Activating Audible’s Sponsorship of Virgin Money London Marathon 2019

Challenge:

Taking on Virgin Money London Marathon is the ultimate endurance test and our client Audible wanted to bring their sponsorship of the iconic event to life by creating an event that played to the mammoth task of running the marathon without having to actually run.

Solution:

Create an endurance test of a different kind!!

We worked with Audible and Mark Watson to create Mark Watson's 24 hour comedy marathon on Audible and harness the power of comedy to bring to life Audible sponsorship.

Mark Watson took on his own personal challenge creating a live comedy show to run the duration of the marathon. A whopping 26.2 hours .

Keeping an audience (including The Producers) of over 100 people entertained for 26.2 hours straight is no small task and Mark enlisted the help of a revolving door of comedians and guests to join him onstage at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington.

Those that couldn’t attend in person could tune in via a livestream on twitch increasing the reach of the show.

Not only did they manage to stay awake but they also raised a whopping £20,000 for the charity partner Dementia Revolution through a series of bizarre and wonderfully CRAZY challenges that kept the audience in stitches.

We have picked our top 5 moments….that will stay with us for a very long time

1. Deborah Frances White dressing as Theresa May & singing Liza Minnelli’s Mein Heir!
2. Legendary Tattoo Artist Dan Gold tattooing Mark Watson’s brussel sprout face onto Cerys Nelmes’ bum!
3. Rachel Riley popping in to take part in one of the many games of Countdown that four participants did for the full 26.2 hours
4. Angela Barnes curing her very real phobia of fish culminating in releasing an actual gold fish & kissing a cod
5. Actual Bradley Walsh skyping in to chat to Izzy, the onsite artist that drew different portraits of Bradley Walsh for the full 26.2 hours

And there are so many more… thank goodness the Evening Standards were there and managed to stay awake to give their highlights here

After a couple of months rest we then picked up proceedings with Mark as he entertained runners & cheerers in our Audible Cheering Zone at Mile 19. If you saw the giant Audible headphones… we were there!

Another great year activating Audible’s sponsorship!

Results:

1 – 100 attendees at both Marathon events

9 – 169 coverage shares

90 – 26,700,00 total coverage online readership

The cutting-edge gaming technology company, Black Shark, helps gamers to reach the best gaming experience, create a gaming eco- system in 360 degrees based on hardware, software and service, currently mainly carried by gaming smartphone.

Challenge:

To launch the latest Black Shark 2 gaming mobile phone device to core media in an impactful and interactive way creating a media “first look”.

Solution:

Working with our good friends at BCW who looked after the media outreach, we created a “first look’ media event inspired by the look and the personality of the phone.

Black Shark is committed to becoming the most favourite and trusted brand of game technology in the world and we needed our media guests to get hands on and see the power of the phone.

Taking inspiration from the phones unique and technical design we took the key themes such as bright neon greens, hard glossy black and futuristic graphite tone and brought this to life through the venue dressing and production so guests felt completely absorbed in Black Shark.

We know media are always short of time so our media “first look” was created to fit nicely into the lunch hour including catering and drinks service.

We kicked off with a in-depth presentation from Black Shark Global VP David Li who talked media through the Black Shark vision and capabilities, what the future holds for Black Shark and how the technology they are creating is evolving the mobile gaming experience.

Media then got a chance for one on one interviews with David Li and fitted in a quick spot of lunch.

Media then got hands on with the phone as the Black Shark team helped guests to explore our multiple demo areas where they could explore the functionality, gaming handset bolt on and interactivity with other home devices and ask questions directly to the team.

Advertising agency Pablo came to us to help bring their dreams of a Gin Tractor to life for Warner Edwards.

As part of a wider ATL campaign which included outdoor media, digital and social, Pablo and Warner Edwards wanted to create showstopping moment ahead of Christmas in London.

Cue our Warner Edwards tractor-driven poster - a media first and The Warner Edwards equivalent to the Coca Cola lorry.

