Red Bull gets into adventure sports [GALLERY]

COMPANY:RED BULLEVENT:RED BULL ILLUME 2013DATE:29 AUGUST – 15 SEPTEMBER 2013LOCALE:HONG KONGEVENT OBJECTIVE:To celebrate the works of photographers; of athletes, adventure and action sports and to capture their works through different eyes. The event was also held to establish brand awareness and establish a world wide platform for photographers around the world.EXECUTION:The event is an international photography competition dedicated to action and adventure sports as well as introduce the public the world of such sports.A total of 28,257 images were submitted by 6417 photographers from 124 countries for the 2013 Red Bull Illume Image Quest contest.Out of these, only the top 50 images of the works of the photographers were displayed at Avenue of Stars, against the backdrop of the Victoria Harbour.There were two segments of the event: the awards ceremony and the public exhibition.For the awards ceremony, it was an invite-only event where the top 50 photographers were also selected to participate in this awards ceremony where 50 international judges (who were also opinion leaders and influencers) shortlisted the top 10 photographs.The public exhibition took place on 30 August where the top 50 images of the works of the photographers were displayed at the venue.Red Bull conducted a series of event activations to drum up interest ahead of the event. Prior the event, Red Bull had a bicycle customised to drive through the entire Avenue of Stars for the opening act on 29 August. The bike projected the event information and works of the various photographers from the back of the bicycle.Red Bull also sent out pre-event press releases as well as media kits to selected local and international media, such as GQ.The brand also made use of social media to drum up hype prior the event, including the Red Bull Illume Facebook page, Red Bull Hong Kong website, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter sites.The event highlights included the use of an LED screen with light boxes that showcased the photographs. Marketing Events understands that this was the first high-tech illuminated outdoor photo public night exhibition held in Hong Kong.The showcases made use of illume lightbulbs that illuminated the entire venue when the exhibition was open from 8-11pm every night on the weekend from 30 August to 15 September.Live tweets and Facebook posts were constantly being updated during the event.Watch the video here.RESULT:The event saw 35,000 visitors passing by the awards ceremony venue on 29 August.For the public exhibition, there were 113,750 visitors who attended the event over the event duration from 7-11.30pm. The opening night on 30 August saw 85,000 people attend the event.The social media outreach for the Red Bull Illume Facebook page hit 56,100 likes while the number of Twitter fans on the Red Bull Illume Twitter page was 4031. There were 2381 people on Facebook talking about the event as well.There was also PR coverage across 20 print publications which included South China Morning Post, Apple Daily, Cable TV Hong Kong, Yahoo Hong Kong, Asia Television Limited news, Ming Pao TV and Sina Hong Kong. LESSONS LEARNED:One of the biggest challenges in organising the event was getting the permit to the highest trafficked place in Hong Kong, along the Victoria Harbour.The difficult was increased as the permit applied for was on government land, Marketing Events understands, which required much effort.Also, the illuminated light boxes that were used for the photography exhibition faced the wrath of Mother Nature.Due to the typhoon and rainy season in Hong Kong, managing the light boxes for three weeks was no easy feat for the brandThe brand overcame this difficult by hiring security and event organisers to unveil the light boxes every night during the event, which was a labour-intensive job.For future events, Red Bull plans to look at different ways of tackling the problem of maintaining a premium quality to the event by ensuring that future events are held at different venues.A crisis management plan is also key for the brand.Red Bull thought of possible venues to holding the event so as to make the illuminated photo exhibition more special. Victoria Harbour was eventually chosen.More images here: