The Challenge
Cheltenham has world-famous literary, jazz, science and music festivals. It has the Cotswolds on its doorstep. It has GCHQ. It has Michelin-starred restaurants. It has the Everyman Theatre. It has great shopping. Plus, it’s the most complete Regency town in the UK. However, despite all this, Cheltenham has become known as ‘The Horse Racing Place’. For 16 days of the year, when the racing world is in town, this may be true. However, for the other 349 days of the year, it is most definitely not. And something needed to be done – to stop its visitor economy from stagnating.
The Solution
‘The Festival Town’
The Little Big Agency began by carrying out a brand strategy consultation with key stakeholders in Cheltenham’s culture, leisure and visitor economy, including representatives from Cheltenham Festivals, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham BID and Cheltenham Council. What we discovered was that the spirit of Cheltenham has remained the same for 250 years. People originally visited Cheltenham to drink from its healing spring, and to refresh their mind body and soul. Today, people still visit Cheltenham to refresh their mind, body and soul. Only now, the healing waters have been replaced by the town’s refreshing festival vibes. To highlight these festival vibes, we created a logo that reflects the uplifting lighting you experience at festivals and the strong straight lines of our Regency architecture. The logo also acts as a beacon (think Batman’s Bat-Signal) summoning visitors to the town. The core colours of Purple and Gold, are an eye-catching nod to Cheltenham’s regal past and also a celebration of the festival atmosphere which now characterises the town.
Agency: Little Big Agency
At the Little Big Agency we made this film to mark the launch of the new branding for Visit Cheltenham ‘The Festival Town’.
The Challenge
Cirencester’s Trust Systems have been turning innovative technology into business reality for over 15 years. Their digital products have moved with the times – ahead of the times, in fact – but their marketing materials have not. Our job at LBA has been to bring Trust Systems image up to date, in line with their visionary products; to help them secure business both now and in the future.
The Solution
‘We’ll help your business really fly’
The Little Big Agency began our process by undertaking a strategic exercise with Trust’s key stakeholders. This allowed us to take stock of and review Trust’s market positioning and agree a strategic direction moving forward.Trust already work with a lot of very successful businesses – including Aldi, Coop, Holland & Barrett, National Express and Waterstones. We wanted to reflect this in their positioning. After all, there’s no point in telling a thriving business you can make them successful; because they already are. What you can do, however, is let them know you could make them even more successful – not that you can help their business take off; rather that you can help it fly even higher. This positioning has been reflected in our brand work. We needed to give potential customers the confidence that Trust could add something meaningful to their business. So, we evolved Trust’s original logo to make it feel more dynamic and cutting edge, while also building on their existing brand equity. We also introduced a modern, vibrant colour palette which is more in keeping with the cutting-edge nature of their business.Once that was done, we overhauled the website’s User Experience to ensure a seamless professional experience that enables viewers to find what they want quickly and efficiently.
Agency: Little Big Agency
We created a dynamic Solution Diagram to help Trust Systems demonstrate the many ways Trust can enable a digital revolution for businesses.
The Challenge
Mopane Capital are a trailblazing financial start-up who want to shake up the world of Natural Asset management. They have pioneered a unique market valuation model, which bridges the gap between natural assets and sustainable finance. They needed a brand identity to reflect their positioning as the new boys in town but with enough gravitas that they would be taken seriously by potential investors.
The Solution
‘Changing the landscape of Natural Asset Management’
We took our inspiration from the eponymous Mopane Tree, a tree native to parts of Southern Africa. Named after the butterfly shape of its leaves, it is a tree that represents transformation and fruitfulness – two qualities that also sit at the heart of the brand. To reflect these characteristics, the logo is a representation of the Mopane Tree’s distinctly shaped leaves that, on closer inspection, becomes a proud lion.
Agency: Little Big Agency
The Little Big Agency created a video to help explain Mopane Capital’s revolutionary Natural Asset Pricing Model.
Cirencester’s The Barn Theatre launched as a professional venue in March 2018, after a £4.5 million makeover. My task as Creative Director was to help The Barn transform itself from a little-known theatre in the Cotswold’s capital into a venue capable of causing a stir, not just locally but also on the world stage.
This project has involved a wide range of creative work – including logo design, website creation, a brand film, show posters, corporate sponsor packs and the Souvenir Brochure for their inaugural show, The Secret Garden.
Agency: 10A
At 10A, we created a brand film which highlights the transformational nature of The Barn Theatre through the eyes of a little girl who has accompanied her father to work there and is transported to a magical world.
London-trained milliner, Heather Ogilvie, designs and makes unique bespoke hats and headpieces from her tranquil studio in the Cotswolds. My task, as Creative Director, was to help Heather transform her passion project “Hats By Heather” into “Heather Ogilvie Millinery” – a bone fide fashion brand, as contemporary and extraordinary as her hats.
Agency: 10A
I directed a photoshoot at The Classic Motor Hub for Heather’s ‘Under The Bonnet’ collection. Chris Boulton’s stunning images secured Heather free coverage in Cotswold Life magazine.
Raise your paws, claws and fins for the UK's No.1 Loyalty Scheme for Pet Owners.
