A little thing like the pandemic didn’t stop Bubl’s 3rd outing for O2. Shot virtually, the film sees Bubl becoming everyone’s favourite flatmate as people take advantage of O2’s great low prices. Thanks to Wilma Vritra for the stonking track.
DIRECTOR: Gary Freedman
We developed Bubl the robot as a way of warming up the O2 brand. Funny then, that for O2’s first Christmas ad ever, we put him on ice.
DIRECTOR: Gary Freedman
We were tasked to rebrand and reposition O2's Pay As You Go tariff, and inject it with a bit more youth and attitude.
Given that Pay As You Go is usually associated with OAP's and drug dealers, this was no mean task.
We love a pun, so the visual idea and new name came pretty quickly.
Pay and glo was born.
DIRECTORS: Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
A labour of love.
Made with and for our dear friend VJ in the hope that the next generation of girls will ALL survive this devastating disease. Please make a #nextgenpledge for a girl you love.
DIRECTOR: Joanna Bailey.
“Let’s all pile back to yours”. A phrase that can strike terror into half the population of Britain.
Dated kitchens, grubby bathrooms, dodgy DIY, weed-filled patios, rotten decking, all conspire to make us ashamed of our homes.
This insight led to us developing a new brand campaign for Wickes with “housebarrassment” at its core, and Wickes as its cure.
Its first outing increased leads by 14% and sales by 10%, year on year. Not too shabby.
DIRECTOR: Tony Barry.
When Thompson became TUI.
A tricky tonal task to persuade Thompson-loving Brits that the big global brand of TUI was just as warm and fuzzy. We did it with this all singing, all dancing holidayfest and discovered a new star in the process. With thanks to Tony Malcolm for his inspired endline.
DIRECTOR: Simon Ratigan.
Together with Foodfilm, we re-wrote the visual language of food. Sexy, graphic, funny, but still appetising, the campaign put M&S food back centre stage, where it belonged. The Belgian chocolate Jaffa Sphere featured in the launch film sold out by 3pm on the first day it aired, and became the fastest selling dessert M&S have ever stocked. The arresting visual treatment we created was embraced by M&S and taken across the store in all VM and packaging.
DIRECTOR: Foodfilm.
Great clients get great work. When Breda, our Virgin Atlantic client asked us to design a 25 year anniversary logo, we came back with a 90 second script. She cried and said ‘we have to make this’. We did. We won lots of awards. They couldn’t sell seats fast enough. Even in a downturn. In fact, every time the film was shown it paid for itself 8 times over in seat sales. Thanks Breda.
DIRECTOR: Traktor.
A maverick tennis ball makes its way to Wimbledon on a whistle stop tour of the nation and hijacks an iconic moment in tennis history via Dr Who and Albert Square.
DIRECTOR: The Dempseys.
We created nearly 50 films for M&S Food. This is one of our favourites. Who doesn’t love a gyrating jelly?
DIRECTOR: Foodfilm.
‘Adventures in…’ was such a juggernaut success for M&S food, we were asked to find the same recipe for fashion. Same heroing of the product, same attention to detail, provenance, and originality. So, exploding dye, self-stitching organic denim and magically shearing sheep were the order of the day. Sam Brown brought all of this to life in our ‘Art of…’ campaign that, for a time, saw an uplift in GM (clothing) sales at the beleaguered retailer.
DIRECTOR: Sam Brown.
Your airline's either got 'it' or it hasn't. Our second Virgin Atlantic campaign, also directed by Traktor, went global and almost supersonic. We created a campaign no other airline in the world would dare to by dramatising the totally unique flying experience VA offers. Thanks to the success of 'IT', we finally persuaded Atlantic to permanently change their shoe colour from black to red. Many creative gongs and a gold IPA Effectiveness Award followed this labour of love.
DIRECTOR: Traktor.
Our collective knowledge of Golden Era Hollywood put us in good stead for this Christmas spot. Altogether, we made 14 Christmas films for M&S, this one’s our favourite, because of the meticulous craft and research we put into it. We wanted Clooney. We ended up with Banderas. Not soooo bad…
DIRECTOR: Dawn Shadforth.
