Author: Katie Cavanagh

London 2012 Olympic Taekwondo champion named as Baku 2015 European Games ambassador 12th February, 2015

Slingshot Sponsorship’s client GB Taekwondo has just announced that Olympic Gold Medalist Jade Jones will be an international Athlete Ambassador for this summer’s inaugural Baku 2015 European Games.

Ms Jones became Great Britain’s first-ever Taekwondo gold medalist at London 2012, with victory in the 57kg weight division.

She also won silver at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, South Korea, and picked up another silver medal at the 2014 European Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, last May.

Mr Simon Clegg, Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015, said: “To be able to name a reigning Olympic champion as a Baku 2015 ambassador is a fantastic achievement for the first European Games and a testament to the calibre of athletes that the event will attract.

“I am sure Jade will very much enjoy promoting the Games in Great Britain through her role as an international Athlete Ambassador, and we hope to see her give a memorable performance in Baku this summer.”

Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors will represent their sports and feature in extensive marketing campaigns around the continent and on social media to promote the first European Games.

Ms Jones, 21, said: “I am very proud to have been named as a Baku 2015 Athlete Ambassador, and it will be an honour to help promote the Games. It is important for European athletes to have our own multi-sport event, and my aim is to become the first European Games Taekwondo champion.”

Mr Mark England, the British Olympic Association’s Chef de Mission for Baku 2015, said: “Jade’s participation as a Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassador reflects British athletes’ enthusiasm for the European Games. Britain has a strong sporting tradition, and the Athlete Ambassador programme will help to generate interest and excitement in the country ahead of Baku 2015.”

Ms Jones joins French rhythmic gymnast Kseniya Moustafaeva, Denmark’s canoe sprinter René Holten Poulsen and Serbia’s Basketball 3×3 team of Dušan Domović Bulut, Marko Savic, Marko Zdero and Dejan Majstorovic as Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors, with more to be announced in the near future.

Slingshot’s MD Jackie Fast Takes Home Two Awards at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 21st November, 2014

Jackie Fast, MD of Slingshot Sponsorship was awarded with two awards for the Media Disruptor Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, held at Old Billingsgate in London on November 19th, 2014. In association with NatWest, the awards celebrated entrepreneurs who embody a spirit of disruption, innovation and enterprise. Regarded as the new benchmark for entrepreneurial success in the UK, the awards celebrated the contributions and innovations of British entrepreneurs and their impact on the economy.

With some extremely talent nominations (see full list of nominations for the category here) within the Media Disruptor of the Year Award, Jackie Fast was given Bronze in the overall category losing to Shane Lake from HungryHouse who took home Gold.

In addition, Jackie was given the NatWest Special Merit Award beating out Sarah Wood, Founder of Unruly and Jay Radia, Founder of Yieldify.

To see the full list of winners from the Great British Entrepreneur Awards click here.

Slingshot Sponsorship Wins Best British Small Business in the O2 Smarta 100 6th October, 2014

Smarta.com and O2 Business present the UK’s 100 most dynamic and innovative small businesses

Smarta.com and O2 Business proudly announce that Slingshot Sponsorship is a winner of the 2014 O2 Smarta 100, the ultimate index of the UK’s savviest, supremely disruptive, most resourceful and socially-beneficial small businesses.

The O2 Smarta 100 awards celebrates new UK tech powerhouses like Squawka, Rant & Rave and Pact Coffee, as much as those dedicated to changing thousands of lives for the better – Two Fingers Brewing Co, whose profits go in full to prostate cancer research.

In total, 2014’s Smarta 100 are generating revenues of over £70million a year and employing more than 640 people. More than a quarter are female-run businesses and half are self-funded, with just 5% borrowing from a bank. 35% have taken angel, private equity or VC funding. The oldest company founder is 56; the two youngest are just teenagers at 19.

Commenting on their inclusion in the Smarta 100, Slingshot Sponsorship’s Managing Director Jackie Fast said:

We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the Smarta 100 list this year. It’s fantastic that our specialist work in helping organisations commercialise through sponsorship is being recognised by the larger business community. Even just being judged by such an esteemed panel from businesses that we find truly inspiring including Naked Wines and Ella’s Kitchen is an honour in itself, and winning is just that much better!

Jackie Fast is also up for the Young Female Entrepreneur Award at the Smarta100 through a public vote.

Discover more business stories and to vote for Jackie Fast under the Young Female Entrepreneur Award category please visit: www.smarta.com/smarta100

Slingshot’s MD Jackie Fast named as one of UK’s Hottest Entrepreneurs Aged 35 or Under 15th September, 2014

Growing Business today names its 12^th annual list of the entrepreneurs aged 35 or under behind 30 of the UK’s brightest companies.

