The Vamps lauch album at Westfield

Westfield London was transformed into a live gig and branded fan zone for The Vamps when they performed a 30 minute set for eager fans in the venue’s Atrium to launch their new album ‘Meet the Vamps’.

Across town in Westfield Stratford City, more dedicated fans queued for over two hours ready for a meet and greet with Connor, Tristan, Brad and James following their performance. The live event experience was extended to those fans at home and queuing in Westfield through a live web stream and social media engagement.

As Westfield’s chosen supplier, Really Creative Media managed the AV throughout the event across both Westfield sites. Universal Music’s in house production arm, Globe Productions, produced the visual production of the gig as well as working with Really Creative Media to deliver a live web broadcast to multiple delivery points, including Facebook News Feeds. The performance was captured by 5 broadcast cameras via a HD Portable Production Unit and recording facilities. The live feed was then distributed online via Digital Spy and Sugarscape as well as to live screens at the event. Meet the Vamps also used a new Twitter monitoring and display solution for the event, Hashtag Live, which displayed messages to the band ready for the question time and to the queuing audiences in Westfield Stratford City. Two 90” screens were strategically placed to entertain the waiting fans as a form of queue management and presented a live stream of the concert happening across the city alongside the band’s Twitter feed. This was a dedicated webstream link to the site so as to keep the broadcast latency to a minimum and help keep the social media being displayed relevant.

Nick Dew, managing director of Really Creative Media, explained: “Technology is increasingly being drawn upon to increase engagement and reach of live events. As The Vamps only performed to selected winners chosen from an email ballot, it was significant that the event could be extended through a live broadcast to facilitate those who could not be there to share the experience. “Providing Hashtag Live also meant that engagement could be increased through social media. The feed displayed messages to the band which were answered during the question time, keeping both those at the event and those watching remotely engaged with the brand and involved in the event.”

Fiona Kyle, general manager Events & Entertainment at Westfield London, comments: “We were delighted with the success of the event and how its exposure was maximised through live streaming and social media. Fans got involved on Twitter, posting images of themselves with The Vamps and posing questions for their favourite members. We were really able to extend the campaign to more than just those physically present in the experience. “Hashtag Live was a fantastic tool for managing the queuing fans over at Westfield Stratford City, who were excited to see their Tweets appear on a large screen above the queue. This kept up the momentum of photos and Tweets being posted and further extended the campaign in the online space. It was a great marketing tool, allowing brands to tap virtually into the experience, posting their messages and pictures to the live Twitter stream.”

Mark Robinson, MD of Globe, commented: “It was a first on many levels for Globe. It was our first live streamed event that we have done with the Westfield team, which is exciting in itself. Extending it into a streamed performance and a live Q&A so that the fans really experienced a music format was fantastic. “The social media interaction, and working with the Digital Spy and Sugarscape platforms, meant we were really able to extend the reach of the content and maximise fan engagement. The production quality was excellent and captured the performance atmosphere perfectly. It was a great way to launch the Vamps album on the day of release.”