What happened?

Online fashion retailer ASOS has continued its pioneering digital approach by utilising urban culture to promote its new 2011 Autumn/Winter menswear collection.

Through a new online experience, the ASOS Urban Tour uses an interactive platform to showcase its latest range, by zooming in on a variety of street performers including skaters, dancers and musicians, in five of the most stylish cities across the globe: London, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles and New York.

Through an interactive scrolling map, similar to Google Earth, the application starts with a bird’s eye view of the globe and then zooms into the streets within your chosen city. The real funs starts when you click on any of the dancers, skaters or musicians who then start to perform. The interactive videos offer links for each of the performers and enable the user to see what they are wearing and how to purchase it.

Why we love it

Marketing something as personal and tactile as clothes in a two-dimensional online environment will always be a challenge. But ASOS continue to develop and push the boundaries, using engaging and innovative methods to showcase its clothing ‘in action’. This cutting-edge campaign, which combines lifestyle aspirations and fashion, represents a natural progression from the successfully executed online catwalk concept.

Research undertaken indicates that male consumers being targeted by ASOS are influenced in their fashion choices by what they see being worn on the streets, and therefore partnering with inspirational urban talent offers a fresh and relevant approach for the online retailer.

Urban Tour has been supported with extensive social media presence via the official ASOS Facebook page which currently boasts over one million ‘likes’. Inter-city rivalry has been utilised to spark conversation via an online poll, simply asking fans which city is their favourite – London currently sits at the top with 1,381 of the 2,895 votes. Fashion bloggers globally have been going crazy for this ‘mind blowing’ digital offering, describing it as an “entirely fresh and truly incredible experience.” So for those of you fashion-conscious men not making it to any London Fashion Week shows, I suggest you get your fix of urban style here!

By Emily Waring on October 13th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Branded content, community, Default, Facebook, Fashion, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy, Synergy Loves, Synopsis, Television, The Arts, Viral Marketing

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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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Recently, royalty has been back on the agenda in a big way – the Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge having engaged the nation – and this got me thinking about another monarchy-related expression: content is King.

If I were to say content is King, I certainly wouldn’t be the first, and most definitely not the last. So, I’m not going to say that, because: a) it’s too obvious and b) I don’t actually happen to believe it (which is probably far more important).

Ok then, what am I going to say? Content is important, most certainly, but I happen to believe where you put your content is as equally important as the content itself. In the modern world we might call this a bromance between two Kings: medium and message.

Like it or not, we live in a world of complex communication, a place where options are almost unlimited and wherever you turn someone is trying to engage you. In the marketing world this makes our lives increasingly more appealing – how do we target someone at the right place, time and price?

Targeting has always been a science, but if you overlay that science with the art form of engagement that we as marketers all crave, we suddenly create a complicated scenario where two separate worlds collide. And this is where it begins to get really interesting.

Why am I making this point?
Well, with such a complicated world, what’s the best way to reach your audience? It’s to tap into a passion point and create a content expectation that is authentic and helps you go beyond your brand to engage; sponsorship done correctly can be a hugely effective means to achieve this goal.

Of course, this is not new but what is evolving is how we can offer content of absolute relevance.  We live in an instantaneous world and we no longer savour anticipation; that feeling of excitement of picking up your holiday snaps from the chemist, or waiting for that first phone call from a new girlfriend before the days of mobiles.  Sadly, these things are in the past, we want our content right now – we wait for no one.

New channels can be invented overnight, Apple’s iPhone campaign with the line ‘There’s an app for that‘ created an (almost) brand new channel instantaneously – and as brands and content owners we need to be prepared for these additions to an already diverse and cluttered media offering. But this brings opportunity too, as we now have the ability to target like never before.

It’s a data-driven world – so now we can reach consumers by means never previously imagined.  The digital world has enabled us to target our audience with military-like precision and this fuels huge opportunity across all sectors.

But what does this mean for sponsorship?
Sponsorship is born out of understanding of a target audience, their habits and their passion points. It is about matching people’s interests to brands and products in the most engaging of ways – through an emotive connection.  In today’s market, it presents an incredibly powerful content platform to connect with your audience. It’s certainly not a simple art, but for me every partnership strategy should put content at its heart.