Jackie Fast, MD of Slingshot Sponsorship, has been named one of the UK’s most outstanding entrepreneurs aged 35 or under, revealed today in Growing Business’ Young Guns ‘Class of 2014′.

Recognised at an awards luncheon held at the prestigious Kensington Roof Gardens, this year’s crop is made up of 54 entrepreneurs behind 30 of the country’s fastest-growing firms. The Class of 2014 join an alumni already containing the founders of 330 businesses named since the Young Guns awards began in 2003. Sponsored by law firm Keystone Law and chartered accountants haysmacintyre, Young Guns celebrates the most outstanding crop of young entrepreneurs the country has to offer with only 30 companies selected each year, and no repeat appearances.

Commenting on the win, Jackie Fast said: “It is an absolute honour to be recognised amongst this incredibly influential and successful group of people shaping the future of business in the UK. As our agency is driven to enable and secure the future of other businesses commercially through securing partners, this award is particularly relevant to us. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Slingshot Sponsorship as well as the other Young Guns!”

Now in its 12th year, the awards has a track record of talent spotting, previously recognising the fledgling businesses started by the likes of Michael Action Smith OBE of Mind Candy, Holly Tucker MBE of Notonthehighstreet.com, Neil Hutchinson of Forward Internet Group, Matthew Riley of Daisy Group Plc, and the co-founders of Innocent Drinks, Huddle, YPlan, Nails Inc., Chilango, and Made.com.

View the full list of 2014 Young Guns and their profiles here:www.growingbusiness.co.uk/young-guns

In numbers: Who are the Young Guns Class of 2014?

There are 54 qualifying co-founders
The 30 businesses are 4 years old on average
The mean age between the qualifying founders is 29, with the youngest just 18
On average their companies employ 36 people, with the highest employing 200
Between the 20 companies that are equity backed, the total they’ve raised stands at over £114m
That means those 20 companies have raised £5.7m on average – the highest being House Trip, which has raised $60m and Nutmeg with $50m.
It also means 10 companies in this Class have grown organically
Their average turnover (for the 26 who told us) is £4.1m and they’re forecasting to grow that to £7.2m this year
Of the 26 who told us, they still own 61% of their equity

The Knowledge Arena – Challenging The Traditional Festival Model 11th September, 2014

The end of summer always signifies the end of another chapter for the Outlook and Dimensions Festivals team at Slingshot. But summer blues aside, this year’s editions of Outlook and Dimensions Festivals brought with it the launch of the Knowledge Arena.

Curated alongside CDR Projects, an evolving multi-platform music project – Outlook & Dimensions developed an immersive new learning experience space that focused upon music creation, performance and collaboration. For the 14 days spanning first Dimensions and then Outlook Festival, festival-goers and artists were granted the chance to be inspired by their surroundings and have the opportunity to creatively channel their experiences in the sun at the Knowledge Arena.

The Inspiration

Technological advancement in the music industry has meant that the process of music creation and performance have continued to blur. Spawned from the minds of festival Director Johnny Scratchley and CDR’s Tony Nwachukwu, the Knowledge Arena was created to take a deeper look into these processes and to understand what factors influence the work that is produced and then performed and enjoyed at Outlook Festival and Dimensions Festival.

The Enablers

Alongside Ableton, Akai and M-Audio, the Knowledge Arena created a fully immersive experience for individuals. The tailored programme featured a mix of music creation workshops, artist masterclasses and conversations and ‘Open Play’ slots which allowed individuals the chance to develop their own ideas supported by a team of specialist producers and DJs.

Such an exploration was delivered alongside Ableton, M-Audio and Akai. A studio was built on the festival site and was fitted with a wealth of equipment for everyone to get their hands on from – Ableton Live, Akai APC40, Ableton Push and M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro.

The Results

Not only was the Knowledge Area a space for festival-goers to engage with workshops from our Knowledge Arena professionals, it also hosted a programme of talks and demonstrations from some of the top artists on the bill for both Outlook & Dimensions. The Knowledge Arena saw the likes of Omar, Seven Davis Jr, Alexander Nut, Roman Flugel and more discuss their creative processes.

The Knowledge Arena brought another element to the festival experience at Outlook and Dimensions Festivals this year. Not only did it allow festival-goers the opportunity to try their hand at the latest kit out there, it gave them the chance to delve further into the creative processes of the artists they admire. Each of the artists engaged with their workshops and talks with a level of honesty that you would not be able to find elsewhere.

