The inaugural Set4Sport Roadshow, supported by RBS took place on the 10^th August in South Shields, South Tyneside.

The brainchild of Judy Murray, Set4Sport was launched in June, with the help of Jamie and Andy Murray, and showcases games that Judy played with both of her sons when she was looking to improve their coordination and agility, whilst also providing some essential parent / child bonding opportunities.

With the British summer living up to its reputation, we had to put our wet weather plan into action and move from South Marine Park, to a covered area on the Seafront.

Whilst a smaller turnout was therefore expected, we were pleased to see the hardcore British Holiday-goers still come to the beach, no matter what the weather!  Immediately upon opening, we had families queuing to take part in ‘Double Trouble’, ‘Race ‘n’ Chase’ and ‘Jumping the River’, to name but a few of the activities. Our brilliantly enthusiastic coaches took the families through the games, all of which could easily be created at home with items such as cereal boxes, baked bean tins, cuddly toys, cushions and jumpers.

Judy led her team of coaches throughout the day and was never far from the action with a ball or hula hoop in hand, except for a quick radio interview or to chat to families as to how they could incorporate these games into their home life.

We are looking forward to the next event in Halifax on the 16^th August where we will be at Eureka! The National Children’s Museum.

By Samantha Pillage on August 17th, 2011

Tags: Andy Murray, Brand marketing, Celebrity, community, Event management service, Experiential marketing, grass roots sport, Judy Murray, Sponsorship

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Having worked on a number of different Chivas Brothers projects in the last year, it was exciting to receive a brief from a brand that was new to us, Royal Salute.

Last weekend we managed the guest programme for the launch of Royal Salute, ‘Tribute to Honour’ in London.

Royal Salute treated guests to a weekend of luxury that you would only expect from the world’s leading luxury Scotch whisky. This included accommodation at Claridge’s, an informal dinner at Koffmann’s on the Friday; lunch at The Ritz the following day, and dinner at One Mayfair that evening.

Following the lunch on Saturday, guests attended Garrard for the unveiling of a very rare and special bottle of Royal Salute - so rare that only one man in the world has tasted it: creator and Master Blender, Colin Scott. This bottle is known as ‘Tribute to Honour’.

‘Tribute to Honour’ has been created to pay homage to the oldest crown jewels of the British Isles: The Honours of Scotland.  It is presented in the spectacular bejewelled bottle, dressed by Garrard in flawless diamonds and shimmering gold. As the world’s oldest jeweller to royalty, Garrard embellished the Royal Salute Tribute to Honour bottle with 413 flawless white and black diamonds.

Each bottle of Royal Salute ‘Tribute to Honour’ is individually numbered and priced at £122,000 (US$200,000) with only 21 in existence!

The pièce de résistance of the weekend took place on Sunday, as guests braced themselves for the wind and rain to head to Ascot to watch Prince Harry compete against his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, in the Sentebale Polo Cup, sponsored by Royal Salute. Before you ask, there was sadly no Kate Middleton appearance, but guests mingled with the two Princes, Zara Phillips, Neve Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Ellie Goulding!

A number of our guests had the privilege of meeting Prince Harry following the defeat to his brother in the polo match - an experience that they will never forget. All guests attended the official dinner and Royal Salute after party in the exquisite grounds of Coworth Park.

By Samantha Pillage on June 17th, 2011

Tags: Alcohol, Brand marketing, Event management consultants, Event management service, Experiential marketing, Sport

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The RBS 6 Nations 2011 kicked off on a Friday night for the first time in the Championship’s history last weekend.

It was an evening match between Wales and England, and there was a real anticipation in the media in the build up, with Warren Gatland and Martin Johnson also having their say. To further add to the excitement the Millennium Stadium roof was shut, making the match a mouth watering spectacle.

The late kick-off (7.45pm) meant that fans returning to London would normally have to miss the final 10 minutes of the game to ensure they could get home. So, to make life easier for fans travelling to and from the match, a special train was chartered to help rugby fans travel between London and Cardiff on the day and night of the game. The RBS 6 Nations Express, a joint venture between RBS, Six Nations Rugby, the RFU and WRU, allowed fans to enjoy the full match experience and still make it home!

