Simon Beckingham, Andrew Boon, Simon Hayward. Photo by Amar Gera.
The team behind Lost Paradise festival on the NSW Central Coast has launched Layers, a creative agency targeting brands wanting to connect with younger audiences through cultural experiences rather than traditional advertising.
Layers is led by Simon Beckingham, founder of festival company Finely Tuned, Simon Hayward, former managing director at Rizer and Groundswell, and Andrew Boon, former marketing lead at record labels Anjunadeep and Sweat It Out.
The trio has worked with brands including Louis Vuitton, Veuve Clicquot, Nike, Google and Netflix.
"At a time when brands are looking to connect with younger, highly connected audiences who are increasingly difficult to reach through traditional media, Layers brings a new way forward," Beckingham said.
The agency builds on Finely Tuned's record of brand activations at music events. At Lost Paradise, the company's four-day festival that survived when other major NSW festivals folded, brands including Red Bull, Diageo and 4 Pines ran activations. The 2024 festival was the most successful in the event's history.
Finely Tuned also created brand experiences at events including Randwick Races for the Australian Turf Club and pop-ups for clients including Geely and the Australian Museum.
The new agency offers services from strategy and creative through to production and campaign delivery, targeting audiences the founders say are "smart, selective and tuned into what feels real".
"From intimate 300-capacity shows to large-scale 30,000-person festivals, we have consistently delivered experiences people choose to be part of," Boon said.
Layers aims to help brands create what it calls "meaningful connections" through live experiences rather than digital platforms alone. Finely Tuned shifts more than 175,000 tickets annually across its events portfolio.
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