The Open University

Have Your Elf a Merry Christmas

Son of a nutcracker! In 2022, Asda introduced a very special festive colleague, and star of its Christmas campaign: Buddy the Elf. The ad - the first time Elf has been licensed for brand marketing - uses original footage from the UK's #1 Christmas film to plant the beloved Buddy right at the heart of a bustling Asda store in the build-up to his favourite time of year. It aimed to make people smile, and based on the overwhelmingly positive early reaction, it's doing just that.

I/AM

To celebrate Aston Martin’s return to Grand Prix racing for the first time in more than 60 years, we launched AMCF1's inaugural fan and partner engagement platform, I / AM. I / AM represents a commitment by AMCF1 to place its fans at the heart of everything it does – consciously reflecting the world beyond the track, progressively driving the team and the sport forwards, and inviting everyone along for the ride. It aims to build a global network of diverse people with a shared passion – acting as a fan-centric, positive platform for collaboration and change.

Agencies: Havas CX helia, Cake, Havas Studios and Inviqa.

Know You Can

AXA had created a powerful consumer brand to help them stand out against the new age of insurer, and now they needed an employer brand to match. One with its own look and feel, a flexible and inclusive brand architecture, and people at its centre. Which is where we came in. Taking their new consumer platform, ‘Know You Can’, we created a brand that would help AXA tell their story, boost internal advocacy and engagement, and show external candidates why they shouldn’t want to work anywhere else. 

Scarlet Lady

When Virgin Voyages first revealed Scarlet Lady in 2020, the brand was set to shake-up the cruise industry by redefining travel at sea. Then came the pandemic, leaving the brand in limbo. We successfully exploded awareness that the Scarlet Lady - and Virgin Voyages - had returned in 2021 with a new way to voyage,  leveraging desire for luxury and escape, while dialing up how Virgin Voyages and the Scarlet Lady were taking steps to redefine safety at sea.

The Black Plaque Project

Just 1.6% of London's famous blue plaques are dedicated to Black people. The Black Plaque Project is a new initiative, in partnership with Nubian Jak Community Trust, commemorating the rich, diverse contributions of Black people throughout history.

I may destroy you

The BBC has a problem. The nation’s youth (under-35s) is departing in droves; its weekly reach has fallen 11% in the past two years. Perceived to be out of touch and increasingly out of mind, In ‘I May Destroy You’ (IMDY), we had the makings of a golden ticket to address topics of sexual consent in a way that really mattered to u35s. CONNECTION: We partnered with The Face & gal dem to shape an authentic conversation around the culture and passions of our audience. CONTEXT: Built to coincide with Sexual Health Awareness week, our digital zine 'The Ins and Outs of Consent’, explored the topic of consent from multiple perspectives and served as an important digital resource for U35’s. CONTENT: The Zine featured an A-Z of consent and detailed seven ‘chapters’ that covered topics such as gender identity. The whole zine was interlaced with evocative video clips and pictures from the show, as well as expert voices.

Herd Immunity

A multi award-winning short film - a cutting take on the scourge of fake news and the slightly ignorant, slightly gullible conspiracy theorists that fall for it. Collaborating with Havas London, it’s an amazing display of what the Havas Village London does when it comes together, sparked by a fantastic, darkly funny idea. Written and directed by Havas’ very own Rosie May Bird Smith - she sent us on a brilliantly bizarre, sheep-filled journey, creating a film we’re all proud of.

The judges seem to quite like it too: Shiny; Think Shorts; Beyond the Short; Papaya; Film Shortage; 1.4 Award for Brilliant Filmmaking; APA; Young British Arrows; British Arrows 2023, The British Short Film Awards

Uniting the movement

Sport England needed a powerful new name, visual identity, launch film and strategy documents for its radical 10-year vision to engage more people in sport and physical activity. Our work covered digital, social and event activation from initiation through to launch, and was delivered against an aggressive timeline to a broad steering team. 'Uniting the Movement' was given a powerful visual identity, and the emotive launch film, voiced by Dame Kelly Holmes, acted as a rallying cry to potential sponsors and partners.

