Sponsorship Opportunities

A Unique Opportunity to Partner with one of Britain's most Iconic Brands

Introduction to Mersey Ferries

Mersey Ferries are an essential part of Liverpool’s rich and diverse history. Long before Gerry and the Pacemakers’ famous song hit the charts, the ferries have sailed along the River Mersey connecting Wirral and Liverpool throughout 800 years of history.

Over 610,000 passenger journeys were made during 2019 and as the top paid-for visitor attraction in the region, taking the Ferry Cross the Mersey is a key tourism experience for visitors to the city and a relaxing leisure cruise for residents of the Liverpool City Region.

Our 50-minute River Explorer sightseeing cruises sail all year round and depart from Liverpool Gerry Marsden terminal, Liverpool calling at Wirral terminals, Seacombe and Woodside, during the trip. Guided by expert commentary throughout the cruise, there is no better way to see the stunning Liverpool waterfront and skyline than from the deck of a Mersey Ferry.

Mersey Ferries offer passengers a range of services including:

• A daily commuter service operating between Liverpool and Wirral
• Daily River Explorer Cruises offering sightseeing opportunities
• 20 day-trip cruises along the Manchester Ship Canal
• 20 Evening Cruises on the Mersey, including themed music cruises
• 10 day-trip sightseeing cruises into Liverpool Bay

We also work with a number of key attraction partners, including The Beatles Story, City Explorer Open Top Bus Tour and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, increasing our brand exposure throughout the region and offering visitors packaged sightseeing experiences.

The Opportunity

Your collaboration with Mersey Ferries will give you an opportunity to increase your brand’s visibility, raise your profile in association with a trusted and world-famous heritage brand and connect with a wide demographic of passengers including commuters, international visitors, families, travel groups, business visitors and local residents.

A tailored and bespoke sponsorship package can be created to suit your budget and sponsorship objectives. Advertising and promotional opportunities could include:

• Posters and leaflets in terminals and on vessels
• Opportunities for product launches and promotional events on the ferry
• Branding opportunities on the vessels and at terminals e.g. funnel wrap
• Exposure on Mersey Ferries website and social media channels
• Welcome message on recorded commentary
• Presence on welcome screens at Pier Head, Liverpool

Facts and Figures

Expose your brand to the millions of visitors that come to the Liverpool waterfront each year. In 2019 Liverpool ranked the 5th most popular destination in the UK for overseas visitors, the 6th most popular for domestic trips (2018) and 7th for business trips (2018).

• 460,579 leisure journeys in 2019
• 689,780 visits to merseyferries.co.uk during 2019
• 2,110,353 page views of merseyferries.co.uk during 2019
• Mersey Ferries has over 29,000 likes on Facebook
• Current Twitter followers - over 8,200
• Instagram followers - over 2,900
• Over 18,000 e-newsletter subscribers
• 610,419 passenger journeys in 2019.

Don't take our word for it, the Mersey Ferries brand has been praised in a number of ways:

• Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Award - 2020
• Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards - Finalist Large Visitor Attraction of The Year 2020
• Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards - Finalist Entertainment Venue of The Year 2020

We regularly receive glowing customer feedback that rates the Mersey Ferry as a ‘must do’ when visiting the city.

Three example reviews from 2020:

‘Ferry trip across the Mersey’
As part of my bucket list this did not fail to amaze me. Although we were not allowed to do the full trip due to the current COVID regulations the sites from the ferry were amazing!
September 2020

‘Iconic Ferry’
Caught the ferry to have a close up look at the ‘Prince of Wales’ which was docked at the Pier Head. Ship was impressive but the highlight was a beautiful Liverpool skyline. The very informative ferry commentary was great and provided lots of useful facts about the waterfront on both sides of the Mersey.
March 2020

‘Blustery but great experience’
It was wet and windy and a little choppy at times, but our Mersey Ferry trip was an experience not to be missed. The ferry staff were friendly and helpful. A very enjoyable ‘must do’ whilst visiting Liverpool .
February 2020

PR Coverage

In 2019/2020, our PR included local, regional and national press along with digital and broadcast coverage. Highlights included The Guardian, BT Sport, CNN as well as being featured on the BBC programme ‘Our Coast’ and hosting filming for the Sky Atlantic drama ‘Tin Star’.

• 158 pieces of regional coverage (online and print)
• 51 pieces of national coverage (online and print)
• 47 pieces of social media coverage
• £370,482 Equivalent Advertising Value

Marketing

In 2019 marketing exposure included:

• Radio
• Press
• Online/social media
• Outdoor
• Leaflet distribution
• Travel Trade shows and exhibitions
• New website launched February 2020

Other high value marketing exposure for Mersey Ferries included being part of Marketing Liverpool destination campaigns.

Previous Partnerships

Mersey Ferries has previously partnered with the following brands:

• Appreciate Group PLC partnered with Mersey Ferries for a branding and event based sponsorship during January and February 2020
• New Balance sports brand as part of a new training shoe launch during 2018
• Mersey Ferries featured as a Liverpool icon in the Coca Cola/Premier League advertisement in 2018
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport as part of a short sponsorship collaboration to promote routes from the airport during 2017/2018

Examples of collaboration:

‘The partnership has been a success from our perspective, the campaigns around the three weeks of joy really helped to amplify our presence in Liverpool and our organisational purpose. It has been a real pleasure working with the Mersey Ferries team, who made the whole process simple to engage with and helped bring our ideas to life which ensured we were focused around the activity of creating joy in different ways.

The flexibility around the different activities each week as well as our Appreciate Group branded collateral at the landing stage and on-board the Dazzle really helped land the message. The team at the Pier Head and on board are a credit to Mersey Ferries, their enthusiasm and general joyful disposition ticked all the boxes for us in terms of collaboration.’

Quote from Gill Taylor, Chief Transformation Officer at Appreciate Group

If you are interested in discussing sponsorship opportunities further please contact:
Jonathan Lamkin- Commercial Development Manager
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0151 330 1036
Mobile: 07710 919 144