Carmela Iandoli joins as programming editor, a newly-created role designed to expand Blink's pre-show entertainment offering to appeal to artists from all music genres. Blink is known for its work with pop acts, but recent projects with indie bands such as Keane and Snow Patrol signals its intention to broaden its client base.
For Snow Patrol's current tour Blink created bespoke pre-show entertainment tailored specifically to the tastes of the band and its fans, including music selected by the band set to time-lapse photography of the stage being set up. The resulting imagery builds anticipation within the crowd prior to the band's arrival on stage. The package includes targeted advertising which helps offset the significant rental costs of the video equipment and allows the band to incorporate more visual elements into its show.
Iandoli, a classically-trained musician, originally comes from a sales background, having worked for OMD UK, BBC Worldwide and Future Publishing among others. Her brief is to work closely with Blink's clients to create innovative pre-show programming such as that developed for Snow Patrol.
Blink founder and CEO Bill Lord said: "While we have an established client base of mainstream global touring acts such as Kylie, Robbie Williams, Genesis and the like - as well as most of Europe's premier festivals - we're very pleased to be adding more indie based bands to our roster. You can't have a much better start to our activity in that sector than working with Keane and Snow Patrol."
In anticipation of this, Blink's second key recruit, Alex Wright, joins as business development manager. She has most recently worked as the live advertising manager across NME and Uncut Brands at IPC Media. Her brief at Blink is to drive new business across the company's portfolio, with an initial focus on festivals in the UK, Europe and further afield.
Blink has also seen increased demand for its multi-camera TV production work. Recent credits include the filming and TV production for a series of exclusive shows headlined by Sir Elton John in Caracas, Bogota and Mexico City. Commissioned by Diageo for their Buchanan's Forever Foundation, the work involved the immediate turnaround of video news releases for each show and the multi-camera HD production of Elton's Mexico performance. The resulting TV special will be broadcast across Latin America in April to millions of viewers.
(Jim Evans)
