Hitting it off with the Bears

When we got an email from a group of Birmingham-based Bears back in February about doing some creative work, we thought “Who are these jokers muscling in on our turf?”

Well, it turns out, Warwickshire County Cricket Club, home of The Bears, weren’t actually looking to take us down. (And they were sticking to their own kind of perfectly-mown turf.) Instead, the lovely team at Edgbaston Cricket Ground were looking for creative help to promote their summer of T20 Blast cricket – and we were only too happy to help.

With plenty of cricket fans in the office, including super-fan Jenny ‘Wickets’ Ray, we were delighted to get stuck into some sports marketing.

The result? Bears, squared. Combining the power of our creative concepting and their in-house team to put together a campaign that knocks it out of the park.

The idea? Well, did we mention knocking it out of the park? This campaign is a tongue-in-cheek public safety campaign about encouraging Birmingham to get ready for big-hitting blast cricket and ‘Prepare for the Bears’.

The best way to prepare for the high-flying cricket balls is, of course, to get out the bubblewrap. So we’ve wrapped up plenty of things: from grounds staff to security guards, locally parked cars to famous local landmarks.

The campaign truly has taken over Birmingham with high-impact OOH, radio, bus sides, trams, and of course, social media, ensuring The Bears can’t be missed. This is sports marketing built to go big.

We even managed to break a prime OOH slot, The Screen @ New Street (sorry Ocean Outdoor!) alongside a range of attention-grabbing organic stunts that gained traction on social media and caught the eye of some local press.

From ‘smashing’ a window at Sixes Social Cricket to bubble-wrapping a car right outside The Grand Hotel, each activation played into the theme of Preparing for the Bears – or rather, forgetting to do so.

Oh, and, haven’t you heard? Edgbaston Stadium has been renamed to “EdgBLASTon” for the duration of this T20 Blast season (and even longer) an announcement delivered across social media through playful ‘BREAKING NEWS’ headlines and email comms from Warwickshire County Cricket Club themselves.

This bold move gained the world-renowned ground some ownership of the Blast and earned praise (albeit with a hint of envy) from senior leadership of other grounds and even members of the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board). 

This Blast season runs from 31 May to 13 July, with nine match days in total including five Bears Men and Women double-headers, new for 2025.

Tickets for all Men’s and Women’s Vitality Blast T20 cricket games can be purchased at blast.edgbaston.com. Prices start from only £15 for adults and £5 for U16s.