Carling tightens musical ties with £3m venues deal

TANIA MASON, Marketing, Thursday, 19 December 2002, 12:00am,

Carling has taken another huge step in its mission to 'own' live music with a £3m, three-year deal to rename some of the UK's top venues.

The deal will see four of the country's largest venues - the Brixton Academy, Birmingham Academy, Bristol Academy and the soon-to-open Glasgow Academy - all rebranded as the Carling Academy, suffixed with their location.

A fifth venue, the Shepherd's Bush Empire, will not be renamed, as Carling decided its heritage was too strong to risk.

Carling will have pouring rights at all venues, and is now working with the venues' owner, the McKenzie Group, to devise a design template for interiors, signage and marketing communications.

The deal tightens the Coors-owned lager brand's strong hold on live music events in the UK, as it already has tie-ups with Clear Channel and Mean Fiddler.

The McKenzie Group's shareholders are three of the UK's biggest band promoters: SJM, Metropolis Music and MCD.

This article was first published on Marketing