At the end of last week a couple of the Experiential team took a trip over to East London to see if all the hype around the PUMA Yard is justified, and investigate just how well their campaign is going. We also wanted to see how they have created the experience whilst staying within the confines of the 2006 Olympic Act.

PUMA Yard opened a day after the official start of London 2012 in part of the Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch. Revelling in PUMA’s sponsorship of Usain Bolt, but with Olympic legislation prohibiting them from mentioning Bolt explicitly, the idea is obvious and simple: bring Kingston, Jamaica to the Heart of London. The sprawling pop-up caters to the crowds with hefty portions of jerk chicken, Red Stripe, Kingston Bowl and Montego Bay Brew. The inside is chock-a-block of yellow, green and black. There is a legacy wall to Bob Marley and a ‘Listening Wall’ full of PUMA sneakers which, by linking up a shoe to headphones, will play a popular reggae song from a particular decade. Plus, if you fancy it, you can kit yourself out in Jamaican-inspired PUMA gear including the Cedalla Marley speciality collection. Polishing off the theme is the constant sound of chilled reggae that permeates throughout the entire space, to really hammer home the Jamaican vibe just in case anyone had managed to miss it!

Within the space there are several interactive essentials which integrate with PUMA’s Social Club ongoing global marketing campaign. The PUMA Social Club is based around everything and anything the ‘After Hours Athlete’ needs to turn the night into a sport. Think ping pong, photo booths, famous DJs and the Bolt Speed Test which gives everyone a bash at challenging Usain Bolt’s 100m record time of 9.58 seconds.

And PUMA haven’t missed the commercial opportunity. No pop-up event is complete without its own unique and engaging shopping experience, and the PUMA Yard is no different. Out in the back yard is the PUMA Quad, an impressive mobile structure made from shipping containers and best known for its appearance at a few Volvo Ocean race stopovers. The Quad overlooks the back yard where there’s a rather large lawn and chill-out area to watch all the Olympics coverage on the big screen.

All in all, the PUMA Yard blew our socks off with ping pong, speed tests, jerk chicken and live Olympics. Does it break LOCOG’s rules? No. It has merely capitalised cleverly on the popularity of one of PUMA’s most valuable assets and created an area that encapsulates PUMA’s ongoing lifestyle campaign. Great work.

By Synergy on August 9th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Art & Design, Athletics, Brand marketing, Default, Experiential marketing, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy Loves

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You don’t have to be an Olympic expert to be familiar with the unexpected success story of Vancouver 2010: the red mittens. Over 4 million pairs were sold, and they became the iconic symbol of the Vancouver Games.

Although marketing experts were surprised and somewhat perplexed by the mittens’ unexpected and instantaneous success, there were three really simple contributory factors: the design, the price, and the purpose.

The Design

The Vancouver Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (VANOC) design team initially created the mittens only with the intention of being worn by the 12,000 Torchbearers. However, when the mittens became a massive media hit at the February 2009 unveiling of the Torchbearers’ uniform, VANOC decided to market them more widely – and a media hit became a consumer hit too.

Not only were they practical, but their design – patriotic red in colour, with a Canadian maple leaf on the palm and, crucially, the Olympic rings and ‘Vancouver 2010’ on the face, made them the must-have item to show your support for the home team and for the Games.

The Price

More than just a simple economic equation of supply and demand, the red mittens’ success was also due in large part to their price point: at CA$10 (around £6.30), they were affordable for all, in contrast to previous official items that had been very much at the premium end of the price range.

The Purpose

Buying a pair of mittens had a very clear purpose. A percentage of proceeds from the sale of each pair went to support ‘Own the Podium’, a five-year programme designed to fund world class training and equipment for Canadian athletes. Over CA$14m was raised, some of which has helped to send Canadian athletes to London 2012 this summer.

All of which saw huge queues of locals and visitors outside The Hudson Bay Company (the official Team Canada merchandise store of the 2010 Games) from dawn to dusk during the Games.

The Hudson Bay Company store in downtown Vancouver during the 2010 Games (photo: Tim Crow)

A Repeat In London?

In an attempt to replicate the success of mittens, in February 2012 the British Olympic Association (BOA) introduced what it hoped would become the iconic memento of the London Games: a Team GB scarf.

The Team GB scarf as advertised on the Next website

With reports suggesting that sales of the scarf have so far been slow, all the signs are that a repeat of the red Vancouver mittens’ success is not on the cards in London.

Many would suggest this was always going to be the case. Unlike in Vancouver, the BOA did not have the opportunity to use the Olympic Torch Relay as a promotional vehicle, and this will made a tough challenge even tougher.

