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Valletta 2018 – European Capital of Culture: Corporate Sponsorship

Each year, the European Union features a designated European Capital of Culture with a goal of bringing Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values. The designation is for a period of one calendar year during which time, the host city presents a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension.

Being designated a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for the successful city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city's image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale. Designation as the European City of Culture significantly maximizes social and economic benefits, especially when the events are embedded as a part of a long–term culture-based development strategy of the city and the surrounding region.

More than 40 cities have been designated so far since the launch of the program. Cities bid to be designated as the European City of Culture many years in advance. One, two or three cities may be designated in any year. In 2018, two cities were awarded the right to be designated European Capitals of Culture: Valletta, Malta, and Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

The European Union provides seed money for establishing the host city’s program, but the City’s organizing committees are responsible for raising significant incremental funds through corporate sponsorships and other means.

I visited Malta to attend the “Valletta 2018” festival and participated in many of the cultural events and programs. I reviewed the sponsorship partnerships that had been established and spoke with several members of the organizing committee known as the Valletta 2018 Foundation. The person responsible for corporate partnerships is Angelle Xuereb.

Xuereb knew that sourcing corporate partners in Malta would be a challenge. The population of Valletta is only 6,500 people, and the entire country of Malta has only 425,000 people. Corporate presence in the country is limited. Xuereb focused on pursuing partners that were able to provide the required sponsorship fee but also establish innovative sponsorship activation programs. She said, “We launched our sponsorship partnership campaign in 2015 and began presenting our sponsorship sales kits to prospects at that time. But most companies wanted to “wait and see” what would actually happen in Valletta and were hesitant to commit to a partnership until the event was almost upon us. As we got closer to 2018, our standardized sponsorship sales kits went by the wayside, and we began creating customized packages that targeted the very specific needs of targeted companies. Taking this approach, we were able to secure three key sponsors: Bank of Valletta, Coca-Cola, and Bavaria Holland Beer plus a number of smaller, secondary sponsors".

Bank of Valletta provided a fee of 150,000 Euros and launched an integrated activation campaign including hospitality lounges at each of the Festival venues; displays in their 50 branches where calendars of events were distributed; social media campaigns and promotions designed to raise the profile of the Festival and offer customer rewards for the Bank’s customers; and an advertising campaign promoting the Festival, involving billboards and print.

Coca-Cola provided a sponsorship fee of 150,000 Euros, plus an additional 150,000 Euros in value-in-kind. They conducted national retail promotions involving in-store displays and shelf-talkers; held a national competition for the design of souvenir commemorative bottles; and partnered with Waste Serve (a local waste management company) to ensure that all Coca-Cola waste at Valletta 2018 events was efficiently collected and recycled.

Bavaria beer provided the 150,000 Euros fee and created 20 million customized cans. Wine sponsor Marsovin Wines created limited edition wines with a customized label and box. Both sponsors provided complimentary product for official Valletta 2018 events.

The Festival has already been deemed a tremendous success by government agencies, tourism partners, Maltese citizens, event attendees, and corporate partners alike. In fact, the Valletta 2018 Foundation is currently working with government agencies with the hope of establishing the Festival as an ongoing annual program. This would allow Malta to capitalize on the momentum