The FMBE awards – my personal top100 (70-66)

70 Imagination, Sony Europe (2007, Brand Theatre)

Imagination’s carefully constructed multi-brand press launch, that took over the centre of Rhodes and a big hotel, was certainly a sign of the times. It has been copied a lot.

I’d say Imagination gets copied more than any other event agency, and this was a great example of why – the agency works with brands who are not scared of the cost of aiming for perfection. (Though that doesn’t mean to say that budgets are unnecessarily lavish.)

Sony is a great example of an Imagination client, an audio-visual interactive brand that needs to launch products as an audio-visual interactive instructive treat to discerning VIPs and demanding press. It knows that Imagination will provide the right environment for these qualities to shine.

Experiential events and parties were held to introduce new kit and ideas from Walkman, Bravia, VAIO, Cyper-shot, Alpha 100, HandyCam and Blu-ray. It was at this event that the word of mouth started for a new concept known as ‘HD’.

69 Momentum Worldwide, Marriott (2006, International)

m-Spot was built into Time Square off the hotel, creating a stage above a massive party in the Square below. m-Spot hosted all manner of events, entertainment and music and even a wedding. Staff wandered through the crowd, evangelising.  Behind the scenes Marriott had advanced its comfort and customer experience.

This was clever in so many ways – the PR pull of a wedding and a free party, the iconic location, the focus on customer experience through the whole chain, and a literal extension of the hotel group’s imagination and function facilities into the way of passing trade.

68 White Label, Courvoisier (2010, Immersive Event)

Raft across an architectural marvel of a giant punch bowl! On paper this is one of my favourite campaigns of all time. Sadly the event itself appeared to lack the stupendously glamorous exaggerated heights of the script. I’m sorry Courvoisier, but after the historical storyline in the build up, we wanted a punch lake to glide across whilst decadently sipping and being attended to by brandy nymphs. The reality was, well, good but not quite there.

Of course that’s being greedy… the video evidence didn’t show a gold standard experience but the event launched the CV500, a club of word of mouth influencers that ensured that Courvoisier stepped up to the modern mark as a forward thinking social experience brand committed to releasing its event marketing into the hands of brilliant and passionate minds. Watch out for Courvoisier in 2011!

67 Trinity Field Marketing, Ocean Spray (2009, Sales)

In 2008-9 the independent grocery sector became hot and this played into Trinity’s hands as there are few better exponents at driving sales into the sector.

1224 out of 1545 calls resulted in sales from the reps and in addition 1800 retailers signed up to Ocean Spray’s Harvest Club – a loyalty scheme that gave the brand a strong legacy after the tactical selling period.

66 Haygarth Live, Signet (2010, Stand/Display)

The coming of age of the pop up store! These beautiful showcases popped up in stations for Ernest Jones and H. Samuel at Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t a quirky shop. It wasn’t gimmicky. It was sales and brand perception focussed and it had to be spot on as it had to meet the high expectations of a retailer who knew all about product presentation and selling. It met this demand and more.