Ben Sherman and Visitbritain join forces to present a global initiative promoting Britain – ‘The Great British Getaway’ 

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world will soon be inspired to visit Britain on the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll weekend thanks to a new partnership with one of the country’s most iconic fashion brands. With more than half 1 of potential visitors to Britain very likely to shop for fashion, souvenirs and British products during their trip, tourism bosses expect the Great British Getaway campaign to draw even more attention to Britain’s appeals.

National tourism agency VisitBritain and British brand Ben Sherman have joined forces to promote Ben Sherman’s global marketing initiative ‘The Great British Getaway’. The six-week campaign from 6 October 2008 centres around a prize draw to win the ultimate British Getaway, a weekend that encapsulates the life of a British Rock icon, think Kate Moss and Jamie Hince and the kind of lifestyle one can only dream of. The prize will include a glamorous night in London staying at Browns Hotel with dinner at Claridges and then on for a rock’n’roll VIP night out at Proud in Camden. A shopping spree at Ben Sherman Carnaby Street is also included and then onto countryside at luxury resort Bovey Castle for some quintessential British sports.

Entry will be online at a dedicated website www.thegreatbritishgetaway.net where Ben Sherman store customers will be able to download a free music track as part of the ‘Soundtrack to the Getaway’. There will be links to The VisitBritain and Enjoy England sites as well as branding throughout. The campaign will be promoted in-store, via window displays which will feature a DVD highlighting the prize weekend. Running concurrently is an in-store gift with purchase of quirky luggage labels, one featuring the union jack in the Ben Sherman brand colours of black and orange.

A network of 25 Ben Sherman stores in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and the USA will promote the campaign using visitbritain.com and UK stores in London, Birmingham, Reading, Manchester and Lakeside will use enjoyengland.com.

Alison McKay, VisitBritain’s brand partnerships manager, says: “Ben Sherman is an iconic brand that people around the world aspire to own. High recognition of the brand, their desired reputation among British musicians and singers, and their use of the Union Jack make them a perfect marketing partner. With many people discovering Britain through its fashion, music or film, this promotion will help us reach new audiences and encourage even more people to consider a trip to Britain in 2008 and beyond.”

Carlos Singh, head of global marketing at Ben Sherman, says: “Ben Sherman is a global brand and chose VisitBritain as partner because of its fantastic global reach. The campaign prize draw is inspired by a quintessential rock’n’roll British lifestyle and therefore it makes perfect sense for us to join forces and together promote Britain, the home of Ben Sherman, as the hip and cutting edge island it is.”

In return, the Ben Sherman brand and its network of stores will be promoted to up to nine million consumers interested in British destinations, culture, fashion, music and more through newsletters to VisitBritain’s global database.

VisitBritain offers a wide range of opportunities for British brands to promote themselves to consumers in the UK and 41 countries worldwide through it family of 52 websites in 23 languages. Together they are visited by around 20 million unique users every year and 7.5 million people have requested information about Britain, its destinations, experiences, culture, brands and products through regular e-newsletters. VisitBritain’s activity generates 8110 articles about Britain and Britishness around the world worth £1.4 billion and hosts over 1,000 journalists each year.