We sourced, designed and customised a traditional farm tractor and transformed it into the The Warner Edwards tractor.

Our tractor brought the Warner Edwards farm to life with haybales, festive lighting and Christmas carols and a few surprise and delight Warner Edwards gin deliveries to media houses and influencers.

For one full day in December our tractor drove the streets of Londonand offered passers-by the opportunity to take their Instagram snap with the chance of winning a year’s supply of gin!

Challenge:

LEGO’s The Wildest Wishes ATL campaign in 2018 was all about bringing kids creativity and imagination to life, using cutting edge technology as the portal for kids to make their wildest wishes become a reality. As part of this 360 integrated campaign LEGO wanted shine a light on the humble brick and The LEGO IMAGINARIUM experience was born.

Solution:

Taking creative inspiration from the Christmas ATL, we created a stand-alone LEGO Christmas inspired chalet on London’s Southbank for 8th and 9th December 2018.

The guest experience began with a fantastical 3-minute AR experience, that contained more than 640 hours of CGI modelling and half a million virtual LEGO bricks. Viewed through iPads onsite, the LEGO door acted as the AR marker and opened a portal to the LEGO IMAGINARIUM. Once inside the IMAGINARIUM immersive VR projections transported guests from under the sea to deep space and beyond encouraging them to build their wildest wish from the brick pits. On leaving the IMAGINARIUM guests stopped for a photo with a life size LEGO Santa and had a lucky dig into his bag to grab a LEGO Santa gift to takeaway.

In order to reach a mass audience of low affinity shoppers, well-known family celebrity and TV personality Stacey Solomon was recruited for participation in broadcast day with photography, a series of media interviews in key titles (METRO, Yahoo!, HELLO! and Evening Standard), attendance at the event for pics and video, and social posts.

Results:

1 - 1,700 though the in-depth AR & VR experience

9 - Influencer reach of 6.9million

90 - 95.1 million impressions via earned media

Challenge:

To help launch the new awesome pug-tastic TV show on Boomerang, Cartoon Network asked us to come with a PR launch stunt that would resonate with dogs and humans alike.

Working with our sister PR agency PrettyGreen our role was to drive awareness and tune in to Mighty Mike (launching around 6th May) through a PR/social campaign that lands national coverage targeting kids 4-7 years and their parents

Solution:

Playing into the (unrequited) romance between Mike and the neighbor’s dog, we launched a First Dates restaurant for dogs, creating comedic content with a celebrity Maitre D that mimics the awkward moments of the show and faux doggy friendship. We made the experience available for families and their dogs to book. A real doggy brunch date.

Partnering with M Restaurant in Victoria, we hosted the First Mates Doggy Diner experience for 40 humans and 15 lucky dogs offering a guests received a two-course meal for themselves and their canine friends.

Every restaurant needs a celebrity Maitre D and Anton du Beke fit that bill being the face and the personality of the event.

We created multiple Mighty Mike instagrammable touchpoints as we know dog owners love a doggy selfie, including the photo wall, polaroid frames, branded menus, napkins, directional paw print floor vinyl's as well as Mighty Mike content being shown on screen.

Our doggy guests were treated like royalty receiving bespoke goody bags, as well as ensuring their comfort with each dog receiving a dog bed, blanket and Mighty Mike bowl at their table

Results:

1 - 47 total pieces of coverage with average DA of 65

9 - 2.2K shares/likes/engagements with 180K social reach

90- 2.1M estimated coverage views

Virgin Media: Lean In  - Empowering Women at work. 

Challenge:

Inform and educated to Virgin Media’s female staff on what Lean In is and raise awareness of the new Lean In community.

Solution: 

We invited the women of Virgin Media UK to London, to experience an inspiring evening event hosted by leading women in the organisation, to meet, talk and discuss key issues and be inspired and feel supported of one another.