Who’s doing it well?
The evolution of brand content has developed so quickly in the last few years, it’s now part of nearly every (good) strategy.  There are some great examples out there and I’ve picked out some personal favourites, but I think what makes this fascinating is the fact the content can be so different. It could be an app, it could be social or it could still be one of the more traditional routes. But, these examples all have some key common factors:

Nike – Write the Future

Nike has been a master of using endorsement for a long time, indeed the brand revolutionised the industry with the innovation of Air Jordan in the 1980s and is a strategy the still holds firm today (it was also the winner of our Greatest Sports Marketing Innovation Poll).  For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nike created the Write the Future campaign; a fantastic example of putting the emotion of the Tournament at the centre of the brand’s content:

Ben & Jerry’s – Fair Tweets

To promote its association with World Fair Trade Day 2011, Ben & Jerry’s has created a quite brilliant campaign to “Put your unused Twitter characters to good use”. Whenever users place a post on Twitter, the application turns any unused characters into a message about Fair Trade. It’s a brilliant cause and a really clever use of the Twitter platform, providing really valuable messaging to Fair Trade – this video explains the campaign far better than I can:

ASICS New York Marathon – Support your marathoner

For the 2010 New York Marathon, ASICS USA put content at the heart of a new, innovative, experiential campaign for the event. The campaign centered around creating personalised supporter messages for runners from their friends and family to inspire them during the race. The messages of support were captured through social media and experiences in the build up to the marathon and then the messages were triggered by RFID tags (microchips on runners trainers) during the race. When the runners run over a sensor matt it triggered a giant LED screen which played personalised video messages from friends and family as the runners run past – genius.

The England and Wales Cricket Board – Follow Us

Quite unusually for a rights holder, the ECB developed a great platform to help England fans follow the team throughout the recent winning Ashes campaign in Australia.  The campaign had two key factors that contributed to its success: a) a victorious England b) Graham Swann – who has developed not only into the world’s best off-spinner, but must also be the most talented on-screen cricketer of his generation.  His natural style in front of the camera and humorous banter helped make the films outstanding. The campaign was rewarded at the recent Sports Industry Awards, taking home the award for Best use of Digital Communication in Sport.

So, why are these great examples of content?

At the heart of all of the above campaigns is relevance; to both the brand and the audience.  Good sponsorship strategy is based on connections and in all these examples it really shines through.

Looking more deeply, we can see that five key principles ring true to each example which should be applied to every sponsorship content strategy:

But what creates great content?
Like almost everything else, great content is about innovation.  It’s about finding something that connects and resonates with your audience and providing it how they want it, when they want it.  Sure, major players in the media landscape (broadcasters and publishers) are continuing to get the lion’s share of audience, but will it always be this way?

I take an analogy I read in the Economist recently; people said the horse manure crisis in London in the 1890s would lead the city’s demise within 20 years.  What they didn’t know then, was that Karl Benz would invent the motor car which made the theory obsolete, but Karl himself was also wrong.  He claimed demand for motor cars would never get above a million because we would run out of chauffeurs.
The point being that content, in the connected digital world, is only just beginning and some of the innovations of the future could really start to shape a new world of content.  Who’s to say brands can’t lead that?

So, is content really King?
All of the examples we have looked at demonstrate creativity and innovation which for me is the common theme for success. By combing a creative approach to the key content principles it can help create a unique and relevant content strategy for your audience.  Content is a major component but it must be considered alongside context by creating a collaborative approach to medium and message.

So for me content alone isn’t King, but combined with context it can be.  I’d love to get your views?

To wrap this all up, I just had to share this. We recently welcomed Google to Engine for a discussion around the use of Google platforms and products for brands and they shared one of their favourite campaigns: Converse Domination. It’s one of the best examples of a brand putting content at the heart of their campaign and is a true demonstration of the five key principles in action. From audience understanding, to having fun the campaign truly has it all. Enjoy!

By Ben Wilkinson on May 18th, 2011

Tags: Branded content, Content, Music, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Sponsorship consultants, Sport, Synergy, Synopsis, The Arts, Twitter

1 comment

NFL cheerleaders from Tampa Bay at Wembley last October

The team at Synergy Towers is currently emersing themselves in a healthy dose of Americana. We’re gearing up for the annual NFL International Series fixture at Wembley at the end of this month and all the excitement that game week brings.

We have a growing guest-list of American folks flying over to support the fixture including the legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice, celebrity 49ers fan and Victoria’s Secret supermodel, Marisa Miller and, of course the entire company of 49ers cheerleaders, the Gold Rush.

We have worked with NFL cheerleaders for the last 3 years and this year they are arriving at a time where cheerleading is making headlines in the UK. Two weeks ago, a news story ran throughout our national press, presenting the latest statistics that show cheerleading has become the fastest growing physical activity picked up by school P.E. departments across the UK. Naturally, this has been met with some opposition. And largely, unfortunately bred by ignorance.

In a nation of growing obesity, where the inactivity of our children regularly hits the headlines, one would think the discovery of a discipline that engages children in this way would be celebrated. Apparently not. Long-standing has been the debate over whether cheerleading can be deemed a ‘sport’. But yesterday, in a strongly voiced opinion piece for The Guardian, Victoria Coren made her position on the point crystal clear. And in defence of six years spent in competitive cheer, I felt moved to respond.

US squad Hurricanes performs at this year's World Championships

For me, focusing on the sport question tends to overlook the inherent values of the discipline, but more on that later. For now, let’s entertain the harshest critics for a moment and deal with the debate at hand, which requires two distinct definitions: firstly, which section of cheerleading is being referred to and secondly, the definition of sport being put forward.

Let’s talk about sport for a moment. The Olympic Games, generally considered the ultimate global representation of sporting excellence, makes a discernment between sports (a single or group of sports represented by an international federation) and disciplines (multiple events that can fall under the same sporting umbrella). Thus Aquatics is a sport, fielding activities in the disciplines, swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and water polo.

Now, I am not for one moment purporting that cheerleading should be made an Olympic sport (or, for that matter, convinced that synchronized swimming should be classed as such either). But take a closer look at the IOC’s catalogue and you will find that not only is Gymnastics and its three disciplines (artistic, rhythmic and trampoline) on the official list of Olympic sports, but that ‘Dance Sport’, while not included in the Olympic program is fully recognized by the IOC and therefore could be added to the Olympic program at any given time if sufficiently supported by IOC membership vote.

What I am certain of is that competitive cheerleading represents the ultimate combination of Dance Sport and Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and, given the impact of a sprung floor on which all competitions are held, arguably trampoline). Just take a look at the most recent World Championship holders (for the fourth year in a row) and see if you disagree:

And this brings us to our second definition – what sector of cheerleading are we considering here? The competitive squads like the Stingray Allstars above are a different kettle of fish entirely to the NFL dancer cheerleaders who bring glitz and sizzle to the football sidelines every Sunday and Monday night. But both have their value – on and off the field of performance. The point of the NFL girls on game day is to entertain the crowd – by their own admission they are first and foremost dancers – and do not enter into the gymnastic stunts of competitive cheer.

However, not even NFL cheerleaders should be cast aside with the aspersions so forthcoming from the British press. NFL cheerleaders are a combined force of college students and professionals who give up their evenings, weekends and annual holidays to support their football team, fund raise for charity events, promote local businesses, teach cheer camps to local kids, entertain the forces abroad and promote their game around the world. Quite apart from the commitment to honed athleticism and the upkeep of physical excellence that is required to keep their appearance and performance up to the standard required.

NFL cheerleaders, New Orleans' Saintsations, visit Kandahar Airfield in 2009

Whether their activities combined could be deemed a sport? Even I find that hard to argue. But to focus solely on the ‘ass-shaking’ of their poms in scantily clad costumes and over-sexualised dance numbers, is an easy observation to make, but is also a crass devaluation of their role and responsibilities.

But when it comes to the competitive cheerleading that I know so well, it is an entirely different story. It is a form of cheerleading that, sadly, seems to have escaped the research of most British journalists currently writing on the subject. I have seen firsthand this incredible discipline inspire thousands of youngsters to dedicate years of their lives to routines that display such athletic excellence – in the quite astonishing synchronisation of gymnastics and dance – that arguing the case for it to be classed a sport is, frankly, a pretty easy task.

