Having a Rollerball

Nokia gets its skates on

What?: “He was a sk8er boi / She said ‘See you later boy,’” sang Avril Lavigne at the start of the decade. That ‘later’ is now as Nokia wheels out its own Starlight Express.

Nokia is to stage a number of roller- skating events in London, Manchester, and Birmingham on 11th-13th July in a specially-created rink, which will feature music from Hot Chip, Zero 7, Simian Mobile Disco, and Bodyrox. Nokia has also signed up new artist Vassy to rework two classic anthems to tie in with the event – The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ and ‘You Get What You Give’ by the New Radicals. Both tracks will be available to download exclusively from the Nokia Music Store from 10th July.

The campaign is fronted by model Alice Dallel – in an Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman-style photoshoot – who wears skates created by design duo Preen that were inspired by music acts. Tickets to the events will be sent to requesters’ mobile phones 24 hours before the event. On registering for the event, attendees will also receive a pincode to download free tracks from the Nokia Music Store. Will Harris, Nokia’s Marketing Director, said: “It will bring people together to pay homage to the different types of music that we all love.”

So what?: It’s time to dust off your legwarmers, brush your silky Olivia Newton-John hairdos, and get your skates on. The rise of peripheral-based gaming and a heightened desire for live music has made music ‘hands-on’. Nokia is taking it a step further, making it ‘feet-on’.

Nokia, as with its Trend Labs project, has both fashion and music perfectly amalgamated here – something a fashion brand should really have pegged rather than a handset manufacturer. Interestingly, Roller Derby – the far more aggressive female sport that apes the 1975 film Rollerball – had its first major international match played in the UK last week. Drew Barrymore is also casting Ellen Page (of Juno fame) in Whip It, a film based on Roller Derby scheduled for release next year. With a surge in all things retro-blade, an updated version of Xanadu (originally choreographed by Kenny Ortega – the man behind High School Musical) seems increasingly likely.

“Summer, sunshine and rollerdiscos – what’s not to like? As Nokia extend its Music Almighty campaign into Skate Almighty it is, weather-permitting, a great way to bring to life the role of music as a backdrop for good times (on wheels).”
Jack Horner, Creative Director, FRUKT

http://skatealmighty.nokia.co.uk

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