We transformed a blank space into a fully branded relaxed and inspiring environment hosted by Katie Todd, Head of Network Expansion and author / motivational speaker Pauline Saunders (The Worlds Longest Climb). Broken into 4 parts we managed the entire evening across guest list management, welcome speeches, team building workshops, full event catering consisting of tray service and and open bar, a structured keynote presentation & Q&A, finishing off with a lovely goody bag which we designed and sourced product for.

Results: 

40 invited attendee

Audible Presents: Spoken Worlds: A festival worth listening to 

Challenge
Position Audible as the leader of this rising audio category  

Solution 

Create “Spoken Worlds” - a multi-event festival showcasing a wide range of audio content and appealing to the ever critical London audience.  

We created four events throughout September to individually showcase the audio content and encourage a wider conversation with the audience.  We sourced unique venues for each event that brought the topic of the audio to life. The festival kicked off with The Butterfly Effect at The Box, Soho with panel discussion around the impact of free porn on the soho sex industry with Jon Ronson (author) and Miranda Sawyer. Followed by West Cork at Lincoln’s Inn discussing the ethics of true crime podcasts. SPIRITLAND hosted Pitch and a discussion around the use of music for good and evil. The festival finished with No Brainer hosted by Ruby Wax discussing the science behind mental health.  

 The output from each of these events was a podcast that is housed on Audible so members could listen to each discussion.

Results:
1 –  231 attendees across 4 events 

9 –  1365 social interactions with an avg. Domain authority of 60 

90 – 300,000,000 OTS (Including coverage in target key London titles incl. Grazia, Evening Standard, The Times, I and The Independent)

UNIKITTY: THE UK’S FIRST CAT PREMIER 

Challenge:
Raise awareness for new series Unikitty and drive tune-in amongst kids (both boys and girls 6-11)

Solution: 

In honour of the brand new, feline-fueled cartoon series Unikitty, we transformed Odeon Haymarket into the UK’s first ever red carpet premiere for real life cats with #cattitude. 

For this campaign, we managed the entire red carpet event including the takeover of ODEON Haymarket with Unikitty branding, as well as recruiting all celebrity cats for a full day photoshoot and attending the evening premiere.  

Joining our feline-friends on the red carpet were celebrities Stacey Solomon and Lydia Bright, Radio 1’s Chris Stark, and YouTuber Noodlerella, who filmed content for Cartoon Network and her own channels. 

Results:  
1 – 38 human attendees / 11 feline attendees 

9 –  27k organic video views / 3.3k organic video likes 

90 – 37,837,749 OTS 

*Unikitty! launched on Monday 5th March at 6.30pm with an average 1.248 TVR and 115,000 audience (up +234% on previous 4 weeks slot average) the highest rating single play on a pay TV kids’ channel last week.

Becoming Lara Croft – Shadow of the Tomb Raider Live stream 

Our Challenge: 

Launch the new SOTTR game to core fans (and new ones) 

Our solution: 

Create a first of its kind, livestreamed live treasure hunt to find a replica mayan golden dagger (inspired by the game) worth £20,000. 

Over the course of the 72 hours viewers were offered clues in the form of a series of Mayan themed puzzles and a close-up that revealed clues to a 3m2 location (using What3Words) in the real world where the real dagger was hidden. We streamed across multiple platforms including Square Enix’s pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Mixer and Twitch. 

To keep the live stream fresh we hosted live spot prizes where viewers could solve the live location and get to there first to receive a copy of the game before its official release. 

Key SOTTR influencers also streamed gameplay live throughout the 72 hours which we streamed into our livestream to deliver further engagement and reach. 

The dagger was found after the reveal of the 7th clue and the first 20 viewers to the location were entered into a prize draw to win the dagger. All winner received a copy of the game and the overall winner received the 20k cash prize. 

