Branding | Activation | Content | Digital App

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. Each August over 50,000 performances of more than 3,000 shows take place in more than 300 venues across the city.

It’s a maelstrom of energy, originality, and bravado. And it’s the greatest marketplace for talent in the world.

My brief was to activate Virgin Money’s sponsorship of the Fringe Society – the organisation that underpins the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a central box office, a comprehensive programme and artist and venue support.

The response was to focus on providing access to the extraordinary range of experiences on offer. Money unlocking the best creative experiences.

Work included the Fringe app to help people navigate the bewildering array of shows and performances and the Virgin Money Street Events to give everybody access to world class street performers. And to encourage people to try something new, we supported the Half Price Hut offering discounted tickets to selected shows. We shared the financial risk if you took a creative one.

Virgin Money’s Edinburgh August ended with the closing concert of the Edinburgh International Festival itself – the world-famous Fireworks Concert.

This was a unique event, deeply loved by the people of Edinburgh. Complex, challenging and enormous fun, it was a joy to help deliver.

“Andrew understands the challenges and complexities of leading on a large-scale multi-partner branded event. The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert is a live yearly orchestral fireworks concert and the highest profile event in the Edinburgh Festival season, with an annual audience of 250,000. He was amazing at balancing the needs of all partners in a tripartite event with Virgin Money as title sponsor, produced by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and presented by the Edinburgh International Festival. Andrew's skill and years of experience drove the partnership across eight years and he was always a truly collaborative and supportive colleague.”

Christopher Wynn: Director of Development, Edinburgh International Festival

(collaborator: graystudio)