Event of the year! The launch of the City of Goal

A city at sunrise, mist drifting through the streets, the buildings are unfamiliar shapes, seemingly from the future. It seems deserted, somewhat mystical but this is no ordinary city, this is Soccer-Laduma's City of Goal with 2.2 million inhabitants.

Brainstorm recently conceptualised, planned and managed a campaign involving information packs and two events for Soccer-Laduma to celebrate their 11th birthday and introduce the advertising industry to the fact that Soccer-Laduma is the largest weekly male-read sports publication in South Africa. “Out of this fact the City of Goal concept was born,” says Founding Member and Creative Director William Gets. “2.2 million readers can be seen as a population, rather than just a readership!”

The inhabitants are connected by a common passion for the beautiful game of soccer and are hugely underestimated by advertisers. They are made up of a broad cross-section of the population with considerable buying power and are not unlike the mix of people you would find in any city.

“Brainstorm created the entire city with computer graphics, showing a layout that looks a lot like a soccer field,” says Shannon Quinton, Studio Manager and Head Designer. “Every street, tree and building was arranged in a grid to show a thriving city with clean streets and lots of parks. The buildings themselves were individually created in ‘uber-stylish' forms.”

What better way to launch such a great concept than to host two great parties. The Cape Town event was held at The Old Biscuit Mill while the JHB event was held at Monte Casino.

At the events, Brainstorm represented this concept by constructing 16 four-meter high scale models of the buildings which served as the stage backdrop for the night's entertainment. With sound, stage and lighting by AV Direct, the audience was dazzled by the spectacular scenes created on stage. The point of all this spectacular decor was to introduce the Soccer-Laduma City of Goal to the advertising industry and express without doubt how big Soccer-Laduma is.

The MC for the night was John Vlismas who kept the crowd in stitches with his own blend of South African humour. Chix with Stix kicked off the live entertainment with an amazing live drumming session followed by a world-class Soccer Trick exhibition by Chris Njokwana. The festivities continued late into the night and even included a gold birthday cake complete with a trophy-presenting soccer fan concealed inside. On the third “Hooray!” after singing happy birthday, the soccer fan leaped out of the cake, blew his vuvuzela with great gusto and presented a trophy to Peter du Toit, the CEO of Soccer-Laduma. Confetti cannons literally added the final bang to the moment. Goldfish finished the night off with an amazing performance.

What's the point of investing time and money in communications if it does not have impact? Perceptions of the Soccer-Laduma newspaper were changed through a celebration rather than the usual sales calls and presentations. Brainstorm takes pride in mixing it up by communicating the message to your market in a different, innovative and, without question, a memorable manner.

For more info on the events go to www.cityofgoal.com
Or visit www.brainstorm.co.za