We invited rugby legend Phil Vickery, to wave off the fans and hand over the Trophy for the journey to Wales. Phil created quite a crowd amongst commuters, rugby fans and also the attending media who came to speak to The Raging Bull.

The last few months saw the Synergy PR Team working hard to promote the RBS 6 Nations Express, collaborating with See Tickets (to sell seats on the train) and The Train Chartering Company (to provide the actual train!). So it was with great relief all round that at exactly 14.35, the scheduled time of departure, the RBS 6 Nations Express departed London Paddington for Cardiff.

The 200 fans travelling on the RBS 6 Nations Express were treated to a special surprise on board as they were able to get up close to the RBS 6 Nations Trophy which was travelling to Cardiff for the opening match!

We discovered on board that we were also joined some very interesting guests, including Nick Easter’s Mum and Dad who kept their carriage entertained with various tales of their son’s professional playing career.  But I was most surprised to discover that we were also joined by a small group of trainspotters who had heard about the special charter train and been invited by the Driver to travel on board!!!

As the RBS 6 Nations Express pulled into Cardiff we were met by John Inverdale and the BBC TV Crew capturing the arrival of the fans and RBS 6 Nations Trophy.

Following the match, a mixture of jubilant England Fans and disappointed Welsh Fans arrived for the private charter back to London at 23.01, praising the concept of the RBS 6 Nations Express getting them home to London – the return leg without a train spotter in sight!

By Samantha Pillage on February 8th, 2011

Tags: Brand marketing, Communications, Event management consultants, Event management service, Experiential marketing, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby, Synergy

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The Sachin Tendulkar Journey, an exhibition hosted by RBS in Mumbai and Delhi, celebrated Sachin’s 21 years in cricket and captured his unique talent, emotion and immense skill as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

Sachin attended the opening day of the exhibition in each location, and a programme of events was created to include meet and greets with local RBS staff, media round tables and an evening with C-Suite clients of RBS in the surroundings of the gallery.

Having been reassured that the monsoon downpours and the intense nature of the Mumbai and Delhi traffic would not deter invitees from the chance of meeting Sachin, as Event Manager I was not sure if it was with relief or horror that guests started to appear up two hours early!

Although I hadn’t met Sachin before, I was very much aware of his godlike status in India, which was absolutely confirmed by the reactions of both our guests and the public.  Sachin’s arrival, with a security entourage that would have created an event in its own right, was greeted by cheers and chants as word had spread in the local area that he was making an appearance.

Reward for the most ingenious attempt to catch a glimpse of Sachin goes to the gentleman who posed as a window cleaner and lowered himself down from the roof(!), whilst the award for endurance goes to the Delhiites who waited patiently for several hours to see their idol. The local police even got in on the act and used their authority to gain access to the event.

Inside the gallery, guests were equipped with shirts, cricket bats, tickets, posters and business cards, all to be signed by the 5ft5in legend. They could certainly give the British paparazzi a run for their money, capturing Sachin’s every move on film. The off-field power of the man who is a giant on the field was clear.

It was a truly memorable experience for all, and one that I will never forget. I can’t wait for the next event in Bangalore later this year!

By Samantha Pillage on September 8th, 2010

Tags: Cricket, Employee engagement, Event management consultants, Experiential marketing, India, Sponsorship

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Seemingly building a reputation within brainstorms for throwing out the term ‘Augmented Reality’ (AR) without much back up, I started to question if I fully understood the capabilities of this increasingly fashionable term.

Defined by Wikipedia as ‘a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery’ I realised I was not really any the wiser.

Having experienced examples using a ‘magic symbol’ where one can hold up a piece of card in front of a webcam and before you know it, a space rocket is taking off in the palm of your hand;  JLS appear with an exclusive performance; or even a fashion show of models appear on the table before your very eyes (all on-screen, yet seemingly in front of you).

All a bit of fun plus added wow factor (as long as you have a webcam), however as I researched further, I found some interesting ways AR is increasingly becoming part of brand activity.

Hugo Boss livened up their Christmas window displays with a sales promotion through an interactive game to drive people in store.

Fashionista use AR to allow customers to ‘virtually try on clothes’.

A really fun example is by Yahoo, which was simple and engaging, and was installed during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Through motion detection, passersby appeared on screen to be dressed in various accessories from hats and scarves, to sunglasses or rain hats.