Results: 

1 – 20 winners 

9 – Total views across all platforms: 1,323,395 views/viewers 

90 - Total viewing time across YT, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook: 14 years, 91 days, 4 hours, 28 minutes  

Nergi – A mini kiwi berry invasion

Challenge:

Driving trial of  a slightly unusual new food product, Nergi to the UK consumer  

Solution:

Nergi berries are only available for a very short period each year due to their growing cycle so we need to raise awareness and get consumer to trial Nergi in a high impact and accessible way...where we could hit the biggest numbers of consumers in a short period of time.

We headed to where our “on the go” customer is and offer them a handy lunchbox sized treat. The berries are practical thanks to their small size and are ready-to-eat with their skin on, perfect for eating on the go....or at your desk. 

On Tuesday 25th September we had the pleasure of introducing over 10,000 Londoners to the newest sweet treat to hit the UK - The Nergi Kiwi Berries.  

Sampling in London Waterloo station, across two shifts (morning and evening rush hours) in one of the busiest stations in London, we created mobile sampling with staffing a lightweight easy to use branded sampling trays to spread the word from sunny France to not so sunny London that the new super fruit will soon be available for purchase in the UK and giving commuters the chance to taste it on their journey for the very first time. The berries are practical thanks to their small size and are ready-to-eat with their skin on, perfect for eating on the go!  

Results: 

10,000  sample packs of Nergi distributed-  hitting our KPI

Earn your Armour campaign launch

Challenge

Create a PR stunt to launch UA’s Global "Earn your Armour" campaign around the Rugby World Cup. To capiatalise on the media attention and excitement around the event…without being an RWC sponsor

Solution
Use our UA Rugby ambassadors as the driving creative force behind the stunt.
We created a traffic stopping stunt with key Under Armour rugby ambassadors to highlight UAs support of Rugby athletes playing in the RWC. Positioning UA as the base layer to these Rugby players a global creative was developed to go across all challenge to support a wider sales message around base layer. We took this creative and transformed a container into a floating billboard – under the narrative that the Base layers where being shipped into London for the RWC
Our Under Armour container was shipped
down the Thames from Twickenham to the East End showcasing the “Earn Your Armour” creative of Under Armour’s rugby ambassadors and their country’s shirts.
At the pinnacle moment as the container passed under the bridge, the images of the players’ country shirts were ripped away to reveal the ‘Earn Your Armour’ baselayer creative which were worn by 
UA Rugby ambassadors during the RWC 2015 and revealed the players’ literal under armour!

Results

1 - 50 invited media

9 - 1.7M total social reach of hero image via Under Armour and ahtlete channels

90- 660m OTS including Daily Express and Daily Mail

Under Armour Series Launch

Challenge
Launch Under Armours sponsorship of the inaugural Under Armour Series to an audience outside of Wales.

Solution

Our solution was to bring the UA Record app to life and highlight the intense training of a pro rugby athlete – and then relate it back to everyday health and fitness.
We created a life-sized real world version of the app that showcased the four quadrants of the app and used our exclusive access to WRU players to give insight into the innovative training regime
We utilised limited time with the WRU players and expert coaches to conduct over 25 interviews in two hours with media from around the UK and super fans

Results

1 – 25 interviews

9 – 710k impressions

90 – 267 million OTS

*Total attendance for the series was 235,042, above the average when compared to the previous decade

Virgin Media’s Kingdom Launch

Challenge
Launch Virgin Media’s new show Kingdom to media with no access to talent.

Solution
The show centers around an MMA gym..called Navy St. So we transformed a venue in London into Navy St for the night complete with cage! We themed all activates, food and drink around the gym including protein cocktails.

As we couldn't get access to talent from the show, but wanted to event to feel as authentic as possible, we worked with real life UFC champion Brad ‘one punch’ Pickett and his team to deliver MMA fights and sparing sessions so media could learn more about the sport…and have a go!

All media entered through the locker room where they got their hands wrapped by our coach and got to hear a bit about the show and MMA, then they headed to the bar to watch the workshops and fights and then enjoy the pilot of the new show.

