Blog

Series #fmbewords: Design for anarchy

By Nate Thompson, Creative Director, Amplify Public gatherings seem like a distant memory. In London we’ve been blessed with the kind of weather that screams pub garden, not back garden, and whilst the appropriate social restrictions in place due to the spread of COVID19 are denying us the joy of a day in the park […]

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Series #fmbewords: Adapting to the new normal

First published by, and on behalf of the team at SpaceandPeople 23.4.2020 We have been talking to a number of key agency owners in the last few weeks and have taken the opportunity to reflect on their views on the future of live brand experiences. As anyone who has set up a business knows, tenacity […]

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Series #fmbewords: How CSM Live became NHS distributors

Keeping a track of the many initiatives from FMBE agencies during the COVID-19 lockdown has been challenging as so much of the work is being done behind closed doors and will take a while to emerge into the public domain. An example of the kind of work that I mean emerged a week or two […]

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Series #FMBEwords: Why I celebrate wellness now

[entry to FMBE 2020 is open – go here for full details] In Autumn 2019 FMBE celebrated wellbeing and leadership, with a morning-after-the-night-before breakfast, with wellbeing employer awards and leadership hall of fame accolades. I presented these awards in my running gear. I was wearing the shirt from the Robin Hood 100, a race where […]

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Series #fmbewords: Post COVID-19: The case for forward event planning and scheduling

Andy Dixon, CEO, Scene2, discusses how post COVID 19  decent lead times will need to be preserved in order to allow digital and virtual mixed events to succeed to best potential This unusual pandemic situation has seen brands cutting long term live budget, spending less on live events – why would you think of committing […]

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Series #Fmbewords: The Furlough Low Down (part 1)

Zero hours contracts may not be universally acclaimed but the flexibility that they offer allows much of the brand experience sector to operate and offers some employees in the UK a lifestyle that allows them to balance work with other commitments. In FMBE circles that contract usually does what it should; the agency facilitates work […]

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Series #fmbewords: Human interaction and Digital Engagement

Supplied to #fmbewords as a thought piece from Live Agency With the sampling industry and wider marketing sector evolving at an ever-increasing rate, many brands are looking for alternative and innovative methods of engaging their audience. Marketing campaigns must create bespoke experiences that present their consumer base with the unexpected, unfamiliar and astounding – and […]

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Series #fmbewords: Our strange yet familiar new world

by Tom Glover, associate director, Wasserman EMEA First published by Wasserman on 8th April.  I’m halfway through my fourth full week of social distancing (and a lot of social quiztancing) and have managed to stay healthy and busy, so far at least. It’s a strange, stripped-back new world and we’re all adapting – not least […]

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Series #fmbewords: Locked in on Lockdown

Frank Wainwright reflects on 2 recent jail sentences for crooks masquerading as  field marketers and how field marketing at grocery has since developed into a capable and essential service that is shining during this crisis.  One thing I have learnt from lockdown is that our freedoms are curtailed relatively easily when we are in agreement […]

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Series #fmbewords: Wonderful splits in the FMBE Community

by Frank Wainwright, editor, FMBE Magazine, director, FMBE Awards The Covid 19 Pandemic, such an awful thing,  has split the FMBE community in a very good way. We’re all doing different things. It is already showing off the versatility and flexibility of our collective skills. This people powered industry will always show its best in […]

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Series #fmbewords: Brand events should be first port of call when the crisis ends

By Rasha El-Shirbini, Head of Strategy at The fresh Group The offline marketing vacuum that will be left after this crisis passes, will be one of the greatest the world has seen. Today, it is safe to say, businesses are re-grouping constantly, having socially distant “Cobra” meetings of their own to decide on what steps […]

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Series #fmbewords: Maintaining and managing experiential during the crisis… while remaining relevant

By Davide Bianca, Head of Entertainment @ UNIT9: tech-led creative and strategy partner that helps brands develop highly original marketing innovations such as a 5G-enabled AR celebrity BAFTA dress for EE, a vast immersive and personalised treadmill-powered video game for Nike and a World Record breaking giant playable game of Candy Crush As the world grapples with […]

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Series #fmbewords: Taking a step back amongst the disruption

by Keith Austin, CEO, EMS, the global roadshow agency We’re in the midst of an extraordinary period of change in the events sector, with multiple major events, exhibitions and fairs having been postponed or cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The 90th Geneva International Motor Show, Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress, Hanover Messe and […]

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Event: Meeting Felipe Massa at the Nag’s Head

First published on FrankPublishing.com.  Frank Wainwright met the ROKiT team and some of the glitterati of motorsport at the classic London pub, The Nag’s Head, Covent Garden Got to be honest with you, until Monday I didn’t have a fantasy business conglomerate. But I have one now. I mean they just put together an event […]

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STUFF: Deutsche Telekom’s creative underpants

