The Extreme Tech Challenge 2018 launches with style in Oslo 30th March, 2017

After a hugely successful XTC 2017 competition, which included some amazing sponsors, XTC 2018 has officially launched with a bang in Oslo.

The world’s largest technology start up competition, backed by Sir Richard Branson, hosted an intimate launch at SALT, Oslo with multiple budding start-ups, accelerators, athletes and the XTC team. Not only will this year be bigger and better than ever, there is also a new look website, new brand and, of course, new start-ups ensuring the best of the best can achieve greatness with their game changing ideas.

After a grand opening from XTC’s CEO Bill Tai, we were treated to some insight in to the success behind some of the world’s greatest technology companies, a look in to the future and how to keep ahead of the game. Here is what I learned from the best:

The 3 P’s of successful start-ups

Paul Herz (Apple and Facebook) gave the start-ups in the room invaluable tips on ensuring scalability and success. The three key areas are platform, partners and processes. Apple for example has iTunes as its main platform which is simple, easy to use and designed for the consumer. They have over 70 partners that produce different parts of their products better and cheaper than they could, which ensures the product quality and profit margins remain high. Finally, Apple’s processes are simple, streamlined and set to ensure everything is delivered on time. All start-ups should emulate this simplicity, over complicating everything and getting expensive partners on board wont attract VC’s or investors and will erode the profit margins.

Arnold Schwarzenegger might have got it right

Isabelle Ringnes, tech-evangelist, took us all through the exciting, and slightly daunting future of tech. It was incredibly interesting to hear about the realistic possibilities to connect our brains directly with devices and robots that have been designed to emulate feelings and facial expressions. Now, I’m not against robots or AI for that matter, but as long as there are restrictions in place to stop Arnie popping back and the Terminator films coming true!

Sport and start-ups are one and the same

To top it all off, legendary Olympic Nordic Skiier (and tech enthusiast) Axel Lund Svindal explained the need to overcome adversity, not just in sport, but in the similar competitive landscape of the start-up world. There are many attributes that cross-over between sport and start-ups; determination to succeed, competitiveness, hard-work and professionalism to name a few. Axel talked us through his incredible career and the mind-set in takes to be the best, some amazing advice for budding global disruptors.

In fine XTC form, it was all finished with a party integrating round table tech discussion. With XTC applications for 2018 now open, it is the perfect time for sponsors to integrate in to this exciting and growing industry with the next global organisations. Get in touch to find out more – [email protected] or 020 7226 5052.


Slingshot to run bootcamp in Oslo 7th July, 2016

Slingshot Sponsorship’s MD Jackie Fast will be presenting a one-day sponsorship bootcamp in Oslo on August 26th 2016 hosted by our friends at ANFO Oslo. This is a unique chance to hear from one of the industry’s leading experts on how to successfully secure sponsorship in today’s landscape.
Slingshot Sponsorship’s aim is to help you grow your company through sponsorship programs that create priceless opportunities to consumers and incorporate motivating factors to drive brands investing in sponsorship.

Slingshot Sponsorship has successfully been running sessions to help rights holders increase sponsorship revenue and improve relationships with existing sponsors. To date, Slingshot have hosted over 400 rights holders at sessions run across the world.
The aim of the bootcamp is to help you discover ground-breaking partnerships big or small, which punch above their weight and measurably build your businesses and your sponsor brands.

Key takeaways from the event will include:
1. Current sponsorship practices & how the industry has changed
2. How to create the right sponsorship proposal – including communications strategy planning, audience development & commercialising your social media
3. Understanding your competition, and therefore your USP in the market – including creation of assets, understanding how brands value your opportunity & pricing your package
4. Sales technique & how to close the deal

Jackie Fast commented, “I am looking forward to coming to Oslo to present our agency’s framework for sustainable sponsorship. With an office in Oslo we can help provide further support for our delegates in the long term so I am delighted to be able engage with the Norwegian sponsorship industry.”

Join other forward-thinking leaders to find new and emerging practices and insights to grow your business and sponsorship revenue in an industry where the only certainty is change.

To book your place please click here.

Kari Traa Brand Activation – Red Bull Cliff Diving, Norway 2012 9th August, 2012

Our Norwegian partners BITE AGENCY made the case for the very well known female sports brand, Kari Traa of Norway, to work with the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Championship.

As cliff diving is traditionally a male dominated sport, it was necessary to create a viable link for Kari Traa to be a part of the event as a main sponsor.

THE link:
Women will, as of next year, be an official part of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Championships.  So far so good.