Coming from a single conversation between Johnny and Tony, the Knowledge Arena is just the first step towards the evolution of the festival experience at Outlook and Dimensions. Keep your eyes peeled for exclusive footage that will be released over the coming weeks.

Slingshot Sponsorship Appoints New Account Director to Launch Sport Division 23rd April, 2014

Slingshot Sponsorship announces that Alex Howells will be joining its London office as an Account Director to head up the agency’s new sport division, as it seeks to drive its ‘creative commercialisation’ concept to rights-owners within the sports industry.

Howells takes up the position at Slingshot with over 9 years of experience across the sports marketing and sponsorship sectors, with previous roles at the Football Association and E.ON. Most recently he has been a key member of the Partnerships team at Sport England where he was responsible for growing Sport England’s portfolio of partners and providing specialist commercial support to national governing bodies of sport.

Jackie Fast, Managing Director at Slingshot Sponsorship, said: “We have been on the hunt for a new Director of Sport for some time as it is incredibly difficult to find senior people who have a combination of strong creativity and commercial acumen. Combining that with proven account management, Alex’s breadth of experience with both influential brands and sporting bodies was an ideal fit for our agency as we look to bring our sponsorship concept to the sporting industry.”

The new Sport Division will deliver fresh insight through the agency’s previous success developing unique commercial strategies and brand campaigns in music, arts and the charity sector.

Slingshot Sponsorship has developed a bespoke sport offering to the industry at a defining time in sports marketing. Sports with smaller audiences are all too often overlooked for their partnership potential because of the lack of television reach, while mass market sports largely sell their sponsorship based on these figures. Slingshot works with both brands and rights owners to look beyond the logo, aided by the advance of technology which is driving both innovation and speed. Jackie Fast states that, “It is now the perfect opportunity to maximise the true potential of sport campaigns that drive engagement – rather than just brand awareness.”

Alex Howells, Account Director, Slingshot Sponsorship stated: “It’s a privilege to join the team at Slingshot. Slingshot do things differently and the agency’s accomplishments in such a short space of time are an indication of the commitment, drive and energy of Jackie and her team. I’m excited to be a part of it and help bring Slingshot’s creativity to sport.”

Howells will carry on the work with Slingshot’s current sport clients, while creating tailored offerings to the industry as a whole with a focus on maximising both participants and commercial revenue streams through effective marketing partnerships. He will also be responsible for building the profile of smaller sports and women’s sport within the sponsorship industry as a whole.

Hammerson shopping centres to host national sustainability roadshow – The Big Positive Weekend 24th February, 2014

Hammerson, the owner of some of the UK’s best known shopping centres, is launching a nationwide sustainability roadshow called The Big Positive Weekend.

Aiming to reach 2 million customers and inspire 200,000 positive pledges, The Big Positive Weekend celebrates the great things people and brands are doing for our communities and our environment. The roadshow is designed to leave visitors inspired and motivated to take small actions that add up to a big positive impact.

The first road show of its kind to be staged by a retail property owner will visit nine of Hammerson’s shopping centres across the country throughout June, July and August, which attract over 200 million consumers a year. The Roadshow will start at West Quay in Southampton and include London’s Brent Cross and Bullring in Birmingham. With a combined audience of over 6 million people, The Big Positive Weekend promises to give great ideas and advice on how to not only be more sustainable but also save money.

The headline sponsor for the Roadshow is Nationwide Building Society. Nationwide has been working hard to reduce its environmental impact and is keen to help individuals do the same, through its Green Homes Guide, which provides practical tips for sustainable homes. E.ON, the energy partner sponsoring the event, will have advisors on hand to help people use no more energy than they need by sharing energy-saving tips, demonstrating smart meters, and discussing free and discounted energy efficient measures which shoppers may be entitled to.

Shoppers will be able to engage with an array of different sustainability focussed activities and displays at each centre, all manned by our Big Positive Ambassadors. As well as activities from our partners, shoppers can become part of a digital photo gallery of ‘positive people’ created live during the event and look at some of the most ‘positive products’ available from Hammerson retailers.

Louise Ellison, Hammerson’s Head of Sustainability, commented, “Our shopping centres present a fantastic opportunity to connect with millions of people; using that platform to raise awareness of sustainability in a fun way that inspires positive action, is a logical step for a responsible business.”

Stephen Uden, Nationwide’s Head of Citizenship said, “We are delighted to be the lead partner of the Big Positive Weekend and hope that it can inspire people to change their lives and their communities for the better. Nationwide has already engaged over two million of its members in its sustainability work over the last year and the Big Positive project will build on this.”