It seems my Valentine’s Day Round Up wasn’t complete. This activity, from Saatchi and Saatchi is even more baffling, but I think the idea here is to create shareable content of a campaign for a phone company that is saying how uncool it is to share stuff via your phone. To use and oldie reference […]

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VIDEO STORY: TikTok’s BRIT Award’s activation sees #redcarpetready in big screen seen scenes

TikTok dominated London’s OOH landscape with a unique cut through campaign to celebrate its new tie-up with the Brit Awards on Tuesday. The campaign included a live-stream of the BRIT Awards red carpet to Piccadilly Lights, Europe’s largest digital OOH screen, plus 30 large-format projections in and around the city, including user images from TikTok’s popular […]

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REVIEW: Getting the Roll Balling – #Rolloff

The trip ahead of me was immense. Manavgat Ultra beckoned, a 41-miles run with an upwards trajectory of 9000 feet, scrambling up Mt Hatmalar up over loose brambly boulders and scree, with freezing wind and snow flurrying down from the icy cap. Then, after Manavgat, I had a further mission to run across snowbound tracks […]

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EVENT DAY: Romantic Roundup after Valentines

A romantic round up doesn’t sound altogether romantic does it? Just reading my headline back I find myself thinking it might just make a good Valentine’s slogan piece for Monsanto’s popular weedkiller Roundup. If that prospect sounds like a lurch beyond offbeat then that might be down to my own mental process. My Valentine’s Day […]

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Insight: The environmental impact of online is lower priority for younger consumers

73% of consumers are concerned about excess packaging associated with online purchases and deliveries Surprisingly 18-24 year olds care far less about eco-footprint of online shopping than older shoppers 70% of consumers are concerned about the impact of online shopping on the High Street and local economy As high street retail continues to deplete and more people […]

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INSIGHT: Showpad survey finds sales targets are being missed through people issues

Showpad research reveals that over half of sales leaders will make customer-centricity and improved coaching programmes their key priorities this year, as over a third (39%) admit that their sales team is under-performing. The new research showed that barely a fifth (19%) of organisations in the finance, healthcare, technology and manufacturing sectors believe that their […]

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Brand Leader: When Frank met Bobbi

I came home last night with make-up mogul Bobbi Brown’s smoothie recipe in my pocket. “Think of it as the “little black dress” of smoothies”, she says, and so I did. Bobbi’s chocolate collagen smoothie isn’t billed as complicated. It is, in fact, your go-to collagen smoothie. Ingredients: 1 cup almond mile or preferred plant-based […]

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VIEWPOINT. Blurring the boundaries: brand experience in 2020

Tanya Brookfield, CEO at creative agency ELVIS The significance of ‘The Experience Economy’ has been steadily growing since the phrase was coined in the Harvard Business Review, way back in 1998. The IPA’s Bellwether Report showed that investment in brand events continued to increase during 2019, meaning that as we kick off 2020, it feels […]

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Samsung KX: A Drop Spot, Not A Shop

The opening of Samsung KX on Tuesday night (03.09.2019) with its vertical gig by Mabel was an inspiring attend. This was a rare event, one where I felt a personal connection with as it envisioned a hopeful and engaging future. So I wrote about the experience on my personal blog. Here is the link

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The #Roocopter Experience

Some invitations have a certain stand out. Could I stomach an egg mayo bagel whilst whirlybirding around the Shard in a stunt helicopter? Okay. Thank you for thinking of me Deliveroo. Put me on that rota! The invitation had come my way of course courtesy of a brand promotion, in this case as one of […]

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Interview: The Gustonomical Mr Sams

An Interview with food and drink revolutionary Craig Sams Fashion, we understand, is cyclical. Certainly, today’s growing enthusiasm for overnight oats and green tea is a phenomenon that 75-year old hip entrepreneur Craig Sams has seen before. Craig’s 1960s saw him fascinated by microbiotic food, driven by the yin and yang of dining and serving […]

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Snapshot: Jarlsberg cooks on the water

By Frank Wainwright I went to Paddington to “uncover the mystery of the Jarlsberg holes” and discovered this colourful barge, a fantastic free burger and an amazing chilled vibe on a hot day. Jarlsberg, guided by the Circle Agency, has found quite a few flavour sensations to make the cheese the hero this Summer. Jarlsberg […]

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Review: Cross Culture – MLB meets London

Frank Wainwright opened the innings at the MLB Fanzone It is 2016. You hear that there are plans afoot and that in 2019 the Red Sox and the Yankees are coming to good ol’ London Town, so what would you do? Create a bustling, bubbling slice of home-run-strike-one cherry pie? How else are you going […]

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FMBE Video Blog: The Making of Bouncingham Castle

Suzi Thrift, Jack Morton Worldwide tells the production story behind the big adult Candy Crush bounce by the Thames As part of a team of agencies, experience specialists Jack Morton Worldwide produced and built Bouncingham Castle on the Thames at the start of March. Suzi Thrift led the team that made sure the idea became multi-sensory […]

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