Then we went looking for one of the few female cliff divers worldwide.  We found Anna Bader who was willing to be a part of the sponsorship – however, as females jump from 20m (rather than the 27m the men dive from), we managed to create a teaser dive a few days ahead of the event, together with Red Bull’s Orlando Duque, 7 times world champion cliff diver.

As a result, a very organic story was created, with Anna opening the doors to females as of next year, Kari Traa (the double Olympic Gold Medalist Skier) endorsing her in a male dominated sport and the clothing brand Kari Traa as a product item.

During Show
During the event we showed an event clip about Anna Bader, her dive and the story behind it on the 70m2 screen to the audience, Kari Traa was sampling from a boat on shore and all in all the brand was extremely visible during the day to the local and international press and the audience present.

Follow Up
Anna Bader will be a part of the Kari Traa Extreme Team, Kari Traa extends cooperations with Red Bull and Kari Traa’s German efforts might very well be based around Anna in 2013.

The video clip of the event and an own-production video will be launched through KariTraa.com and national media in the course of August to match follow ups of Cliff Diving and international exploitations regarding the clothing brand.

Check out the footage from the event.

For more information on this innovative partnership – feel free to contact:

BITE here or Slingshot here

Red Bull Puts Cliff Diving on the Female Map 5th July, 2012

Slingshot alongside Scandinavian colleagues BITE manage the sponsorship for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series in Grimstad, Norway. The World Series is cliff diving at its most death defying, with divers descending from heights of up to 28 metres. The Norway event, the second stop in the World Series calendar, takes place this weekend 6-7th July.

This year we managed to secure former female Olympic and World Champion Kari Traa and newcomer Anna Bader to this event in Norway and this recent article (translated from Norwegian) highlights this fantastic partnership that was built to promote the introduction of female cliff diving in the World Series in 2013.

Taken from an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK:

“Women should be bolder”, says former Olympic and World Champion Kari Traa as she tries to get more women involved in cliff diving.

On Tuesday Traa was at Justøybroa in Lillesand to sponsor the German Anna Bader, a lone female in the midst of the male-dominated sport. Next year it is determined that female divers will participate in the world series, and so, Bader was invited to Norway by Kari Traa to make a so-called “teaser dive.”

“The last seconds before the precipice, I am very focused. I’m trying to find the right feeling and energy, so at the moment I jump I am one hundred percent focused. It takes a lot of courage, but women are certainly able to carry on with this. I am really looking forward to women competing next year”, said the smiling 28-year-old to NRK.

Tuesday’s event was just a taster of what will happen in Grimstad during the Red Bull Cliff Diving this Saturday.

For more information on BITE and Slingshot Sponsorship’s joint services in the UK and Europe, please click here.

For the full article and to see Bader’s cliff dive on Tuesday at Justøybroa click here.

Slingshot Sponsorship team up with Oslo-based agency BITE for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2012 20th March, 2012

Slingshot Sponsorship, the London based sponsorship agency, will work closely with their Scandinavian colleagues BITE to manage the sponsorship for the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series in Grimstad, Norway.  The sponsorship and brand management specialists have combined to create commercialopportunities around the event – one of only 6 World Series Competitions worldwide – that add real value for both brands and the spectators.

The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2012 returns to Norway on 6-7th July – two years after Kragero hosted the country’s first Red Bull Cliff Diving competition.  The World Series is high diving at its most death-defying – an acrobatic descent into water from heights of up to 28m. Once in the air, the divers have approximately three seconds to coordinate their movements before they break the surface of the water at around 100kph (60mph).

Julian Gursky, Head of Events & Sports at Red Bull Norway commented:

We are excited to try a new combination of an international sponsor management approach for our cliff diving world championship stop in Grimstad, Norway by assigning the allied agencies BITE Agency and Slingshot Sponsorship to this challenge

Prospective sponsors will be fully integrated with the two-day event, in Grimstad, as well as during the 21-day day pre-tour, incorporating six cities across Norway, offering ample opportunities for activation, sampling, branding and online promotions.  They will also have rights to footage shot over the two days, giving access to some truly unique content.

Jackie Fast, Managing Director of Slingshot Sponsorship commented:

The Red Bull Cliff Diving sponsorship platform is a great example of how brand platforms can be monetised.  The Slingshot and BITE expertise of sponsorship and branding creates the perfect combination of services to really leverage these types of brand partnerships effectively. We are looking forward to launching this service with Red Bull!

Managing Director of BITE Robert Leinders-Krog also commented:

Approaching this local platform from an international perspective will both increase opportunities and give us a global brand activation arena – executed locally. Exciting times.

For more information on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series please click here.