AR is clearly developing fast. As a late adopter in many forms of technology I don’t own an iPhone – yet – however am curious around the AR capabilities it offers.  iPhone users can download various applications that use the phone’s camera and GPS capabilities to gather information about the surrounding area. Then information about pretty much anything programmed such as restaurants or bars, overlay on the phone’s screen. In the Netherlands you can even point the phone at a building, and the Layar application will tell you if any companies in that building are hiring, or it might be able to find photos of the building on Flickr or to locate its history on Wikipedia.

It is thought that soon we will be walking or driving down the street with augmented reality displays, which will be viewed through what, looks much like a normal pair of glasses, with informative graphics appearing in our field of view, and audio will coincide with whatever we see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the movements of your head.

I continue to be intrigued by the merging of the physical and virtual world, and look forward to seeing how far this can go…and to buying myself an iPhone!

By Samantha Pillage on August 9th, 2010

Tags: Brand marketing, Branded content, Communications, Experiential marketing, Olympics, Vancouver 2010, YouTube

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Last weekend saw a new city play host to the travelling spectacle that is Formula 1.  Singapore, not only hosted a tremendous show, yet took on the task of staging a street race after dark! 

With over 15,000 lighting projectors making the track four times brighter than a sports stadium, DigiFlags replacing the traditional coloured warning lights and an anticlockwise route on a street circuit, this race was certainly going to make its mark in the history books and create a truly exciting event for the teams, and more importantly the fans.

The reality of a night race came with its challenges, especially on the likes of Hamilton, Massa and the other drivers, whose preparation required them to remain on European time rather than acclimatising to local time, and resulted in a rather unusual timetable of breakfast at 2pm, supper at 1am and bedtime at 3am.  Windows were blacked out, phones disconnected and cleaners banished from normal operations – all in the name of gaining that competitive advantage and ensuring the drivers would be at their most alert when they were on-track each evening.

Visually impressive, the Singapore circuit presented an incident-packed race, without any of the original fears of thunderstorms appearing, whilst the bumps and cambers of the street circuit tested the skill of the drivers. 

“It was a wonderful Grand Prix and a huge credit to the people of Singapore. I can’t remember a more spectacular event with the vivid colours of the cars and the track, and an enormous crowd. Plus there was a really good race as well.” RBS Ambassador Sir Jackie Stewart

A much more open race than the likes of Monaco, allowed a new face to appear on the podium this season – AT&T Williams Driver Nico Rosberg who took a well deserved second place, even after a 10 second stop and go penalty – a refreshing outcome to the 15^th race of the season.

Congratulations go to F1 and to Singapore for a refreshing and exciting weekend’s sport! Can the world of F1 continue to improve and revive the fan experience? With the addition of a fifth street race in Abu Dhabi in 2009, let’s hope they can continue to enthuse and excite the audience.

By Samantha Pillage on September 30th, 2008

Tags: Formula 1, Sponsorship

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Last weekend 49,000 people descended on Regent’s Park for what has become the capital’s favourite destination for food lovers, Taste of London.

Officially opened by Boris Johnson, the London crowd was drawn to an event offering bite sized dining experiences from some of the capitals’ most luxurious restaurants. However despite the expensive and discerning taste buds on show, it soon became clear when it comes down to it, many a cool Londoner has a strong appetite for a freebie.

Across the four days, visitors sampled delicacies from around the world whilst exhibitors ranging from Sainsbury’s to Fortnum & Mason made it their mission to give out anything from sample products to random free gifts. The mob handed approach to distributing meant that cutting through all the noise was going to be interesting.

British Airways, presenting partner of Taste of London, and a few smart heads at Synergy took a step back and asked – what do their guests really want when they visit Taste? A welcome glass of champagne, extra crowns (the event currency) to buy more treats or even dinner for two at one of restaurants..….. perfect!

To give this away British Airways used a simple scratch card mechanic so visitors could win instantly and upgrade their overall experience.

Giving relevant prizes in a simple and effective way enabled British Airways to interact with their core target audience with their key message – “Upgrade to British Airways“. Consumers face a barrage of communications at events like Taste, so the key to standing out is to be relevant to the experience, be relevant to the brand and of course keep it simple.

By Samantha Pillage on June 27th, 2008

Tags: Branded content, Experiential marketing

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