SPONSORSHIP ON THE RED CARPET
Every year, events such as the Oscars and
the BAFTA’s provides the public with a
chance to look back at some of the
exceptional cinema from the previous year.
Whilst most of the buzz around the events
this year focuses on Gary Oldman, Frances
McDormand and their respective film
nominations, the red carpet remains a huge
opportunity for brands to stand out from
the rest. Visibility at this type of event can be
immensely rewarding for brands wanting to
increase their profile in this cultural space.
The BAFTAs, in fact, have a historic, long-
standing partnership with EE (previously
Orange) that spans over two decades. As
always, they were the title sponsor for 2018
in what marked their 20th year of
partnership, with 2019 being the last year of
their current partnership. EE have been
leading the way year-on-year, using this
partnership with their inventive activations
on the red carpet.
What is striking about EE’s sponsorship of
this event is their continual desire to
innovate at the evening itself, always striving
to show off their latest technologies on the
big stage. Last year, we presented to you
EE’s star attraction o f the Roboselfie: a
robotic camera that followed host Laura
Whitmore around the red carpet taking
selfies with the invitees. The Roboselfie
allowed fans to tweet in pictures of
themselves using the hastag
#EEBAFTAselfie to be in with a chance of
having a picture taken with one of their
celebrity idols. This allowed EE to capture
five selfies per second on the red carpet,
before tweeting the pics back to the fans on
the night.
This year, however, EE arguably went bigger
and better through their strive for innovation
on the night. EE launched the world’s first
ever “Style Scanner”. What’s that you might
ask? Well, “it’s a camera rig fitted with
Google Pixel 2 devices that photographed
attendees from 12 different angles,
automatically creating a 3D rotating GIF of
each look.” Still confused..? Basically, in
simple terms, EE provided fans watching the
BAFTA’s at home immediate access to be
able to buy alternative versions of the
clothing that their idols were wearing on the
red carpet; whether that be a snazzy velvet
dinner jacket, a dazzling floor length dress, or
even just a simple accessory.
EE tapped into their millennial audience
further through having their red carpet
coverage presented by (ex The Saturdays
member) Rochelle Humes; whilst both
Marcus Butler and Lydia Bright were their
social media influencers on the night.
Year-on-year, EE continually attempt to
strive for innovative ways to bring members
of the public closer to the action of the
BAFTA’s. As we have highlighted, the last
two years have seen great success. Apart
from the BAFTA’s, there are plenty of
opportunities for brands to tie up with film
ceremonies for an opportunity to activate
wisely, and we can only suggest to take a
leaf out of EE’s book to accomplish this.