Sport

Rule 5 and the Virgin Money Cyclone

Beaumont Trophy

This weekend saw the return of one of the UK’s most respected cycling events, the Virgin Money Cyclone Festival of Cycling.

Staged in beautiful Northumberland, the Cyclone caters for cyclists of all abilities, with leisure rides, Challenge rides and elite racing all packed into three days.  It is the second year that Rule 5 has been involved, driving and delivering the pre-event and live weekend communications campaign on behalf of Virgin Money.

Event activity opened on the evening of Friday 19th June with over 300 friends, families and solo riders soaking up the festival atmosphere and embracing the Tyne Six Bridges leisure rides.

On Saturday it was the turn of the more experienced rider, with over 2,300 cycling enthusiasts getting into the saddle to test their stamina in the Virgin Money Cyclone Challenge rides.  Weather conditions were variable but nothing could dampen the spirits of the riders as they embraced the 34, 64 and 106 mile routes, many in aid of charity.

Sunday’s elite races, the Curlew Cup and UCI Beaumont Trophy, saw some of the world’s best riders descend on the picturesque Northumberland village of Stamfordham.

Taking the trophy in the National Women’s Road Race, the Curlew Cup, was team IKON-Mazda cyclist, Laura Massey, with Christopher Latham of the Great Britain National Team powering to victory in the UCI Beaumont Trophy.

Spectators gathered in Stamfordham were treated to glimpses of one of the strongest fields of riders to date including: Olympic gold medallist and Team WIGGINS cyclist, Andy Tennant; 2014 Elite Road Race Series winner and One Pro Cycling rider, Yanto Barker; and British Road Race Champion, JLT Condor cyclist, and defending champion, Kristian House.

We were thrilled to be at the heart of all of the action, managing the media, realising the potential of every opportunity and activating the event’s social channels.

For further information visit: https://virginmoneycyclone.co.uk/

Instagram keeps it simple with Layout

We’re no strangers to Instagram in the office. It’s probably one of the “cooler” user-friendly photo and video-sharing apps on the market. Simply take a snap, add a little oomph with your favourite #filter – ours is Mayfair if you’re asking – type a witty caption, then share it with your followers. Don’t forget to post it on your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr accounts too…extra likes never hurt anyone.

So when a quick #layout search brought up over 230,000 posts (selfies and food pictures galore) within days of Instagram rolling out the app to iPhone users this week, we had to take another look.

According to Instagram’s latest blog post, Layout is fun, simple and gives you a new way to flex your creativity.

Users are shown previews of custom layouts – now we understand the name – as you choose from photos from your camera roll. Drag, drop, pinch, zoom, flip and rotate. Complete artistic control is at your fingertips.

There’s also a Photo Booth button that sets off a countdown for people to take multiple photos simultaneously. Faces, Mirroring and Previews complete Layout’s main features.

Currently a standalone app, an added perk is that you don’t need to have an Instagram or Facebook account to use it. Once you’ve saved a collage, it can be emailed, sent by text or shared to apps including WhatsApp and Dropbox.

A curious drawback is Layout’s cumbersome mismatch with Twitter. Sharing images directly to Facebook or Instagram is simple, but Twitter users have to save collages to their camera roll before posting. This is a continuation of Instagram’s decision in 2012 to stop images shared from its main app showing within tweets.

We must admit our initial thoughts were that Layout was aimed at the selfie obsessed. Nine pictures to a collage must be their dream come true. That was until we saw a collage of American First Lady Michelle Obama on her official visit to Japan and Cambodia.

Dignitaries aside, it seems Layout has been quickly embraced by well-known brands & marketers too with Victoria Secret and Sephora amongst the early adopters.

On the sporting front we’re looking forward to testing Photo Booth’s time-lapse feature, which provides the opportunity to capture movement in a short space of time.  The forthcoming 2015 BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester will present just the right opportunity.

Our verdict? If it’s good enough for the First Lady of the United States and 300 million active users, it just might be good for enough for us.

Five Nominations For Rule 5 In The Northern Digital Awards

Picture4Rule 5 has been shortlisted five times in the Northern Digital Awards.

The awards recognise the very best in digital marketing campaigns and talent in the North and will be staged at the Royal Armouries in Leeds in January 2015.

Rule 5 has received nominations in each of the five categories entered, including the Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Entertainment/Sports, Best Use of Social Media, Best Use of Video and Small Digital Agency of the Year.

Recognised campaigns include the agency’s work for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup, for which Rule 5 receives three nominations, and the launch of Royal Albert’s Miranda Kerr range.

Both campaigns are nominated for Best Use of Social Media, a category the agency won at this year’s Big Chip Awards.

Rule 5 Shortlisted in Northern Marketing Awards

Picture1 NMA 2We are thrilled to have made the shortlist of the Northern Marketing Awards.

The awards champion the work of some of the UK’s biggest brands and this year attracted over 200 entries.

Rule 5 has been shortlisted twice in the Sport Campaign of the Year and Social Media Campaign of the Year categories.

The nomination for Sport Campaign of the Year features the agency’s work on the inaugural World Taekwondo Grand Prix, pitted against Manchester City FC and Salford Red Devils.  Rule 5 is also nominated for Social Media Campaign of the Year, a category that it won at this year’s Big Chip Awards and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Awards last November.

The agency is already shortlisted for Best Social Media Campaign and Outstanding Consultancy in this year’s PRide Awards.

The Northern Marketing Awards will be announced on October 16.