Results:

1 –  100 media & Stakeholder guests

9 –  437,100social mentions #KingdomonVM

90 - 153,896,665 OTS

• *4x national including Daily Mail Weekend, The Sun, Daily Star and Telegraph/ 2x consumer print including Coach magazine and Shortlist/ 11x online including Joe.co.uk, Esquire and Digital Spy/ 5x Trade including Broadcast magazine, USwitch and TV Vision
• Key Message Delivery: 100% of coverage include key message “Kingdom on Virgin Media (1^stApril)”

Virgin Media V6 launch

Challenge
Launch the biggest innovation in streaming technology from Virgin Media to key industry stakeholders, peers and media

Create a buzz with VM staff and celebrate the launch.

Solution
To launch Virgin Media’s game changing V6 box for industry leaders, staff and media we created an exclusive invite only event at the stunning (like the V6 box) Landing 42 in London.
The event was uniquely Virgin media with the brand personality running through all elements of the event design and guest journey.
Guests were invited to come along early for a relaxed breakfast followed by an interactive presentation showcasing the capabilities of the V6 box delivered live on screen and hosted by the perfect double act of Andi Peters and David Bouchier (Chief Digital Entertainment Officer).
Guests then got hand on with the V6 box and technology for the first time in addition to technical one on ones with key Virgin Media staff.
The launch finished with a staff presentation and a big party to celebrate the launch hosted by celebrity DJ Trever Nelson.

England Rugby Fanzone

Challenge

Create an event for all ages to celebrate the RWC and encourage active engagement with Rugby and Rugby based activities

Reward ticket holders and entertainment them in the run up to the match – create a full days event around the match

Solution
Following a competitive tender, we were engaged by England Rugby 2015 to design, build and activate the Wembley Park Fanzone, a place where Rugby fans could make the most out of their 2015 Rugby World Cup experience.
We worked with RWC sponsors to deliver a range of activations onsite including Mastercard, DHL, Land Rover and Coke.
We curated and produced a schedule of live interactive and participation events from cultural and rugby partners including Haka performers, Irish dancers, cheerleaders, tango performances, Romanian folk music performances and demonstrations from Kilburn Cosmos and GB Wheelchair Rugby.
Operated the bars with RWC sponsor Heinken and Grants and sourced a selection of food traders that delivered the ethic foods of the participating teams.
Fanzone was live across two games New Zealand v Argentina & Ireland v Romania.

Results

1 - 40,000 Fanzone attendance across 2 match days

9 - 178,286 Match attendance on 2 days

90 – 4 billion OTS (TV coverage based on ER2015 media report)

IAAF Athletics Awards

Challenge

The IAAF wanted to revamp and moderise their awards concept putting athletes firmly at the heart of the event.

Attract more athletes and their teams, member federations, potential sponsors and media to attend

Firmly establish the IAAF Athletics Awards as the awards every athletes wants to win

Solution
Reduced length of awards and reduced number of categories
Designed a new creative identity for the awards, delivering a simple and effective creative that puts the athletes at the heart that carries through all show design, marketing and media touch points.
Designed a new creative identity for the awards, delivering a simple and effective creative that puts the athletes at the heart that carries through all show design, marketing and media touch points.
Worked as Executive Producer and show designer for the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016, 2017 and 2018 in Monaco we worked as an extension of the IAAF’s internal team and Prince Alberts Royal Protocol team to produce and direct the show live ensuring every element of the awards ran smoothly.

Results

2016 - 600 athletes, sponsors, IAAF family (staff), Partners, royal delegation, media and broadcast
2017 - 600 athletes, sponsors, IAAF family (staff), Partners, royal delegation, media and broadcast

2018 - 600 athletes, sponsors, IAAF family (staff), Partners, royal delegation, media and broadcast

John Lewis ONBlackheath Festival

Challenge

Create a festival experience drive re-appraisal of the brand by targeting a younger demographic in a festival environment through entertainment and food.