The red mittens also had a distinct role in Vancouver, and although the weather was unseasonably warm, fans were out in force with the mitten – especially up in Whistler.

The crowd goes wild in Whistler as Alex Bilodeau wins Canada's first gold medal of Vancouver 2010 (photo: Tim Crow)

Equally, given the vagaries of the British climate, predicting the must-have summer item was always going to be considerably more challenging, with, variously, umbrellas and sun creams both feeling like far more ‘must have’ items in the last week or so.

The other major challenge in Britain has been the Jubilympics. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee created a huge oversupply of Union Jack memorabilia, which perhaps satiated the nation’s appetite for even more of the same.

It was unquestionably the people of Canada getting behind the Games that made the red mittens such a success. 

Only time will tell whether the people of Britain finally get behind the Team GB scarf – or perhaps choose something else entirely.

By Synergy on July 30th, 2012

Tags: Art & Design, Beijing 2008, BOA, Default, Design, Diamond Jubilee, London 2012, New Product Development, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic Torch Relay, Olympics, Rio 2016, Sales promotion, Sochi 2014, Social Media, Team GB, Vancouver 2010, Winter Olympics

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This week Yves Saint Laurent announced it is changing its name, as Hedi Slimane made his mark on the iconic global brand as new Creative Director.

The new signature ‘Saint Laurent Paris’ will be used for the ready-to-wear collection, moving away from the iconic and infamous acronym ‘YSL’, which we’ve all become accustomed to, whether part of the fashion set or not.

Apparently Slimane has used YSL’s fashion history as creative inspiration, looking back to 1966 when the fashion house was known as ‘Saint Laurent Rive Gauche’, as his main source of reasoning behind the re-brand.  As you can imagine, this sudden name change has caused a stir with the fashion set, raising the question as to whether Slimane gone too far, when he hasn’t even completed a season?

To change a brand name of such stature takes a powerful, headstrong individual who has the audacity to send a message around the world that he’s doing things his way. Who can fault that? After all, in 1966 Saint Laurent did the same when he launched the YSL ready-to-wear line.

I still haven’t come around to the idea of ‘SLP’ (it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue) although I admire his determination to make the brand his own. The 1966 brand ‘Rive Gauche’ defiantly gave off more of an air of romantic Parisian chic, which I’m not convinced ‘SLP’ achieves.  After announcing the brand will move its creative studio from Paris to Los Angeles, I can’t help but think the rich heritage the brand has built over 50 years is losing its ‘exclusivity’.

The rebrand will be rolled out over the coming months, and I’m sure after time everyone will come around to enjoy his new creative direction.

By Francesca Gamble on June 29th, 2012

Tags: Art & Design, Default, Fashion, Synergy

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What happened
On the eve of London Fashion Week underwear brand Björn Borg recreated the visual phenomenon of the Northern Lights as part of a Swedish spectacle to showcase its Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

Launching the ‘Björn Borg says Ja! to turning the lights off!’ campaign, Battersea Power Station was transformed into a Scandinavian-inspired winter landscape. In an event that steered clear of the predictable norms of London Fashion Week catwalk shows, the evening was a celebration of the label and wholly embodied the Borg brand’s unique persona.

The unquestionable highlight of the night was the seamless fusion between fashion and technology, which presented itself in the form of a 4D light show on the Thames. A short film created by award-winning director Paris Kain was projected onto a 25 x 50 metre wall of steam that rose from the river. The film merged moving images of the Northern Lights with models revealing the upcoming season’s glow-in-the-dark range of underwear, and clearly delivered the multi-sensory experience promised by Björn Borg prior to the evening.

Why we love it
The evening, far from segregating the catwalk and after-party elements of a brand’s customary London Fashion Week schedule, was a leap forward in the deployment of edgy branding activities pursued by Björn Borg. The brand has identified London as one of its most important expanding markets and a vital area in which to establish itself; and there is no doubting that the performances at Battersea had the level of impact required to drive forward Björn Borg’s international expansion.

Whilst the film projection itself was not the first to use water as a canvas (note the spectacular Nike ‘Explosive Water Projections’ for the launch of Jordan Melo M8 trainers in New York), this was a first for the UK, and raised the bar for fashion labels’ experiential originality during London Fashion Week. Not only did the Thames lightshow create another dimension to the evening, it remained in keeping with the core idea behind the Spring/Summer season’s ‘illuminated’ collection.

For those not able to secure a coveted invite, Björn Borg partnered with MTV for the night and live-streamed the event in seven European countries, helping to generate maximum awareness of the campaign. The visual quality of every aspect of the evening drove forward the brand’s digital presence, which resulted in a record boost for the brand’s Twitter and Facebook pages. Images from the night were also used as a springboard for the launch of Björn Borg’s Pinterest page.

By Fiona Watherston on March 20th, 2012

Tags: Art & Design, Default, Fashion, PR, Synergy Loves, YouTube

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What happened?

In order to celebrate 100 years since the creation of the Spirit of Ecstasy, our fellow ‘Engineers’ ‘Partners Andrews Aldridge’ and Rolls-Royce commissioned the British photographer Rankin to capture 100 contemporary images of the female form that are inspired by Rolls-Royce’s renowned symbol, including her power, speed and beauty. In his own words, this was “one of the biggest projects (he) has ever taken on”. The stunning collection of prints were shot over the course of the year and hosted exclusively at Rolls-Royce Motor Car events and dealerships throughout the world including London, LA, Beijing and Sydney, finishing in Cologne this month.

Why we love it

Firstly, we feel the partnership between Rankin, a modern British style-icon, and Rolls-Royce, a brand that represents both classic British craftsmanship and contemporary engineering, is spot on. A brand like Rolls-Royce needs to strike the balance between reinforcing its heritage without overly relying on it, and this modern celebration of the centenary of its ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ strikes this balance very nicely.

By teaming up with Rankin, Rolls-Royce have also created a fantastic platform to create original and stunning content for their upmarket target audience, who are likely to be passionate about the arts and the work of the ‘in vogue’ photographer. Most importantly, going forward, these images have also given Rolls-Royce the opportunity to create some unique DM material to send on to their customers, a nice way to get into the hearts and homes of their most valued clients. Ultimately, one of the most important roles of a succesful partnership is to give the comms of a brand a lift; and these amazing photos most certainly do that.

By Matt Kiernan on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Art & Design, Branded content, Synergy Loves

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With the hot topic of getting more people of all ages active in the UK, a campaign produced by Nike in Amsterdam recently caught my eye that really injected ‘fun’ into running.

What happened?

At the end of last year, Nike began its Take Mokum campaign (Mokum being the nickname for Amsterdam). This campaign was launched in conjunction with the Nike Run House in Amsterdam and looked to blend running with creativity in a way that encouraged people to run. To emphasise this desired relationship between creativity and running, Nike, as the world’s leading running brand, bravely used the concept that ‘running is boring’ as the big idea to this campaign.

Now I agree with this concept that running is boring. I say this because running is an activity that the majority of people take up in order to achieve a desired goal, usually weight loss, improved fitness or improved health. It is very seldom that someone speaks of the fun they have when pounding the pavements of their city. The Take Mokum campaign therefore looked to create a different reason, away from health, for society to get running.

Nike identified the creative segment of society, the segment usually associated with self-expression through music (hip-hop), design and art (graffiti), as a segment that would be receptive to the idea of a new, fun ulterior motive to run. Nike decided to appeal to this segments passion of self-expression and sense of underground culture while encouraging them to get out on the streets running. This is how Take Mokum was born.

Take Mokum gave people the chance to create a graffiti image of a running route around Amsterdam. These images ranged from a butterfly to a skull and could be constructed and shared with friends across various social media platforms, including Facebook. Allow this video to explain Take Mokum to you.

Why we like it

We like Nike’s Take Mokum campaign due to its creative approach in appealing to the passion points of Amsterdam’s youth in order to encourage them to get running. Nike has successfully incorporated a fun and creative solution to a campaign that’s primary goal is to increase youth participation in inner city running. In doing so it has brought authenticity to the perception that Nike is not just a running brand, but rather a lifestyle brand that allows you to express the individual you are – all while sharing it with your friends on Facebook.

Over the six-week period that the campaign ran, 9,000 people signed up and the app achieved 14,500 Likes on Facebook.  This may not sound that impressive initially but when considering  that Amsterdam’s population is relatively small (767,000), and that the 9000 Take Mokum runners would have acted as Nike ambassadors, it creates, by immersing itself in the consumer’s world, engaging conversations both on and off line around the Nike brand.

By Synergy on July 26th, 2011

Tags: Art & Design, Athletics, Brand marketing, community, Default, Design, Experiential marketing, Public relations, Running, Social Media, Sport, Synergy Loves, Synopsis

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When I was eight years old, my Dad took me on my first museum outing – the Imperial War Museum in London – and a day climbing over and into tanks and cannons was as close to boyhood nirvana as it got. Ever since then, I’ve had a borderline obsession with museums.

