innovision delivers Great-ness in Shanghai

The festival was opened by HRH The Duke of Cambridge and saw more than 500 world-leading British companies in the fields of technology, fashion, healthcare, design, luxury goods, food and drink, innovation, entertainment and education take part. Over 600 Chinese buyers and investors joined the British contingent in an environment designed for conversation, collaboration and opportunity.

Appointed by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) as the live communications agency, innovision worked closely with GREAT Festivals Co-Founders, Conrad Bird and Guy Salter, and the Festivals’ Project Director, Clare Barnfather, to create an environment which reflected the overarching ambitions: to fill the Festival with relevant customers and to promote the GREAT Campaign and British creativity through every touch point of the customer experience. This included: design, technical production, marketing assets, logistical planning, audience recruitment, digital design and production website and content management.

Through a series of seminars, master classes, creative exchanges, business surgeries, installations and networking sessions, the Festival succeeded in promoting British commercial creativity and innovation, and created opportunities for UK companies wanting to expand their markets and secure growth in China and beyond.

A number of exceptional British and Chinese business innovators with a proven track record of commercialising creativity were also in attendance, including GREAT campaign ambassador Kelly Hoppen MBE, Jo Malone MBE, Angela Hartnett, Thomas Heatherwick and Rupert Sanderson, as well as self-taught British designer Tom Dixon.

Highlights of the unique showcase of British creativity included: a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) experience from Framestore, creators of the seven-time Oscar-winning film Gravity; a unique GREAT Mulberry handbag designed by leading British model Cara Delavigne; a Paddington Bear ‘Film is GREAT’ model, designed by Stephen Fry; an authentic ballad called ‘Home’, sung by Katherine Jenkins and produced in Abbey Road studios; and an interactive model of the No.10 front door, designed and built by installation artist Jason Bruges.

Claudia Douglass, innovision’s co-founder & managing director, says: “An extraordinary journey, requiring passion, trust and commitment from every stakeholder involved in the GREAT Festivals. : We could not have done this alone; it has been a lesson in collaboration. I couldn’t be prouder of innovision’s contribution.”

GREAT Festivals co-founder, Guy Salter, says “I cannot tell you how impressed I was… bigger, more impressive than Istanbul and with lots of very sensible adaptations for the market. You also managed to recapture the wonderful excitement, pride and buzz of Istanbul. What I loved most of all was the team’s spirit of generosity and desire to stick to high standards, whenever possible.”