Of course, British sensationalist press, the narrow-minded opinions formed from limited exposure to American high-school movies and a British viewpoint partial to condescension of our American cousins for their brash lack of culture means it is all too easy to make the ‘boots and hot pants’ picture the prevailing image of the cheer world. There follows the outrage of parents who (rightly so) find the concept of their child being taught to shake their booty in hotpants and boots quite horrendous. As would I, were that what was being taught in schools. Obviously, it isn’t.

And therein lies the problem, wrought by stereotype and informed by press exposure of the most commonly portrayed ‘cheerleader’ – that we overlook the athletic, competitive form that can indeed be classed as a sport.

Were these folks to turn up to any one of the several weekly training sessions of a UK cheer squad – national champions AEC a primary case in point – they would see a rather different world. Children who happily sacrifice listless evenings in front of the TV, weekends at the local park with friends; not to mention their adult coaching staff who volunteer their own spare time to inspire them – all in the name of athletic excellence.

AEC were selected to perform at last year's NFL game at Wembley

Perhaps the solution is to take a lead from the IOC, deeming cheerleading as a whole to be a discipline, but discerning the divisions that fall within it – the sport, the competitive/gymnastic cheer (the likes of AEC and the Stingrays), and then the pom dance (the NFL variety) – a system of division that already effectively provides the structure for cheer competitions all over the country.

Cheerleading teaches teamwork, trust and commitment and gives them a cause to focus on, learning that with enough dedication and practice, great outcomes can be achieved. And with this, combined with the tough athletic program that cheerleading requires, what more could we want to teach our kids?

* To find out more about UK cheerleading – in schools, universities and beyond – visit BCA, UKCA and Future Cheer.

* And head down to Trafalgar Square on 30th October to see the 49ers Gold Rush in action ahead of the NFL International Series at Wembley on 31st.

By Lucie Bartlett on October 6th, 2010

Tags: American football, Olympics, The Arts

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About five years ago, try as I might to find an elephant in London to take part in a PR photo stunt we were organising, there was none available. Our need was great – promote the Chivas World Elephant Polo Championships due to be held that November in Nepal. Scotland were at the time, defending World Champions in the sport (true fact.) Anyway, London Zoo weren’t up for lending out their eles, we couldn’t locate any in the Yellow pages so alas, the photo was a no go. I don’t think Scotland retained the title either (I don’t hold us responsible for that mind).

Fast forward to June 2010 and everywhere you look in London, there are elephants. You can barely move without bumping into one.

So what’s occurring? Turns out the Elephant Parade London 2010 is a conservation campaign, in aid of the Elephant Family charity set up by Mark Shand, involving 258 brightly painted life-size elephants located over central London with the aim of raising over £2mn towards the conservation of the endangered Asian elephants. Tidy.

As it turns out, 258 elephant sculptures = London’s largest outdoor art exhibition on record.

They may not have been in town in 2005 when we really needed them but they are at least here now, for one more week.  And over the last 5 weeks, I have been slowly gripped by some unexplainable elephant obsession. Out of nowhere. Strange but true.

It all started innocently enough.

08.03, Tuesday 4 May 2010, stepping off the Leicester – St Pancras train, I suddenly realised that I’d walked past a giant elephant statue (‘Dandiphant’, I later found out). Unusual, elephant art. Not something you see everyday next to British Rail’s finest.

Throughout May, I continued to notice elephants around town (they’re hard to miss) and soon found myself whooping with joy on seeing a new undiscovered ele – which whilst on a scooter is a truly great feeling - although not one that is widely encouraged in the Highway Code as a means of responsible motorcycle driving. The elephant observing shifted up a gear – spending one Sunday afternoon cycling round London to see which ones we happened across. A great way to combine seeing the city in the sunshine with getting fit. All innocent fun.

