Company Profile 
“As the hour of twilight moves across the world, a series of seven matches will begin. All seven games will take place on 22nd September 2009, the Autumnal Equinox (northern hemisphere) and Vernal Equinox (southern hemisphere). The matches will be taking place at stunning, specially chosen locations in: Italy, France, the UK, Spain, Argentina and Australia, with the Twilight Football grand finale happening at a game reserve in Cape Town, South Africa, the host country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Each match takes place in a location chosen to provide a spectacularly beautiful background for a truly unique activity.” - Sony Insider
SportsMark’s team of experienced event managers, in partnership with our Radiate sister agency Smartfusion, successfully managed this exciting global program in seven cities simultaneously for our client, Sony Europe. Sony and Smartfusion developed the Twilight program to showcase the power of Sony’s new low light photography technology in their digital cameras, which captures incredible detail and fast-moving action in low light filming conditions.
As the size and scope of the project was developed, our colleagues at Smartfusion brought in SportsMark to manage the program’s extensive global logistics, on-site operations, and event hospitality. Managed by our London office, the SportsMark team planned and managed travel and accommodations for a group of more than 650 guests from around the world, including 14 amateur football teams, numerous amateur photography contest winners, journalists, Sony VIPs, and others. Travel itineraries were coordinated for hundreds of flights through multiple time zones.
Seven SportsMark event management teams traveled far and wide to reach the unique event locations around the globe. Each location was selected for its outstanding natural beauty, rather than any natural suitability for football, presenting a variety of event management challenges. Imagine planning and operating an event in the middle of the Pinnacles Desert in the Australian outback, on a barge in the Grand Canal in Venice, in a bull ring in Antequera, Spain, or on a glacier in Zermatt, Switzerland, for instance.
Strategically woven throughout the event, the Sony brand came alive as photographers captured unbelievable images in each location. The passion of the football matches, played in mud, snow, rain, and sand, combined with the photographers’ skill and enthusiasm, created the highest level experience and left each guest with unforgettable memories and associations with the brand.
Twilight football wasn’t the only experience during the four day event. Guests were immersed in the local culture and treated to local cuisine and entertainment in each host city through activities meticulously planned by SportsMark. Blending the Sony brand, the exotic settings, and global football, each event was designed to enhance the guest experience with the Sony Twilight Football Program, creating an emotional brand connection.
SportsMark and Smartfusion collaborated smoothly and managed this complicated program jointly from conception to conclusion. The dual-agency solution offered by Radiate brought together marketing agencies with distinctive core competencies to meet the wide range of outcomes identified by Sony. SportsMark’s experienced event management staff in London, the United States, Europe and around the globe worked diligently together with Smartfusion and the Sony Europe client, expertly designing and executing logistical plans, on-site operations, and event hospitality for Sony.
To learn more about Sony Twilight Football, please visit the event website: