Starship's big sponsors warn name compromise still not enough

By REBECCA WALSH health reporter

Some of Starship Children's Hospital's biggest sponsors are questioning the latest name change.

In the newest twist in the naming row, they say the focus on Auckland in the new compromise name could make it harder for them to continue supporting the hospital.

Just days after the Herald revealed that the name Starship had been dropped, the Auckland District Health Board yesterday came out with a compromise to call it Starship Children's Department of Auckland City Hospital.

But Barbara Chapman, head of retail banking and marketing for key sponsor ASB Bank, said the focus on Auckland City would make it harder to promote nationally.

"While we are pleased to see the name Starship retained, there will be some constraints on our ability to support fundraising activity given what looks like a tightening of the hospital's focus to Auckland City.

"We believe there will be a greater resistance to our efforts to generate any customer interest outside Auckland, and even possibly in the wider Auckland community, if the focus is exclusively on Auckland City."

The fundraising group, the Starship Foundation, which includes Xena star Lucy Lawless on its board, has five main corporate sponsors - ASB Bank, Mercury Energy, The Warehouse, Sky City and Stagecoach, each contributing "six-figure" sponsorships.

Russell Turnbull, marketing manager for Stagecoach New Zealand, told the Herald the company was unhappy at the lack of consultation and believed the name change diminished the value of the sponsorship deal.

Sky City's manager of media relations, Delwyn Lewer, said it would continue to support Starship but there was now the possibility of confusion in the public mind about the facility.