I dropped into one of the 4 London pop-up Elephant Parade shops (it’s all about pop-ups these days) and found an official map which marked out where they could all be found. And things changed. The map proved a dangerous addition to my armoury. It became serious. I was soon on a mission to tick off (& photograph) all of them. Why I have no idea but joined by like-minded friends, and at times on my own, the past few weeks has involved dedication, effort and organisation, missed lunch hours, late nights and getting myself to places in London that I have never heard of, never mind visited before.

As a tourism campaign to get people experiencing the city of London, Visit London could do a whole lot worse. That has been one of the absolute pleasures in finding the elephants – I have got to know the city in which I have lived for over 10 years a whole lot better. I now know where one can find the Museum of London (the Docklands), Bow Churchyard, The Hempel and The Hoxton (both lovely hotels), BT’s Building (as opposed to its Tower), the National Geographic Store on Regent Street, the Royal Exchange and where you can park a scooter right next to Somerset House. I have seen Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park in full flow (fascinating), marvelled at the current installation on the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square, walked the length of Baker Street (following Sherlock Holmes’ footsteps) and witnessed the beauty of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

I have found myself in some unexpected places at unpredictable hours. One Monday night I cycled solo to both Brixton and Elephant & Castle (an aptly named place to house one of the statues) well after 10pm, two areas I barely know and probably wouldn’t ordinarily try and navigate around in the dark, solely to find 2 elephants. And after a recent Keane gig in Camden, we employed that ‘oh so normal’ post-gig wind down technique of walking around Leicester Square, Covent Garden & Piccadilly until 1am when we ran out of elephants (20 ticked off in record time) and our feet could take no more. Dedication to the cause or just sheer madness? You decide.

It has been an adventure, albeit an exhausting mission and I have met some dedicated fellow hunters (okay, I’ll admit some have been, shall we say, a little odd but most seem fairly normal) on the way. Equally eye opening has been witnessing first hand how social media communities truly engage in real time interaction on a subject in which they are passionate. Take the Facebook group for the Elephant Family and Elephant Parade group, a hotbed of activity with over 14,000 fans. “Anyone tell me where you can find the Ella May elephant – she’s not on Baker Street and is proving elusive?” Within minutes, 6 people have already replied with the answer. Job done. Fellow elephant fans, who have never, and will never meet in real life, helping each other out in their time of need, with UGC (mainly still images) uploaded on a minute by minute basis.

As PR goes, I’m a big admirer of the campaign. A simple idea with creativity at the heart in aid of a good cause with the actual product they’re promoting (the future of the Asian Elephant) at the very core of the activity.

Add to that, a few simple PR tactics that have been very well executed:
1. Launch photocall of brightly coloured elephant herd in Trafalgar Square pre-installation – tick
2. Interviews with famous and upcoming artists & celebrities who have painted the elephants (Tommy Hilfiger, Paul Smith, Matthew Williamson, Sir Terence Conran…) – tick
3. Locate elephants at various iconic London landmarks / institutions who then add their own PR weight behind it – tick
4. Grip the public’s imagination (kids & adults alike) by introducing Cloudia (the ‘Where’s Wally?’ of the elephant world) to the herd, the elephant that is constantly on the move – tick
5. Ensure your social media ducks (sorry, eles) are all in place to enable the online community to do the rest – tick
6. Merchandise the hell out of it – produce replica elephants, books, cards etc to ensure product sales generate funds of their own – tick

Of the features in the press, one I particularly liked was the story about Gerald, the model elephant who generated a cult following after he was banned from his original home in Selfridges for being too risqué. Gerald is blue (quite literally it turns out on closer inspection), painted by controversial artist Jonathan Yeo who added his trademark collage, causing serious offense to the shoppers of W1. After a “Free Gerald” Facebook group was set up to free him from the charity’s Bloomsbury HQ, sniffing some free publicity, Chinawhite offered their nightclubbing HQ to home the pornographic beast. Bob’s your uncle, queues of people trying to get into the night spot between 1-2pm every weekday to see the elephant and tick it off their lists. Genius.

On a serious note, the joie de vivre these elephants have spread throughout London disguise the real tragedy behind the Asian Elephant’s collapse. Once ranging from China to Thailand, Indonesia, India and across Syria, these great animals are now confined to an area the size of Spain. The number of Asian elephants has dwindled even more severely than those of the African elephant, from 200,000 a century ago to a fifth of that population now.  Shocking statistics.

