Tag: london


Secret Cinema: The Changing Nature of the Live Experience 10th July, 2013

Last month, I was fortunate enough to get tickets for the first night of Laura Marling’s eagerly anticipated ‘immersive live music experience.’  For their most recent venture, the magical minds behind Secret Cinema – ‘a growing community of all that love cinema, and experiencing the unknown’ has teamed up with Miss Marling to launch Secret Music, alongside the release of her album ‘Once I Was an Eagle.’

Through their relatively short existence, Secret Cinema has grown a fan base of epic proportions and, if my experience last month was anything to go by, I can understand why.  Secret Cinema has an innate ability to transport attendees into a different world, delivering first class events based upon a truly unique model, which in my opinion, is beginning to alter the future of the live experience.

After purchasing my ticket for the event, I received an invitation dated 1927, a dress code of Vintage Black Tie and a list of required objects that ranged from a bouquet of flowers for the mistress of the house, a photograph of an ex-lover and a satchel filled with unwanted clothes.  The venue for the evening was the ‘Grand Eagle Hotel’ an old school that was filled with butlers awaiting your arrival, giggling maids, croquet on the front lawn, a smoking room with women lazing on chaise lounges watching gentlemen play chess and pool, rooms named after Marling’s songs filled with film projections, wild leaves and tree trunks.  Actors milled in and out between guests playing out narratives and creating whispers of secret happenings – and then, of course, a beautiful set from Marling herself.

Yet aside from the immense production throughout the evening, one thing stood out for me, the complete absence of camera phones.  Upon arrival, each guest was politely asked to hand over all technology, which meant the entire evening was void of irritating flash and smartphone screens shining on your face, everyone was there simply, for the experience – and it was wonderful.

The banning of camera phones has begun to be implemented at more and more gigs, with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Savages championing their absence – requesting that guests fully immerse themselves in the live experience.

From a sponsorship point of view, this is an interesting occurrence.  At its core, sponsorship is about engaging with audiences, and enhancing the overall experience of events – and in many instances low budget filming disconnects attendees from this.  What is more, in many cases, videos popping up around YouTube ruins it for all those with tickets eagerly awaiting the event.

The ban of camera phones at events also allows rights holder/artist to use video content and photos in an interesting and unique way, delivering it to the attendee as a kind of gift.  As you can see below, each evening, the Secret Music team take a photograph of the audience and post in on their Facebook the following day for attendees to enjoy.  Alt-J have also championed this with the creation of a new piece of technology called Soundhalo which delivers  an entire live set for download immediately after it is performed.

For sponsors, having ownership of such precious memories allows them to communicate this back to event attendees, allowing the brand-consumer journey to continue further than the event itself.

I was well and truly immersed into another world for the Marling-Secret Music venture and I welcome more of these experiences in the future.


Slingshot Sponsorship host workshop at Debut Contemporary 7th May, 2013

Slingshot’s Managing Director, Jackie Fast, appeared at Debut Contemporary last week to host a sponsorship workshop with emerging artists.

Debut Contemporary is an innovative platform aimed at talented and eager artists who wish to turn their art practice into a successful career and a viable business.  Debut is the only professional development and career empowerment platform of its kind in the UK.  Artists on the Debut Contemporary benefit from a wealth of opportunities including weekly workshops, access to a network of collectors, one on one mentoring sessions and the opportunity to exhibit at high profile events and gallery spaces.

Debut Contemporary ‘s key role is to assist artists who wish to make a career out of their talent.  The economic recession and rising unemployment has been incredibly tough on those working within creative spheres.  Debut Contemporary’s mission has been to overcome these challenges and give rising talent the chance to shine and get necessary exposure within the right networks.  The platform offers individuals the opportunity to gain first hand insights and for others to pass on industry knowledge with the aim to increase a success rate of artists in the business – enabling them to live off their work and make some serious financial gains in the process.

Jackie volunteered to share her expertise in the field of sponsorship with the hope to encourage Debut artists to recognise its value.  The workshop focused on a step-by-step guide to creating a sponsorship proposition and offered first-hand accounts of sponsorship in art.

Jackie stated ‘it was an honour to have the opportunity to host a workshop for so many talented artists.  The recession has been tough on the arts, and sponsorship is the perfect solution for many of those struggling to make ends meet.  It was great to host an interactive workshop with Debut Contemporary and I hope it was an insightful day for all those that attended.’

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.