*** and *** use Fremantle as hub for Australian activity

Two official suppliers chose Fremantle to leverage their partnerships by engaging local clients through the *** platform. *** is the longest-standing supplier of the race, working collaboratively for 17 years, and their new *** (made from 100% recycled plastic) is now on every *** yacht. 

In addition, *** is a new partner providing the satellite technology system used across all 11 yachts for communication between Race Crew, their families and Race Officials. ***, Marketing Director for ***, explains: “What we are already getting from this partnership is global visibility of our capabilities to other organisations”. These Partner relationships go much further than just the product being supplied however, and the Fremantle stopover provided a great opportunity for *** and *** to showcase the wider scale of what they are involved in.

The *** allows *** to further promote their business in the maritime industry, confirming in the realest way possible that they truly can deliver effective communication in the most remote circumstances. During the Fremantle stopover, *** hosted a combination of partners, customers and employees at the Sailing Club for a networking event, comprising a presentation from their Australian Managing Director, ***, and a speech from ***.

*** discussed this static event as: “A great opportunity to engage with our global offices around the world. It’s a unique chance to get our people together and meet with customers around a unique experience.” The inspiration behind the *** was briefly discussed by ***, with the ethos aligning to partners as well; *** believes ***’s partnership with the race can “show ordinary people that you can get out of your comfort zone and achieve extraordinary things” through the effective promotion their communication channels allow. Through the event, *** effectively demonstrated to their clients how their brand contributes to the positive outcome of the race.

In the latter part of the event, guests boarded *** for a yacht tour and to see the *** technology in place whilst chatting to the Skipper, AQP and Race Crew. Testimonials from those who use ***’s product frequently, in extreme conditions, were gathered by those who will inevitably value it. Guests were thankful for the experience and positive feedback was received on the attention given to the afternoon by *** representatives. *** commented that: “It was good to hear the Skippers talk about what it [the *** technology] provides them with - the ability to communicate with shore for the safety aspect, the communication to loved ones from a crew perspective and of course for the media team to get all the images and storytelling that the *** offers.”

Later in the stopover, a sail day was arranged for one of ***’s key local distributors, a company selling their products for outdoor climbing. All guests therefore partook in the event with no prior sailing experience. The *** is delighted to be giving more non-experienced sailors the chance to try their hand at the sport and simultaneously demonstrate the variable use of ***’s product. Guests enjoyed a morning out on the water onboard ***, with ***’s dedicated brand ambassador – who keeps them in the loop of his circumnavigation journey – joining to connect their brand more personally to the race.

In line with this activation, *** formally named the race from Cape Town to Fremantle as the ‘*** Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride’ and provided branded trophies for the top-performing teams at the Prizegiving Ceremony, engaging their brand with Race Crew. ***’s Leisure Marine Sales Director, ***, commented that: “In line with our brand mission to manufacture high performing rope solutions, we are excited to see which team performs to the max in its round the world challenge”. He placed particular emphasis on the Southern Ocean being the ‘Everest of Oceans’, putting their product to the ultimate test and welcoming the challenge to promote how their rope prevails. *** also used the naming opportunity to run weekly social media competitions with themed prizes, transforming Fremantle into a multi-channel marketing campaign that began before the boats even arrived into port.

These two partner stories highlight the benefits of offering our on-the-water or off-the-water events to a local audience. They proved to be an ideal platform for both *** and *** to showcase their products in action on the race, and the great feedback confirms the value of these opportunities to all involved. 

Fremantle continues to provide a brilliantly varied stopover location, proving beneficial for partners from a commercial perspective and Race Crew members for tourism.

Article written for event crewing company

To re-engage audience beyond Covid-19 lockdowns

A new beginning for live events

As an ever-evolving industry that brings billions to the UK economy alone, we’re ready for live events to make a return so great that it’s worthy of a celebratory event itself. As industry updates trickle into people’s inboxes with a gleam of positivity instead of a myriad of negative news, promising changes are on the horizon.

Of course, there’s an abundance of proof that hybrid events work; Cannes Lions Festival, an event we’ve been significantly involved in before, is going virtual for 2021. It goes without saying that event organisations are continually rising to the challenge of unifying people online, but the hunger for live experiences is arguably greater than ever.

So, what will the future of live events look like?

Various experiments are underway to decipher how live events can effectively operate as vaccination programmes across Europe regain control of COVID-19. In order for the world’s largest pharmaceutical exhibition to return to Milan, organisers are implementing a company-wide model which comprises 10 safety points spanning hygiene, protection and a ban on business card exchanges!

A hotly debated topic throughout is the potential introduction of a COVID-status certification that will prove if someone has been vaccinated, has natural immunity or has a negative test when attending an event. This has the power to eradicate limited attendee numbers so full-capacity, commercially viable, events could again become reality. Numerous European events are hanging in the balance, eager for this news to break.

A tried and tested programme of events

In the meantime, pilot events (where attendees act as guinea pigs in a remarkably fun scientific experiment), remain the most prevalent method. Liverpool recently opened its doors to 3,000 tightly packed nightclubbers, along with the first UK business conference since the pandemic struck. The city demonstrated admirable community spirit when quickly squashing a local COVID-19 outbreak, proving they have the infrastructure, capability and most importantly the ‘want’ to be instrumental in these efforts.

Further afield, three indoor concerts put Germany at the forefront of change in 2020, each with different social distancing parameters for comparison. Participants were tested on entry, while tracking devices monitored people’s positioning and fluorescent disinfectants identified the most touched surfaces. Some would say that events running under this level of control are safer places than the local supermarket! But the world of sports is getting involved too – in the UK, selected football matches form part of the Government’s Events Research Programme while the UEFA Euro 2021 tournament will be hosted across 11 countries with crowd capacities down to each local authority’s discretion.

The beginning of the end

Several pilot events have reported no alarming spike in cases, so there’s a strong indication that these efforts are worthwhile and could see social distancing scrapped when large-scale events properly return. Regardless of location and experiment type however, one unanimous feeling has prevailed: the pure emotion of attending a live event after so long.

***’s team are raring to get back on a site build when the time is right, and we’re thrilled to see the hallowed light at the end of the tunnel gradually shining brighter for our industry.