So my own breaking news, having confessed that I quite fancied trying to see them all before they vanished from our streets, is that I have now officially seen all 258 ‘in the wild’. Marc Quinn’s Untitled in Somerset House was my final ele. Job done, mission completed. Difficult to narrow down my favourites, there really were too many.  Special mention goes out to ‘Help!’ the fully turfed elephant, ‘Dedicated to the Wonderful Chelsea Pensioners’ elephant (too cute), ‘Union Jack ‘(Rule Britannia) and Benjamin Shine’s glossy black ‘Taxi Elephant’, ideally positioned by the Royal Exchange and powered by a solar cell so that the taxi sign lights up at night and its eyes turn into headlamps. Truly London.

Sadly the city migration is well underway and this week, the elephants can all be seen herded together at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea and Westfield Shopping Centre for general viewing before they go under the auction hammer. If you haven’t seen them yet, they are seriously worth a look. Some are absolutely stunning works of art.

As for me, I’m having a break from elephants. For a start, I don’t trust myself not to get carried away with it all and buy one of the statues at auction – and with some of the bids already exceeding £50k online, that is an experience that I’m not quite ready to blog about.

No, it’s all about lions now. Like all great ideas, copycats are out there and rife. Cue the city of Bath announcing that a giant pride of individually decorated, life-size lion sculptures are taking up residence in and around the City of Bath. With only 100 lions to find, I reckon it’s do-able in record time. Anyone who fancies a safari trip down in Bath this summer, let me know. Or if you’re a fellow (adopted) digital native, you’ll probably be able to find me on the Pride in Our City – Lions of Bath group on Facebook…

By Stephanie Branston on June 22nd, 2010

Tags: Alcohol, Digital marketing, Media, Public relations, Sponsorship, The Arts

1 comment

So there it is, all over. 100 days and 2400 people later; today marks the final day of Antony Gormley’s live art installation ‘One & Other’.

34,520 people applied; 1208 men and 1192 women aged between 16 and 84 were randomly selected to take part. People from every walk of life from across the UK, spent an hour alone on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square creating a collective portrait of humanity.

And not a single ‘celebrity’ or former Big Brother contestant in sight.
Marvellous.

The project – the focus of articles, photos, tweets and blogs well before the first person took to the plinth on 6th July 2009 – has been deemed a success. In Gormley’s own words, “Whether you see the plinth as a protest or pole-dance platform; studio or stocks; playpen or pulpit; as a frame for interrogation or for meditation, it has provided an open space of possibility for many to test their sense of self and how they might communicate this to a wider world.”

So did we like it? The art critics did not.
Me? I loved it.

I first wrote about the project last July on this very blog. I didn’t get picked in the ballot but I have enjoyed watching those who did, including three people I know. ‘A snapshot of Britain’, the creation has been described as. Well certainly it showed off the great British sense of humour – as well as raising over £24,000 for charity through plinthers performances.

A brief snapshot of just a few of the plinthers who caught my eye:
- A modern day naturist Lady Godiva astride a child’s rocking horse in only a pair of boots (Gormley himself had said that ‘he would be very upset if somebody didn’t take their clothes off’)
- A 26 year old dressed as a giant turd in a plea for cleaner water, resulting in some nice PR & awareness for Water Aid
- A Stringfellow’s dancer whose pole dancing performance apparently caused the Sky Arts website to crash
- An 8ft Godzilla
- A bent over skin-tight morph suit
- A number of folk advertising themselves in a ‘Give me a Job’ bid to gain work most of which resulted in employment
- The girl who led an impressive flash-mob audience in a world-record bid for the most people dancing to Thriller (Michael Jackson, RIP, would have been proud).

The list goes on. Right up to the very final plinther, Emma Burns from Liverpool who used the last hour of the people’s plinth (08.00-09.00 today) to remember the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

The good, the bad, the ugly and the downright bizarre have all been up there.

The art critics may not have raved about it.
Stuff ‘em.

