FM Winter 2025 - Flipbook - Page 10
London Day 1: Saturday 20th
July
Fusion and Nissan, The Woodman and Aspall
Running into London was always going to be a part of the Tour that
felt significant, and the plan timed it for a Saturday, a great day for a
summer brand experience. I was really keen to show off London at
its experiential finest as I made my way first from Welwyn Garden
City to the St Alban’s parkrun and then like an NW to SE slash across
town, through Brent and Highgate before descending to day’s rest
at St Paul’s.
The journey lived up to expectation, and an expected brand
experience event became two in one day when I stopped en route
at the Woodman Highgate. There, in the pub a fabulous barbeque
was in progress supported by sampling from Aspall Cyder, the drink
brewed in Aspall in Suffolk and these days a part of the Molson
Coors empire. The natural pairing of this leafy London garden and
the cool refreshment was one of those seamless experiences, where
the sampling was contributing an extra splash of atmosphere to a
day and evening that was already giving everyone a great time. I
passed through The Woodman on my way into the City and would
return there on the Tube overnight. So, my first visit was a short one,
topping up my water bottles before heading into St Paul’s.
At St Paul’s I was met by two friends and after a quick tour of Wren’s
masterful landmark we hurried off on foot for the short walk to
Covent Garden. It is a location that often delivers some top-drawer
brand experiences, and this was right up there, year two of an event
that promotes Nissan and Nissan E-Racing at the time when
London is under the publicity spotlight, as Formula E screeches into
town. Nissan’s presence is bold and balanced – balanced because
the Covent Garden event, a celebration of Japanese culture and the
famous cherry blossom was in support of the brand’s presence
across town at the HQ for the Royal Docks race itself, ExCeL. The
bold part of the promotion is the way it takes over a large part of the
location, combining several promotional spaces in the East Piazza
across 5 days for the Feel Electric festival.
Nissan’s event team, Fusion, had a table awaiting me with Sushi
Samba and Mocktails, considerately set for four in case I had
unexpected guests with me. This was a high spec brand experience,
and we enjoyed the sushi and mocktails alongside the E Race cars
and the Feel Electric Quest Lab – a bank of race simulators. Queues
– mostly short ones – formed for the various experiences, and there
was an arty focus across the site. One queue near to me saw visitors
taking their chance to create custom clothing at a pop-up Nismo
streetwear store. Diana Torres, Managing Director Nissan GB, said:
"We're thrilled to bring Formula E back to Covent Garden with the
2024 Nissan Feel Electric Festival. As a brand, we're committed to
an electrified future and Formula E is an integral part of our
mission to bring the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric
vehicles to a global audience. This year, the festival is bigger and
better than ever, and a fitting celebration of one of our most
successful Formula E seasons to date."
London Day 2: Sunday 21st
July
The run out of London was less eventful than the run in. That
Sunday morning I left the City via Southwark Cathedral which is
nestled in by London Bridge and the Shard.
As a consequence, I was able to salute tour sponsor Foster London
on my way through. Foster is an agency that specialises in urban
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Winter 2025
activation and retail marketing, and it is definitely on my one to
watch list for 2025, with growth acceleration looking likely. This
agency takes a very tailored approach to activating in the urban
environment and getting products onto relevant shelves where the
likeliest shoppers are. Leaving the City I ran a quick detour to
Potter’s Fields. These days this location is one of the absolute best
in the world for creating a brand activation with a heritage
backdrop. This amazing space offers uncluttered views of the city,
the Thames, The Tower of London and Tower Bridge. From Potter’s
Fields I ran on through South London and across Greenwich Park
looking across from the observatory to that outstanding event
space, the O2.
Leaving London in this direction, and heading for the end of my day
in Rochester, I would also pass through the Bluewater Shopping
Centre, one of the most effective brand experience destinations for
reaching a huge demographic of shoppers and leisure visitors. It is
managed by another of the Big TOE sponsors, Land Securities. It
was good to see the centre feeling busy and vibrant.
Saturday 24th August
Tra昀昀ord Centre – Pride – CarFest – The Lowry
As the day that I ran from Widnes to Manchester was a Saturday, it
seemed appropriate to the FMBE pillar/remit for the run to make the
slight detour required to go through the Trafford Centre, one of the
iconic shopper and leisure destinations that the Tour passed
through.
This weekend the centre was packed and upbeat. We passed by a
pop-up promotion for Sharpie by the tour’s PR agency PrettyGreen
that was certainly keeping the kids busy.
The family day out was also supported by the Jurassic World
experience for which the centre had given me a press pass. This
experience was enjoyed by my guest runner too, John who had
joined me with 3 others at the Warrington parkrun that morning and
was now the last man standing as we headed through the Trafford
Centre to Manchester. We were both very impressed with the quality
of the Jurassic Show where the team arranged for me to be the first
person to meet a new dino baby.
After the Trafford Centre we pressed on through Manchester,
passing the Old Trafford stadium via the canal path before heading
into a city centre that was still celebrating Pride. Manchester Pride
had provided a frustrating near miss as agency N2O had invited me
to join the event with client Tesco, but the running schedule just
wouldn’t allow it. Whilst we were in Manchester another Tour
Sponsor Circle Agency was seeing out the Festival season with
regular client Costa down at CarFest, an event that has quietly
become established as a core part of the English summer. It is a
family favourite with a massive 100,000+ attendance. The
relationship is a finalist in this year’s FMBE Awards, for the Special
Award and Sponsorship Activation (Categories G and V). After
running I went for a very engaging experience – a recovery session
in the cryotherapy chamber at the Lowry Hotel – at -110C.
> Continued on Page 26
