visual
identity by Design Week – was also responsible for
designing the identity for the UCI Track Cycling Championships
which took place in Manchester earlier this year.
Digital communications agency Reading Room
will create an interactive event website for the international
squash community, including easily accessible public information
about the event, and a media access area that will contain news,
results, event standings and high-resolution photography that will
be live both in the build-up to and during the nine-day
event. The international, award-winning agency, has
significant experience in sports-related websites, for example
having recently created an online platform for the Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games Bid. Reading Room is a finalist in the
2007 Impact Awards Digital Agency of the Year Awards.
Event Director Paul Walters commented on the
appointments, “We are delighted to have such high calibre
agencies on board to activate the PR, website and design for the
Championships. Squash is undergoing a massive popularity
surge in this country at the moment and the chance for the UK to
host a World Championship event is fantastic for the sport.
We are very much looking forward to working with Capitalize, True
North and Reading Room and maximising our marketing campaign with
their expertise.”
The Hi-Tec Men’s and Women’s World Squash
Championships – Manchester 2008 is expected to attract the world’s
top sixty-four players in the Men’s Championship and the leading
thirty-two players in the Women’s Championship, with representation
from forty countries. Manchester will be the first city in
the UK to host a combined Men’s and Women’s World Squash
Championship.
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For further information about the Hi-Tec Men’s
and Women’s World Squash Championships – Manchester 2008
(http://www.worldsquash2008.com/)
please contact the event Press Office:
Daniel Krendel – dkrendel@capitalize.co.uk or
020 7940 1733 / 020 7940 1700
Jonathon Bates – jbates@capitalize.co.uk or 020
7940 1708 / 020 7940 1700
For more information on Capitalize please
contact:
Rupert Hains – rhains@capitalize.co.uk or 020
7940 1731 / 020 7940 1700
http://www.capitalize.co.uk/
For more information about True North please
contact:
Martin Carr – mailto:mcarr@thisistruenorth.co.uk
or 0161 909 5454
http://www.thisistruenorth.co.uk/
For more information on Reading Room please
contact:
Kirstie Buchanan – k.buchanan@readingroom.com
or 0161 603 2000
http://www.readingroom.com/