From dinosaurs to ancient rocks to scrolls – you show it, I’ll walk round it (although given half a chance I’ll still climb on it). Social media sites like Facebook are as close to a personal museum as you can get, you curate your own life and share it with the world. So Intel’s taken a clever but natural next step for natural egoists like me by creating the ‘Museum of Me’.

It’s really an advert for Intel’s Core i5 processor but wrapped up in an involving way. It’s simple – you give permission for it to lift directly from your Facebook page and it then takes you on a virtual tour of a museum dedicated to you using photos, video and comments already on your page.

After moving through a mixture of gallery rooms dedicated to yourself with virtual people looking on, it culminates in a montage shot of your profile picture made up from all the shots on your page.

OK, being honest, I found parts of it a tad creepy due to the entirely random nature of it. For example an ex featured prominently throughout while my wife didn’t get a look in. In addition, I thought their opening line of ‘this exhibition is a journey of visualisation that explores who I am’ mixed with the emotive music tries to take it to a depth lost on me. But overall I thought as an interactive advert that taps into the core fundamentals of social media (narcissism) it was a very clever piece of work.

It’s simple, requiring minimal input for decent reward; it’s highly sharable and it works on a principle of a brand encouraging rather than dictating user behaviour. Most importantly, it fundamentally showcases Intel’s tagline perfectly –‘Visibly Smart’ and has over half a million likes so far.

Given a choice, I’d probably still rather climb over a tank but as a Museum I can visit in 30 seconds from my laptop it works.

By Dominic Curran on June 17th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Art & Design, community, Default, Design, Facebook, Media, Online communities, Public relations, Social Media, Synergy, Synergy Loves, The Arts, Viral Marketing

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Ballantine’s 12 (the twelve-year-old aged brand of Ballantine’s, the world’s number two whisky) wanted to own an engaging PR property that would help its markets generate PR at a local level  – bringing to life the Ballantine’s 12 creative territory of “…leaves an impression by taking you BEYOND”.

Rising to the challenge, Synergy devised the first ever Art of BEYOND bar(above) for Ballantine’s 12, designed to combine a media launch with a whisky education for all guests.  Our role included creating the concept, developing a list of potential artists, commissioning and managing the artists during the design phase and installation process, guest and event management during the unveiling and creating a PR activation toolkit to send out to markets to inspire them to create their own Art of BEYOND events locally.

Ballantine’s commissioned six top European artists and designers (L-R below: Jovo Bozhinovski, Laurent Louyer, Luis Gallussi, Lee Broom, Oskar Zieta, Rolf Sachs – with Ballantine’s ambassador Fredrik Olsson) from different disciplines to each create a different element of the concept bar. It was crucial that the artists resonnated with the brand’s key markets such as Bulgaria, Poland, France and Spain, and that their very individual designs worked together to form a cohesive, BEYOND concept.

Bulgaria’s Jovo Bozhinovski (below) was responsible for creating the floor to represent the landmass of Scotland, home of Ballantine’s, as a shimmering puddle of water and therefore create the illusion of a bar that is literally melting.

Lee Broom created the bar stools (below), influenced by old-fashioned cut glass and crystal decanters with a youthful twist, reflecting the brand heritage perfectly.

Creatmosphere, the creative lighting studio, used artistc lighting (below) to hide and reveal the individual elements of the installation and create the ambience within the Art of BEYOND bar.

Spanish based artist Luis Galliussi was responsible for the wall design (below) where he used trompe l’oeil effects with the Ballantine’s logo.

Rolf Sachs (below) designed a new glass for the Ballantine’s 12 Art of BEYOND Bar called Double Take. The surface of the whisky glass was frosted and included reversed text which could only be clearly read when the contents of the glass had been drunk and the mirrored coaster accompanying the glass had been used, revealing the Ballantine’s 12 Year Old brand manifesto.

Poland’s Oskar Zieta was responsible for creating the actual bar (below).  Using his patented method of inflating steel he created a bar which resembled a pile of icecubes.

To add to the experience, Fredrik Olsson, Ballantine’s 12 Year Old ambassador, created a series of Art of BEYOND cocktails inspired by the work of the artists for guests to enjoy.

By all accounts the event was a huge success. As well as press coverage on the event, an extensive library of stock photography and video footage was secured and created a base for Ballantine’s to build on both in the art world and across all of its global markets.

By Lydia Oates on April 20th, 2011

Tags: Alcohol, Art & Design, Brand marketing, Communications, Design, Food & Drink, PR, Synergy, Synopsis

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