Over 720,000 people watched online – a huge figure for an arts website – with 7.5 million page impressions during the 100 days. And the project will live on through a TV documentary due to be screened on Sky Arts; a book produced by Random House; and within the walls of the Wellcome Library who plan to store the footage and interviews with every participant for future historians and academics.

Antony Gormley never actually made it onto the plinth having been rejected four times in the public ballot (and refusing to insist on a slot). One suspects he won’t mind. Without a shadow of a doubt, he will be kept busy over the coming months regardless, his profile further elevated by the successful way in which One & Other has truly brought art to the masses. And if you need further persuasion, take 4mins out of your day – right now- and have a watch of the final highlights video on Sky Arts. It’s emotive stuff.

- Next month, Sir Keith Park, a Battle of Britain hero will take to the Fourth Plinth in a more conventional memorial statue format

By Stephanie Branston on October 14th, 2009

Tags: Blogging, Communications, Flash mobbing, Media, Public relations, The Arts

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It’s one of those projects that all of us ladies dream of… spending two weeks on an event in Paris working on the Chivas Regal brand collaboration with celebrated French designer, Christian Lacroix. 

Using their sponsorship of the Cannes Film Festival as a platform to launch their latest designer collaboration to the media, Chivas Regal commissioned Synergy to oversee all the guest management for the event and to arrange a specially tailored Lacroix 24 hour Experience in Paris for key media to celebrate the launch of the limited edition Chivas 12 magnum designed by Lacroix himself.  

And so I found myself in Paris for two weeks.  Staying at the stunning boutique Hotel du Petit Moulin, the original hotel in Paris designed by Christian Lacroix and spending time in the infamous Marie district of Paris which has provided the designer with much of his inspiration. 

A tailored programme was developed for each group of media who attended, including visits to the Christian Laxroix flagship store in Paris to view the designer’s latest collection, a private viewing at the Mauboussin Chocolate bar, a tour of the Bellechasse hotel and a visit to the newly opened Merci concept store. 

A unique Paris venue, created by the former owners of the luxury French children’s brand Bonpoint, Merci brings together a combination of high fashion, homeware, books, flowers and more in a 1,500m2 former industrial building.  The design of the store is updated every six weeks, when a new designer inputs their creativity within the impressive space.  In addition to being a unique commercial space and wowing the international journalists who we took to the store, the guests were even more inclined to buy a keepsake from the store having learned that Merci donates all of its profits to a children’s charity in Madagascar.

In addition to the fashion and design elements of the experience, we arranged for all the guests to experience Chivas within a selection of Paris’s top venues, including the Cristal Room Baccarat and Pershing Hall.

So, it’s been back to earth with a bit of a bang this week… no more private viewings in Christian Lacroix or luxury French cuisine for me… although arguably, for my credit card at least, that’s not a bad thing.

By Synergy on June 4th, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, Film, Sponsorship, The Arts

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Isn’t it always the way: you wait a lifetime to see a film in 3D about a hero named Bolt, and then two come along in a matter of months. Granted one was the John Travolta-voiced Disney blockbuster, whilst the other was footage of the all-conquering Olympian Usain Bolt smashing another world record at the Bupa Great City Games in Manchester this year. But it begs the question of just how many befuddled 6 year-olds out there thought they were off to see their favourite animated canine star, only for an altogether different eponymous hero to come bursting through the cinema screen.

In fact, this raises an interesting topic for the cinema-going public in 2009: how many more 3D films are we going to be expected to see? Bolt (both cute dog and sprint God) seemed to work; similarly Monsters vs Aliens made use of the third dimension, albeit, according to fans, slightly less successfully. Then Coraline, the new animation from Henry Selick, whilst a critically-acclaimed film, gains little more than a bit of textural richness with the addition of 3D specs. And don’t even get me started on Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience…

Are we seriously heading for Scorsese in 3D? Would a ‘remastered’ Withnail and I really offer a better experience if the audience felt every drunken lurch from Richard E Grant? And just how many geological eras will have to pass before Terence Malick gets round to pulling out the third dimensional stops?

With the advent of Avatar, James Cameron’s CGI magnum opus – widely tipped to be the most expensive film ever made – we might see a big screen production to truly make use of that extra ‘D’, though I guess the point is just because we can go beyond 2D, doesn’t mean we always have to – it should be something that feels worthwhile and relevant.

