Shooting OMODA's Brand Activation at the Tour of Britain Women's, Blackpool

Avantgarde brought me in to cover OMODA's brand activation at the Tour of Britain Women's race in Blackpool: three OMODA cars on display, a 700m simulated cycling race for visitors to try, and a branded presence right on the Event Village, about 100m short of the actual finish line. The brief was to deliver a mix of stills and video that Avantgarde and OMODA could use across their marketing, from the stand itself to the race passing by outside it.

A crowd of visitors gathers around the OMODA branded pop-up unit at the Tour of Britain Women's Blackpool Event Village on an overcast day
Steady footfall kept the OMODA stand busy throughout the Blackpool Event Village.

A brief that landed the night before

The brief came in the evening before the shoot, which meant working out the shot list and the day's logistics with very little lead time. It's not unusual on event work, and 18 years of shooting on live sites and at live events has taught me to plan fast and stay adaptable once I'm there, because the day rarely goes exactly to plan anyway.

This one didn't. It was heavily overcast with showers, some of them torrential, and the race itself was halted twice for crashes and ended up running about an hour over schedule. I stayed on to cover the extended day and didn't charge Avantgarde for the extra time, since the delay was entirely outside anyone's control and the job still needed finishing properly.

Choosing what to shoot, and when

With stills and video running side by side, a good part of the job was deciding what to capture on camera and what to capture on video, and when to switch between them. Avantgarde needed a content mix they could use across different channels, not just a single set of hero images, so that call had to be made in the moment as the day unfolded rather than worked out in advance.

A smiling teenager in an OMODA cap holds up a black OMODA branded water bottle inside the brand activation unit
Merchandise and giveaways were a popular draw at the OMODA stand.

I let the activation unfold naturally rather than stopping people to pose them. Visitors trying the simulated cycling challenge, families wheeling their bikes past the stand, a police officer having a go on the turbo trainer: all of it works better documentary-style, capturing genuine reactions rather than directed ones. Where I could, I also used the crowd itself as foreground, shooting through people rather than around them, to give the wider activation shots some depth instead of a flat, empty-stand look.

Visitors and cyclists gather in front of the OMODA branded pop-up unit at the Tour of Britain Women's Blackpool Event Village
The OMODA stand became a natural gathering point throughout the Blackpool Event Village.
OMODA cars parked beside the branded pop-up unit at the Tour of Britain Women's Blackpool Event Village
The OMODA range was on show throughout the Blackpool Event Village.
A family in green Lloyds Tour of Britain caps takes a selfie together in front of the results screen at the Blackpool Event Village, under the "get riding, Britain" banner
Event-goers made the most of the photo opportunities around the Blackpool Event Village.
Close-up of a spectator's hands holding a rose gold phone with a pop-socket ring, filming the race along the barriers in Blackpool
Spectators reached for their phones as the race drew close to the line.
A police officer in uniform and hi-vis rides the OMODA simulated cycling trainer inside the brand activation unit, watched by a man in an OMODA cap beside the Super Hybrid System information panel
The OMODA simulator drew competitors from all walks of life, including serving police officers.
A man using a sports wheelchair watches large screens showing the OMODA simulated cycling course inside the brand activation unit, surrounded by other visitors
The OMODA activation welcomed visitors of all abilities to try the simulated cycling challenge.
A tightly packed group of women's cyclists, including a rider in an orange helmet, sprints along the seafront course watched by spectators with phones raised
Fans capture the peloton on their phones as it surges past.
Spectators gather in front of the OMODA branded shipping-container pop-up at the Tour of Britain Women's Blackpool Event Village, with a big screen showing live race coverage and cars parked alongside
The OMODA activation drew a steady crowd throughout the day at the Tour of Britain Women's Blackpool Event Village.

When the race came through

The Tour of Britain Women's field is quick, so the barrier shots as the peloton passed the OMODA branding needed a different rhythm entirely: fast, reactive, and ready before the riders arrived rather than after. The crowd was well attended by cycling and race enthusiasts all along the seafront, several deep at the barriers with phones up, which made for some of my favourite frames of the day.

A breakaway group of women's road cyclists, led by a rider in a yellow helmet, races along Blackpool promenade past OMODA branded barriers near the finish line
The lead group passes the OMODA barriers on Blackpool promenade.

How it landed

Ben Way at Avantgarde summed the day up better than I could:

"Despite a last min brief, Greg was really easy to work with, and produced some great photography and video of our automotive brand activation at the Tour Of Britain cycling in Blackpool."

Ben Way, Avantgarde

It's exactly the kind of brief I enjoy: a fast turnaround, a live event that won't wait for anyone, and a client who needs stills and video working together rather than as two separate jobs. If you've got a brand activation, sponsorship event, or motorsport-adjacent shoot coming up, I'd be glad to talk it through.

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