Create a festival experience for myJL cardholders to reward and encourage new sign ups onsite

Ensure John Lewis values are communicated throughout the festival experience – multiple touch points (create brand love)

Solution
For the Fourth year we have activated John Lewis’s headline sponsorships of ONBlackheath festival.
Designing two beautiful John Lewis hospitality areas within the festival site, where guests and consumers could relax, eat and enjoy great views of the main stage. 
Programmed and managed the John Lewis Food Village including John Lewis Chefs Stage with talks and demos by the hottest UK chefs, John Lewis Chefs Club Banquet which offered a sit down dinner experience and the John Lewis Cookery School in partnership with Electrolux.
Acted as brand guardians to ensure that John Lewis touch points ran through all areas of the festival from entrance to exit.

2017 Results


1 - 22,000 festival-goers
per day (54k over the weekend)

9 - 55,000 social engagements

90 - 1.5million reach

Conor McGregor’s Official Private Jet ‘Notorious Airways’ Takes Off For Las Vegas

Challenge
Leverage the Betsafe sponsorship of the Connor McGregor fight to drive NDCs (new depositing customers) and deliver PR coverage around the sponsorship with key UK and Scandinavian titles.

Solution
A once in a lifetime, all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to see Connor in action.
We created Connor McGregor’s private jet - ‘Notorious Airways’ to take 32 lucky competition winners, fans and Betsafe Ambassadors Tony Bellew, Jimi Manuwa, Emil Meeks and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn out to his historic fight with Floyd Mayweather at the T-mobile arena in Las Vegas

‘Notorious Airways’ sent a strong pre-fight message on its departure depicting a giant image of Connor alongside a reminder of the odds #49to1 that Betsafe were offering on the fight which was sold into media.

To surprise his guests onboard, McGregor created a surprise ‘plane safety video’ message for all 32 passengers to ensure those on-board travelled safely and adhered to ‘Notorious Airways’ private jet ‘rules and regulations’.

Results

1 - 24

9 - 25,000

90 – 3.9 Billion…

*Campaign was over 600% more successful than any other Betsafe campaign

*On the day of fight, the UK received 37.5k NDCs, over 25k more than their overall 18-month target.

Audible's The X-Files:Cold Cases

Challenge
Create a launch to drive PR coverage for a new audible book that can be experience in the real world primarily through sound. With no assets and no access to talent.

Solution
An exclusive immersive code breaking experience for media and consumers to be part of the alien-themed mystery.
Putting guests at the heart of the action and brining them up close and personal with extra-terrestrial life forms including Flukeman!
Hosted at the Old Post Office Tunnels guests made their way through a series of rooms and tunnels by finding clues and cracking the mystery all delivered through the Audible audiobook narrative.
Once they had solved all the clues and made their way out of the tunnels they joined a Q&A with former Ministry of Defense and UFO expert Nick Pope, a self-confessed ‘real life Fox Mulder’ and Audible director Dirk Maggs.

Results

1 - 120
 attendance

9 - 175,160 Influencer Instagram reach

90 - 142 million OTS

Challenge
Create a launch to drive PR coverage for a new audible book that can be experienced in the real world primarily through sound. With no assets and no access to talent.

Solution
A ‘first of its kind’ audio experience hosted at the Royal Observatory’s Planetarium for guests to have the first listen to Audibles new short form audio drama, Alien: River of Pain, adapted for Audible from Christoper Golden’s 2014 novel.
Guests enjoyed an exclusive audio edit that was played to a live visual exploration of the universe that took them to what could be the planet that inspire the book.
The exploration was delivered live by renowned Astronomer Tom Kerss, who gave an exclusive talk on the possibility of our discovering exoplanets post the audio screening.
The evening culminated in the audio drama being beamed up to space for aliens and earthlings alike to intercept! A first!!

Results

1 - 250 guests including media, celebrities and key stakeholders

9 - 800,000 social reach

90 - 1.4 million

*20 pieces of coverage

*2017’s highest downloaded original Audible book