Hammerson is working in partnership with print, logistics and design companies piloting new techniques in order to deliver The Big Positive Weekend as sustainable as possible. Seacourt Printers will be providing print support, and Slingshot Sponsorship is working with Hammerson to source partners that will create a new event on the sustainability calendar.

The Big Positive event will be taking place at:

WestQuay, Southampton on 14^th – 15^th June;
Brent Cross, London on 21^st – 22^nd June;
Centrale, Croydon on 28^th – 29^th June;
The Oracle, Reading on 5^th – 6^th July;
Highcross, Leicester on 12^th – 13^th July;
Bullring, Birmingham on 19^th – 20^th July;
Union Square, Aberdeen on 26^th – 27^th July;
Silverburn, Glasgow on 2nd – 3^rd August.

Bank of America restoring faith in Super Bowl mania 4th February, 2014

Ah, the Super Bowl – the time of the year that makes little to no difference to my life, apart from on Monday, whenAdweek provides us with the glory of the previous evening’s ad-off; with the added bonus of no touchdowns in between.

This year, we bore witness to a Clydesdale horse falling in love with a puppy and (to many people’s dismay) another showing of Bob Dylan selling a car. Dylan sticking it to the man aside, the ad that struck me most was that of Bank of America. The Bank used its prized slot as an opportunity to launch the company’s partnership withAIDS charity (RED). The 60 second slot showcased U2 with the release of their first track in 5 years, ‘Invisible’ and directed fans to download the track for free off iTunes for 24 hours after the ad’s airing, with Bank of America donating $1 for every download (up to $2 million).

The showcasing of this partnership leads perfectly from the piece Patrick Nally wrote last week for #Synergy30. Within the article, Nally makes the crucial argument that for the sponsorship industry to progress, it ‘needs to be directly involved in the debate and examination of the relationships between sports and the worlds of commerce, education, technology, governments and politics and society in general.’ For me, this 60 second ad did just that. The Super Bowl had the world at their feet on Sunday (well, until the second half) and granted Bank of America, U2 and (RED) a platform not only to gain global exposure, but to raise awareness and funds for the charity.

What is emphasised through this partnership is the endless opportunity for corporates to use sponsorship/advertising at global sporting events as a platform for greater good. Through the ad slot, over 3 million free downloads were purchased on iTunes – reaching the $2 million mark within hours, encouraging Bank of America to continue donating further into the night. Such an overwhelming response to this partnership emphasises the influence corporates, global sporting events and even aging Irish rock stars can generate when given the right opportunity. Of course, the Super Bowl is at the highest end of the spectrum, but what we need now is for more rights holders to offer platforms that can facilitate these partnerships, and for sponsors to recognise the undeniable value in them.

Korean Tourism Organisation Partner with GB Taekwondo for 2014 18th December, 2013

The Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) has been announced as the ‘Preferred Destination Partner’ for the Olympic gold-medal winning, GB Taekwondo for 2014. The year-long partnership will see KTO run a number of initiatives throughout the next year, starting with a presence at the inaugural World Taekwondo Grand Prix at Manchester Central between 13-15^th December. The event, which saw 250 of the world’s top athletes compete for valuable qualification points ahead of Rio 2016, was used by KTO to launch a unique sports package that will take holiday-makers to places of sporting interest across Korea, including the T1 Stadium (the world’s first taekwondo specific complex).

Ramy Salameh, PR Manager of the Korea Tourism Organisation said: “As ‘preferred destination partner’ we open a new chapter to an already long-standing relationship with GB Taekwondo. Korea’s national sport has grown to new heights in the UK thanks to London 2012 successes. Korea will open a new Taekwondo Park in 2014, which has already attracted interest from sports tour operators and will enable sports fans to visit the ‘home of Taekwondo”.

As Preferred Destination Partners KTO will run a number of joint promotions with the Manchester-based team in 2014; including utilizing athlete appearances to promote the launch of the T1 Stadium in Korea, offering travel promotions to GB Taekwondo’s database and further integration across GB Taekwondo communications.

Steve Flynn, GB Taekwondo Operations Director, commented: “We’re delighted to announce the Korean Tourism Organisation as our ‘Preferred Destination Partner’ for 2014. They have been really supportive of us over the years so we’re looking forward to further promoting Korea and its new purpose-built Taekwondo Park as a tourist destination to an ever growing taekwondo audience in the UK”

The World Taekwondo Grand Prix took place at Manchester Central on December 13-15, 2013.