One of the Harbour Bridge Mataraki light displays.
Photo: RNZ / Joanna MacKenzie
Could one of Auckland’s most iconic landmarks soon have a corporate sponsor attached?
Auckland Council has announced plans to turn the Harbour Bridge into what it’s calling a “storytelling canvas”.
It’s looking for expressions of interest from a company to help pay for it, in exchange for branding and naming rights.
While the bridge itself won’t be renamed, the sponsor’s name could be attached to the proposed programme – similar to what is currently being done with Vector Lights.
Speaking to RNZ’s Nights, professor of marketing analytics at Massey University Bodo Lang said the decision to not allow a logo on the bridge was a “good choice” from the councils’ perspective – but may create a problem for potential sponsors.
“One of the big things is that this is a loved landmark,” he explained, “so suddenly a company seemingly owning that by plastering a big corporate logo on it could potentially lead to some backlash”.
While it was a good opportunity, the council had to be clear about how many events there were and what exactly would be named, Lang said.
“Ultimately companies don’t do this because they’re nice citizens, they do it because they want to achieve certain commercial goals.
“So if council restricts the naming rights too much, then it’s difficult for sponsors to achieve those goals.”
Lang also said the council might need to be careful about picking a sponsor that was not controversial while also being relevant to the lighting display.
“The key for the sponsor really is that it’s a brand that’s commonly bought.
“So if you’re a niche provider of some sort of product… it makes no sense if Gucci sponsors the lighting of the Harbour Bridge.”
Photo: Supplied / Chris Weissenborn
In response to questions from RNZ, Auckland Council said no decisions had been made so far on who the partner could be or what the future programme would look like.
The current sponsorship which began in 2017 with Vector Lights, was approaching the end of its term.
The council was now testing the next potential opportunities to “celebrate the bridge” through “storytelling and activations”, Auckland Council’s director of group strategy Max Hardy said.
“We have put out a fairly open-ended request for ideas from potential partners on purpose, to allow innovation and creativity to shine through the applications.”
As owner of the Auckland Harbour Bridge asset, NZTA has always been a project partner, Hardy said.
“The current partnership agreement includes a Licence to Occupy for the existing lights installation, which is licensed by NZTA, and standard NZTA safety restrictions that apply.”
The council’s expression of interest document asked potential partners to explain how they would approach naming and brand rights in a transparent and publicly acceptable way.
Council highlighted some of their priorities in a partner including iwi collaboration and representation of te ao Māori, innovation, creativity, sustainability and enhancing Auckland’s reputation.
“This is what the Auckland public expects of Auckland Council organisations, and of partner organisations like NZTA, and therefore we deem these to be measures of public acceptability.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.