joburg pride lures big sponsors

By BTM Reporter

SOUTH  AFRICA – June 20, 2008: Themed Love not Hate, Joburg Pride announced today that it has secured two substantial sponsorships for this year’s gay pride festival.

Douglas Green Bellingham’s (DGB) Flex Bender spirit brand will be the event’s primary sponsor, while the SABC’s national hit music radio station 5FM has come on board the second time as Joburg Pride’s official media partner.

Joburg Pride Sponsorship Coordinator, Fulvio de Stefanis says: “The Flex Bender deal represents a considerable sponsorship. Although DGB was a sponsor of the 2007 festival, a commitment of this size indicates their increased confidence in the newly revitalised Pride brand.”

“The Joburg Gay Pride Festival is an event that directly appeals to a large section of our target market for Flex Bender,” asserted Sipho Mdluli, who is DGB’s marketing director.

He was pleased that through the sponsorship they hope to build relationship with the gay community in South Africa.

As the official Joburg Pride media partner, 5FM, recently voted ‘Coolest Radio Station’ by Sunday Times/ Generation Next Awards 2008 and reaching 1.5 million of between 20 and 30 year old cosmopolitan South Africans, undertook to provide almost R1m’s worth of airtime and exposure, both in the run-up to the 2008 festival as well as during Pride week.

“The station will work closely with Joburg Pride in selecting the bands and artists for the Parade Day, and 5FM’s DJs will host the on-stage events as they did last year – taking Pride to the Power Of 5,” explains Aisha Mohamed, the station’s marketing manager.

As primary sponsor, Flex Bender’s logo will be on all 2008 Joburg Pride marketing materials, and the festival will be promoted as being presented by 5FM and Flex Bender.

“These deals are major coups for Joburg Pride”, comments Pride Chair Zak Mbhele. “For us to get this kind of corporate buy-in and funding shows great faith in Joburg Pride. It also reflects a growing willingness to reach out to the ‘pink’ market”, he vaunted.

The 2008 Joburg Pride Festival, which is organised by a not-for-profit company of volunteer board members, will take place from 29 September to 4 October this year. The traditional Pride Parade will be held on Saturday 4 October at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg.

The Parade will be followed by a concert in the park that will feature leading musical artists.

This year’s Joburg Pride aims to highlight the recent spate of hate crimes against members of the gay community, the black lesbians in South Africa in particular such as Eudy Simelane, Zoliswa Nkonyana, Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Masooa who were all brutally murdered because of their sexual orientation.