Rosie Huntingdon Whitely stripped down to her lingerie (what’s new?) to take us on this romp through 5 different fairy tales.
DIRECTOR: Johan Renck.
A bunch of supernaturally talented children from around the globe, join forces to become one of the super hero crews of Virgin Atlantic. Lots more hardware for the awards shelf.
DIRECTOR: Antoine Bardou-Jaquet.
The bounties of the British Isles create a whimsical foodie fantasy, with cabbage leaf hills and chive meadows.
DIRECTOR: Foodfilm.
A Christmas fairy and her rookie sidekick, clock onto the night shift and weave their own distinctive brand of festive Magic (and Sparkle). The campaign was heavily teased on Twitter using the #FollowTheFairies hashtag getting 12,000 followers pre-launch. The two fairies popped up in various locations throughout the UK dishing out gifts and random acts of kindness, and even covered a school in Cornwall in snow.
DIRECTOR: Philippe Andre.
Studio 54 meets West Side Story meets Vogue meets Cabaret. Twiggy and her girls don’t put a foot wrong as they dance their way through a myriad of musicals and iconic videos. Under the watchful eye of maestro, and guest star, Peter Kaye.
DIRECTOR: Vaughan Arnell.
Ever since I first started sprouting at the tender age of 9, I’ve hated my boobs. They grew before anyone else’s, and they always seemed bigger than anyone else’s.
As I got older, they got a bit wayward and seemed to develop a life of their own. I used to imagine them nipping downstairs to get something from the fridge whilst I lay in bed, or escaping out of the window for a night out on the tiles. All I wanted was to be rid of them.
Then a good friend of mine who is exactly the same age developed breast cancer and had to have a double mastectomy. I decided I needed to apologise to my boobs for the years of grief I’d given them, so sat down and wrote “Ode to Boobs”.
Pip
DIRECTOR: Susie Roberson.
We’ve been championing diversity in age and size for as long as we can remember. This campaign for M&S really struck a chord with British women, inspiring a slew of copycat photo line ups.
DIRECTOR: Jake Nava.
Stars from iconic train related films can all be found aboard Virgin Trains’ tilting Pendolino. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint (North By North West) flirt in standard, whilst Dame May Witty and Margaret Lockwood (The Lady Vanishes) get demanding over a pot of tea for two. Sir John Mills, Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis, Albert Finney, Martin Balsam and ‘The Railway Children’ all extol the virtues of the new and improved service along the West Coast line. Beats flying doesn’t it? Ticket sales flew too.
DIRECTOR. Liam Kan and Grant Hodgson (Who?).
Herr Hucknall gets some much needed therapy at KWACCS - The Klaus Wexler Age Correction Clinic courtesy of Virgin Media.
DIRECTOR: SO! Animation
Twiggy’s invited some hot men around for Christmas. Robbie’s invitation may have got lost in the post, but the rest of Take That rocked up to have some festive fun with Twiggy and her gal pals. All the festive fashions flew out of the stores.
DIRECTOR: Dawn Shadforth
Who do you get to sing at Twiggy’s Bond themed Christmas party? Well, Dame Shirley Bassey’s not a bad shout! A little trip to Iceland for some pick-up shots, and the last time M&S’s profits hit £1billion.
DIRECTOR: Dawn Shadforth
Seaside motifs abound in this award-winning spot. Waves of batter crash over succulent fish, chips get sprayed with vinegar, curled waves of ice cream are scooped onto cones, and patriotic crisps were the order of the day. You can almost smell the sea.
DIRECTOR: Foodfilm
After all the over-indulging at Christmas, we went all abstemious for January healthy eating. Spiralised courgettes, cauliflower rice and exotic juices were all given the ‘Foodfilm’ treatment. ‘Wonderfood’ was taken throughout the store, and featured products enjoyed a healthy sales uplift.
DIRECTOR: Foodfilm
