World Pride sponsorship deal becomes the new crown jewel for Coles
Coles Group this year launched its inaugural Sydney Mardi Gras parade float- the climax of a glittering debut to pride celebrations. But is there more to the supermarket giant’s latest big sponsorship deal? Mumbrella’s Kalila Welch speaks to head of events and sponsorships, Carmel Horvath.
As one of the largest, and most visible companies in the Australian market, Coles Group’s commitment to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community is one, that unlike some pride-themed activations in recent months, has the opportunity to make a real and tangible difference for queer-identifying Australians.
Touching thousands of regional and metro communities across more than 2,500 Coles Group retail stores, and employing upwards of 120,000 staff across Australia, the business is one of few large bricks and mortar retailers to officially (and loudly) broadcast its support for the LGBTQIA+ community, despite the increasing corporatisation of pride-related celebrations in recent years.
The supermarket group has not been shy in spruiking its ‘everyday low prices’ across a number of major and minor sponsorships that rolls out each year at the national, state, and community level.
Coles have done such an exceptional job of their World Pride partnership. I’ve heard on radio, seen on Tik-Tok, in-store and on TV. I couldn’t believe a major supermarket – with hundreds of regional stores- was going all-in on Pride and not just a token effort. I was blown away and really impressed with some of the subtleties – particularly using young in-store ‘allies’ from regional stores on Tik Tok.
I’ve switched from Woolies Metro to Coles based purely on their ‘all-in’ approach.