However, this is where the mighty cinema industry might disagree with me.

From the early 1980s, when VHS emerged victorious from the home video format wars, film piracy had become a reality for the major studios. Then the ‘90s brought DVD, and with it the potential for lossless data duplication. Coupled with faster, cheaper PCs, offering massive, inexpensive data storage, the widespread availability of DVD authoring software and the geometric growth of both the internet and home broadband capabilities – not to mention that feller in my local with the carrier bag full of iffy films – the piracy situation begins to look understandably grim.

Star Wars Episode III, Casino Royale, The Hulk, and most recently X-Men Origins: Wolverine – every one a $100+ million production – have all been circulated online prior to their official release. And once a film is in the public domain, things only get worse. With a host of questionable websites allowing web users free access to streamed (though largely crackling, jerky and unwatchable) movies, Hollywood needs a solution. Reading between the lines the studios’ answer seems to be to fight tech with tech: if you can’t pirate a ‘3D experience’, then you’ll have to go to the cinema, won’t you?

Well, according to at least one well-informed, well-respected (not to mention well-coiffed) critic – no. Mark Kermode’s POV – worth watching just for the clip of the unfinished cut of Wolverine that surfaced online – revolves around the question of the changing landscape of film.

In short, cinema might be the medium of choice for the all-encapsulating visceral movie experience, but the internet has offered a genuine alternative in the home – what the film industry needs to do is offer its wares to the right people, at the right time, crucially, in the right place. Oh, and stop green-lighting Alien vs Predator spin-offs.

By Jonathan Izzard on June 1st, 2009

Tags: Blogging, Default, Film, Media, The Arts, YouTube

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In one of the most touching tributes to celebrate the life of children’s TV presenter Tony Hart, over 200 fans gathered outside London’s Tate Modern at the weekend. In recognition of Tony’s much-loved sidekick, the animated character Morph, a flash-mob of plasticene Morphs were displayed on the Southbank, drawing in large crowds throughout the day.

Hart’s legacy touched generations of children who were encouraged to paint and draw over a TV career that spanned 50 years, before his death, at the age of 83, earlier this year.

‘Morph Mob’ was a compliment to Tony’s unflappable “you can do it” approach to art and creativity. Morph was certainly capable of extraordinary feats of metamorphosis and spoke an unintelligible language that only he and Hart seemingly could understand. None of this mattered on Sunday. The event, organised on social networking website Facebook, involved members of the Hart family with Tony’s daughter, Carolyn Williams, invited to judge Best Morph in Show.

Fantastic; flash mobbing at it’s best and in true Tony Hart spirit; the doyen of DIY art.

PS. I’d love to say that Tony Hart inspired me to draw brilliantly from a young age but I have always been a rather hopeless artist and never quite made it into The (infamous) Gallery. I think I tried at least once, as did 6,000 other kids a week apparently. I had no chance.

PPS. One question and I do hope Tony will forgive me. Was Morph a man or a woman? Very difficult to tell on closer inspection…

By Stephanie Branston on March 3rd, 2009

Tags: Facebook, Flash mobbing, Television, The Arts

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I’ve never quite got all the hype around Banksy, the pseudo-anonymous British graffiti artist with an international reputation for his artwork. However, I still like the idea of owning one of his prints especially for the attractive investment of 1p. Thanks to a promotion running with Brahma beers just now, that dream could become a reality, all the more appealing given the current economic climate. Brahma, the most popular cerveja in Brazil which will celebrate its 120th birthday next year, has launched a promotion for one winner to buy, for £0.01, an original print of the ‘Trolleys’, currently being housed at 3, Newburgh Street, London.

Known for his headline making stunts, Banksy’s anti-establishment “cool” has certainly made him highly collectible. Celebrity fans include Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Damien Hirst. Always controversial (with no obvious links to Brazil that I’m aware of), it’s not known whether Banksy will be present to hand over the print to the lucky recipient at the secret location on 27th March.

I suspect he won’t but definitely worth a punt (and a pint) regardless.

By Stephanie Branston on March 2nd, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, The Arts

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