Electric Live are thrilled to announce the first names for this year’s Fusion Festival line-up.

Rudimental will be leading the way and headlining on Saturday 31^st August, with the biggest girl band on the planet, Little Mix, topping the bill on Sunday 1^st September. This year sees the move to the new location of Sefton Park, the largest outdoor space in Liverpool, creating an increased capacity of 120,000 across the weekend.

Also playing across the weekend will be grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal, classical-pop outfit Clean Bandit, soul-pop sensation John Newman, producer and DJ Jonas Blue, singer-songwriter Anne-Marie, number 1 DJ Sigala, X-Factor winners Rak-Su and singer and presenter Hrvy, alongside many other exciting acts yet to be announced.

Supported by Capital FM our official radio partner, as well as MTV, who will be broadcasting live from the site across the weekend.

Jack Horlock, Brand Partnerships Director at Electric Live, says: “Fusion has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and we’ve had fantastic results with our brand partners to date, many of whom have worked with us repeatedly – which is testament to the show’s success. With the exciting changes to this year’s event, the increased capacity on site, as well as the addition of MTV as a broadcast partner, we’re confident that 2019 is going to be our biggest yet.’

If you or your brand want to reach a fun-loving audience predominantly made up of 18 – 35 year olds celebrating the very best of pop music in the North West, then Jack would love to speak with you at on 0207 751 2722 / 07720 840 384 or at jack@electric-live.com

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McDonald’s and Cadbury have both signed up as brand partners for the fifth Fusion Festival, taking place this year over the weekend of September 2-3 in Liverpool. Capital FM is again official media partner.

So far, acts confirmed include Little Mix, Take That, Tinie Tempah, John Newman, Louisa Johnson, Ella Henderson, The Vamps, JP Cooper and Jax Jones.

Fusion Festival is expected to attract around 80,000 consumers, 60% of them aged between 18-25 and 75% of them female (based on previous festivals).

McDonald’s and Cadbury will both be activating within the experiential village at the festival.

Brand and media partnership agency What If London is managing the partner program, and is still negotiating for headliner, support and experiential activation rights for 2017. The headliner will get its brand incorporated in the event name as well as mentions in the Fusion Festival’s marketing, including social media and on Capital FM. Opportunities open for supporting partners include second stage naming rights, sampling, experiential and pop-up retail. Previous Fusion Festival brand partners have included Vimto, Kopparberg and Gallo Wines.

Fusion Festival also has a dedicated YouTube channel and What If London is looking for a ‘presenting partner’ for a 75-minute festival highlights show which will appear on the channel.

What If London is a member of UK marketing industry body, the Institute of Promotional Marketing.

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Jo Coughlin of Mediator Communications reports back on the IPM’s first ever Partnership Marketing Conference, Creating the Perfect Blend

In an ever-changing marketing landscape, brands are looking at alternative approaches to engage a hard to reach consumer. As a result, we’re seeing the growth of Partnership Marketing, as it earns its place amongst the marketing mix as a more engaging, effective and innovative tool.

This was the subject of the IPM’s recent conference, Creating the Perfect Blend, which took place on Friday 22nd April 2016. Organised in conjunction with the UK Partnership Panel and chaired by Mediator Communications’ Managing Director, Tara Honeywell, speakers from British Gas, Warner Music, Comic Relief, NOW TV, Cinema First, LiveNation and Fusion Festival discussed the pros and cons of Partnership Marketing, talked through case studies and drew on their own experience to talk about trends and best practice.

Everyday, consumers buy into brand propositions; often, those that resonate most are where great brands, retailers and common causes come together to create the perfect match. The conference saw those at the forefront of shaping the future of partnerships share their views on why partnerships has become so important in today’s marketing mix as well as demonstrate the powerful combinations that have grown brands.

There can be some ambiguity around what is meant by ‘Partnership Marketing’ and its scope. Tara Honeywell began the day’s proceedings by outlining the definition that was created by the UK Partnership Panel, whose role is to raise the profile of PM across the industry.

This definition states:

“Partnership Marketing is the discipline of brands working together to co-create ideas that are collectively more effective for their businesses and more compelling to their consumers.”

Matthew Leopold of British Gas then shared how the energy giant’s sponsorship with British Swimming created a ‘new world’ model of marketing partnerships, focusing on the depth of the ‘fanship’ rather than on the more activation-led approach which they had previously applied to the sponsorship.

By engaging people who care about the sport, British Gas was able to help British Swimming grow the fanbase and increase participation in the sport and in turn trigger likability, affinity and consideration of British Gas over the long term.

This deeper engagement and a more meaningful association helped change the way the customer felt about British Gas outside of a standard sponsorship badging exercise. Truly integrating the partnership and sharing objectives created a more credible association.

For Ciara Godley at Comic Relief, having clear objectives and working together has been the secret ingredient in Comic Relief’s hugely successful and long term partnership strategy.

Sainsbury’s has partnered with Red Nose Day for years and is their biggest partner outside of the BBC. Not only does the retailer raise a lot of money for charity, but it has also benefited itself – ‘Red Noses’ have driven footfall into stores and engaged with shoppers on a much deeper level. For Comic Relief, a flexible approach to a partnership and having passion and belief has reaped rewards for the charity and all involved.

Tanya Easterman from Cinema First took us through the journey of how Meerkat Movies changed the game of movie partnerships by applying a full business response to the partnership with significant investment that built the momentum.

For Cinema First, it was important to re-invigorate the ‘Orange Wednesday’ proposition and evolve the partnership. It was important for them when choosing a new partner that this was a genuine partnership that promoted the industry and would drive incremental business for all parties. For the cinema industry, the partnership has opened the offer up to multiple day visits and are looking at a family offering and for Compare the Market they’ve retained customers as well as impacting customer perceptions.

Tara Honeywell closed the day with a round-up of the outtakes, from movie and charity partnerships to sponsorships and music collaborations there were three clear aspects required to create the perfect partnership:

• Strategy first;
• Collaborative approach;
• Clear KPIs and evaluation metrics.

The IPM’s Managing Director, Carey Trevill concluded: ‘We decided that Partnership Marketing as a discipline needed a spotlight – an important part of any marketers tool kit, this first Partnership Conference started to explore the future thinking of the industry. We were delighted to work with the Partnership Panel on this and look forward to a close working relationship in the coming year.”

If you are looking to use partnerships to help your brand grow take a look at the Partnership Panel’s Best Practice Guidelines.

Jo Coughlin is New Business Director of partnership marketing agency Mediator Communications. She can be contacted on jo.coughlin@mediator.co.uk

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