Winning at Wimbledon

In a crowded media environment that was still dominated by Covid-19, we knew we had to disrupt the landscape to maximise Amex's partnership with Wimbledon. To demonstrate how tennis is better with Amex, we created a unique Wimbledon experience with world champion Andy Murray front and centre. As well as securing the front cover of the Times magazine, we generated a total reach of 142 million with over 99% positive sentiment. We also successfully moved Amex up to joint first place for Wimbledon's sponsorship coverage, in a year where coverage dropped by 37% across the board. Game, set and match.

Vanish

Vanish partnered with the British Fashion Council (BFC) and Amazon, to create a three-part documentary series shining a light on a new generation at the forefront of sustainable fashion. Generation Rewear, addresses consumers’ excessive consumption of clothing and the culture of extreme disposability at its heart, while simultaneously celebrating the innovative designers, companies and ordinary people seeking to reduce fashion’s impact on the environment.

EE X Beatport presents Parallel

To give EE’s powerful 5G network centre stage, we partnered with Beatport to create Parallel – the UK’s first hybrid, 5G-powered club night. Entertainers from Beatport’s roster of DJs hit the decks live in Liverpool, delivering back-to-back sets and using the award-winning 5G network to stream and entertain clubbers at two separate rooftop venues across the city. A second event took place in Manchester, highlighting up-and-coming DJs from the city’s local scene. Initially, the DJ's sets pulled in views of well over a million, with the numbers rising every day since. For our clients at EE, the Parallel club nights allowed them to engage a really specific portion of their target audience, proving that a partnership with Beatport was bang on.

King of the Streets

JD’s aim was to reaffirm their title as the number one retailer for street style, and so our fully integrated, global campaign ‘King of The Streets’ was born. Spanning 20 markets, at its heart was a two-minute TV ad, ‘JD Street’, starring more than 30 sporting, musical and TV youth culture icons including Little Simz, KSI and Jadon Sancho. As an extension of the TVC and OOH, we launched a mockumentary series via TikTok and JD social channels. Consumers also got a chance to shop their favourite items through a digital, shoppable version of the TVC – stopping and shopping the ad in real time. And if that wasn’t enough for fans to interact with JD Street, a mobile game also gave them the chance to win weekly prizes. ‘King of The Streets’ was a royal success, and the TV spot was crowned YouTube’s most engaging Christmas Ad of 2021.

Carling Made Local

Carling’s latest marketing campaign ‘Made Local’ champions and supports people who are making a positive impact in their hometown - just like Carling, proudly brewed by local people in it's historic home of Burton-on-Trent. For their latest installment, we shone light onto Black Country Fashion FC, a LGBTQ+ inclusive football team. The local team, built on values of inclusiveness aims to help local culture and lift community spirit. To raise awareness of the team we made them the focus of both Carling’s new ad and the first documentary in the Made Local series. The ad featured across multiple channels nationwide, including TV, VOD, social and cinemas.

Agencies: Havas London, Universal Music Group and Cake.

Keep It Fresh

'Keep It Fresh' is a major new brand campaign and positioning for Coors Light in the UK. Championing freshness as an attitude, it launched with an epic, off-piste (literally) TV spot as well as OOH, social, digital, PR and a series of C4 idents.

Long Live the Local

Every day, three pubs in the UK close their doors for good – in part due to cripplingly high beer tax. Britain’s Beer Alliance was formed to help the industry fight back. In 2018, the Chancellor announced that a further increase in duty would be forthcoming in the Autumn Budget. Our challenge? Persuade the Chancellor to reverse the planned beer duty rise. We had one shot to get it right. The first campaign of its sort. No past learnings. No idea of success until Budget day. ‘Long Live the Local’ became our rallying cry. We launched our campaign with a bang to spark a groundswell of action. The campaign celebrated the important role pubs play in our local communities, our culture and our national identity. And in October 2018 the Chancellor did just that. Saving the industry £110m and preventing 4,000 job-losses.

Agencies: Havas London, Havas Media, One Green Bean and Cake.

Travel Fan in Japan

O2’s long running sponsorship of England Rugby has always been based on the power of support. As the nation geared up for the 2019 World Cup, we wanted fans to feel closer than ever when they #WearTheRose. We spent a month in Japan with Ugo Monye and Jamie Laing, visiting host cities and exploring the parallels between samurai Bushido values and the guiding principles of rugby. Our six-part series, distributed on O2 digital channels and ITV, made an impact. We united players and fans, bridged cultures, and brought those supporting from home, closer to the action.

Agencies: JUMP, Havas Media and Havas Studios.