WINNER
Build a Life
by Uncommon Creative Studio, for B&Q
Build a Life is the first in a series of campaigns by Uncommon for B&Q that look to reinstate the UK’s emotional connection with the brand. The campaign looks to celebrate “the power of home improvement to change lives”, according to Uncommon, and nods to the fact that lockdown has made home even more significant to people.
The new campaign and brand purpose is brought to life using a film created from real people's home videos from 69 families across the 69 cities that make up the UK “to represent a genuine portrait of British homes and how they have been improved across the years,” says Uncommon. The film features nostalgic home moments such as birthday parties, “cups of tea catchups” and slammed doors from family rows.
The film was followed by 17 further individually designed executions including an OOH campaign used across the UK. The designs use imagery of everyday DIY products alongside words and statements inspired by life at home and home improvement, such as a dimmer switch paired with “First kiss.” The look and feel celebrates the famous B&Q orange colour while using a fresh, stripped back style.
The judges said: “Unignorable, compelling and inspiring. From the insight to the manifestation of the strategy and design execution – which is simple yet striking – this is an excellent piece of work.”
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Brent Cross Town
by Dn&co, for Argent Related
Brent Cross Town in north London is set to be the capital’s “leading multi-sport destination and its first net carbon zero town,” according to Dn&co, which was brought in to create its brand strategy.
Dn&co initially distilled the site’s vision into the idea of “a park town for future London” and changed the name from Brent Cross South to Brent Cross Town to connote “a rich sense of place, not a development south of an old shopping centre.” The agency then looked to create a larger and more inclusive strategy, shifting from the potentially intimidating focus on sport. Play was at the heart of the new strategy as a welcoming, dynamic brand.
The brand is currently shown on the hoardings outside the “town-in-progress” and across the pop-up first park, The Exploratory, which opened in September 2020; as well as on the website and 17,000 flyers delivered to local homes.
Brand strategy for Higher State
by Manifest Studios
Higher State in London is a healthy eating, fitness and meditation space featuring a high-end gym, audio-visual yoga studio, therapy and treatment rooms and a “plant-based biohacking café.”
Manifesto was briefed to design an identity that communicated “the magic” behind “challenger brand” Higher State in an accessible way that would build brand awareness, anticipation and excitement until the space officially opens and beyond. The project had to be completed in 10 weeks.
The positioning, "A sanctuary for you to connect inside and out, to reach your Higher State", was created, and the identity was built to be gender neutral to avoid masculine gym-based or feminine yoga stereotypes. The visual language looks to represent a “non-spiritual movement” and maximise audience appeal by creating a unique look and feel. The illustrations were based on “inside,” showing people, and “outside,” showing nature; linked together through a ”halo” icon inspired by the sun that’s used across the design system suggesting a “nirvana moment or ‘Higher State'.”
Paul Smith's Foundation
by Anyways Creative
To coincide with Sir Paul Smith’s brand's 50th anniversary, Smith decided to publicly launch a charitable foundation in October 2020 and brought in Anyways to help define its purpose, strategy, name, branding and launch materials.
Anyways worked with Smith to identify the Foundation’s purpose. Finding it to be “a place where he could offer his support and advice to anyone and everyone, no matter where they live or what they do,” the agency created the mission statement “giving helpful advice to creative people”.
The team then catalogued and archived 65 pieces of advice Smith had previously given in interviews, talks, articles and podcasts that Anyways used as a base for the Foundation's messaging. To reaffirm the Foundation's distinction from the Paul Smith brand, Anyways created a completely separate visual identity using a modern take on a typewriter font and hinting at hand-made elements by using physical stamps and Smith’s handwriting. To tie the thinking, messaging and design of the Foundation together, Anyways created a website and Instagram account to host the ever-growing archive of advice and bring it to life.
The Guardian Weekly – Break the Glass Campaign
by Oliver Agency, for The Guardian
Oliver Agency was briefed to raise awareness of The Guardian Weekly magazine among its growing audience in Berlin with a £50,000 budget. The team looked to demonstrate how the magazine “physically empowers” readers to take action on the issues they care about by creating an experiential special build for 10 days on Berlin's Warschauer Street.
The piece used an “in case of emergency” box that crossed language barriers and invited passers-by to “become active participants, reacting to the overwhelming state of the world,” says the agency. The piece was accompanied with fly-poster activity across 1,800 walls, aiming to lend the campaign “a sense of grassroots energy and vitality”; 100 town boards; 25 information screens in underground stations and point-of-sale materials that ran for a month across Berlin. The campaign achieved a 300% increase in traffic to the website and an 84% increase in retail sales during the campaign period.
Twitter Dating Advice Bureau
by Flying Object, for Twitter UK
Aiming to reignite people’s love for Twitter, Flying Object harnessed the “funniest dating conversations” on the platform around Valentine’s Day by creating The Dating Twitter Advice Bureau.
This took the form of “a pop-up pick 'n' mix of dating tips and installations” supported by OOH media, centred around London’s Covent Garden. A glass façade made the installations eye-catching to tempt in passers-by. Inside, the attractions included The Gallery of Awkward Silences, a Tragic Date Ball, the Ghosting Graveyard and an Adult Area of X-rated Tweets. A dating column in Stylist was launched, as well as a dating tips video from comedian Phil Wang.
Billboards with gigantic tweets (reproduced with their writers’ permission) were plastered across London, San Francisco, New York and Seattle “creating timelines along which commuters could stroll (rather than scroll) to savour our Tweeters' funniest dating misadventures, untroubled by logos or long copy,” says Flying Object. Shorter tweets were displayed on giant billboards, while longer ones filled smaller vertical posters. “We wanted our audience to experience something quintessentially Twitter: the slow unfolding of a seemingly banal observation into a deliciously unexpected punchline,” the agency adds.
Brand Strategy
shortlisted
brand strategy