Every pet owner knows what an important role our pets play in our families. To celebrate this unique bond, in 2012 Pets At Home launched their ‘VIP club’ – a club created to enhance the lives of Very Important Pets and those who care for them.
Today the VIP Club boasts 5.5 million members – that’s around 50% of the UK’s pet owners joining up in just over 4 years!
As ACD I oversaw the many digital and direct mail comms that were sent out to these members.
The scheme won 'Best Loyalty Programme' and 'Best Longterm Loyalty Programme' at the 2017 Loyalty Magazine Awards. It also picked up Bronze for 'Best Loyalty or CRM programme' and Bronze for 'Best use of mobile & connected devices' at the 2017 DMAs.
Agency: Havas Helia
As part of our work on the VIP Club, we produced the #Hi5million! campaign. (It was created by talented team Jon McWee and Danielle Bailey.) Our work celebrated the fact that the Pets at Home Lifelines scheme had successfully raised over £5 million for UK animal charities in under 5 years.
How HSBC helped students invest in their future selves
When it comes to enticing students to join them, most banks focus solely on the here and now.
HSBC have a little more substance to their offering – which is why everything they do for their students today, has one eye strongly focused on tomorrow.
Take their joining incentive for their student account – a £60 Amazon voucher. Yes it has instant appeal but, more importantly, because it can be spent however the student likes, it’s something they can use to help them achieve their goals and become the person they dream of being at the end of uni – their ideal future self.
Our 'Future Self' campaign won HSBC's Global Award for creativity in 2015. It also picked up Financial Services Bronze at the 2015 DMAs, along with a nomination for Best Customer Acquisition campaign.
Agency: TMW Unlimited
Bronze-winning DMA Financial Services campaign
Helping Nissan bring their CRM into the 21st Century
Nissan cars have undergone something of a revolution since the turn of the millennium - with models like Qashqai, Juke and LEAF leading the way. In 2015 they finally surpassed Toyota to become Europe's top-selling Asian car brand.
Until recently Nissan's Customer Relationship Marketing has been a little less pioneering. However, with the help of our brave client, we've brought their communications firmly into the 21st century.
Here are two examples of how we've done that.
1. You+ Emagazine - a quarterly email that keeps customers up to speed with all the innovations and news from Nissan. Designed to be enjoyed on a smartphone, this turns the humble email into a microsite.
2. Sales Consideration - another quarterly mailing and email programme. This campaign takes personalisation to a whole new level, using very granular data to hit customers with super relevant messages. It works too. With an ROI of 34:1.
Agency: TMW Unlimited
Getting in touch with my inner teenager
Selling body spray to teenage girls who long to be twenty somethings was a fun and interesting challenge (for a middle-aged man!).
Fortunately I was overseeing the creative talents of TMW's all-girl team Brittony Collins and Fluff Higgins.
We challenged YouTuber, Leanne Lim Walker, to say #whynot to a group of fun challenges over the course of a week.
Agency: TMW Unlimited
Using a Grumpy Gorilla to promote a Happy New Year
Created to support DrinkIQ's #THINKHOWYOUDRINK work, this poster, press and phone cover campaign was for Diageo's sponsorship of TFL's New Year's Eve travel.
Research told us that young people tend to tune out serious messages. So instead we used humour to make our point. Our grumpy gorilla created a bit of a stir on social media too, helping to spread our message via word of mouth.
Agency: TMW Unlimited
Introducing The Honda Way
Noisy. That’s the world of car advertising. Lots of loud colours, fake tints and flashy CGI. Our creative strategy was to do away with all this – to create standout through simplicity and honesty. After all, our audience are considered buyers. They wouldn’t buy a Honda by accident – so why shout?
Me too, me too. You see it everywhere in tactical car advertising. The same old bold colours. The cliched rhetoric – heavy headlines. The obligatory three-quarter shot of the car. That is, if you can tell which brand and model it is.
We developed a new way of talking for our tactical advertising – The Honda Way.
It’s truthful and straightforward, but in a way that’s never flippant. We wanted people to pay attention to what we were saying, but in a way that wasn’t shout. We wanted to make people fond of the brand, without being twee or needy. In short, we wanted to be honest in a way that was still impactful.
This campaign was nominated for both Copy and Art Direction at the 2013 DMAs.
Agency: Karmarama
Calling out the fake on Facebook
Our task was to introduce Tullamore Dew’s ‘Irish True’ brand positioning to a global social audience. Our response was the ‘Death to Dishonesty’ campaign.
We created a Facebook app which allowed fans to tell us was that they thought was fake, and in return we would burn their submissions in our virtual furnace for a chance to win a trip to the real Ireland.
We then took the idea offline and filmed the burning of the fake in a real life furnace. From the ashes we created something true: a charcoal portrait drawn by Irish artist, Barry Jazz Finnegan. This also formed part of the launch of our Irish True blog, a platform where everything real can be celebrated. The launch was supported by PR and a partnership with Vice magazine.
Agency: Crayon
Putting the great in Great Britain
Diageo and Schweppes joined forces in Summer 2012 to remind shoppers they were the ideal drinking companions for adult social get-togethers.
Our aim was to harness the groundswell of Great British pride engendered by events including the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
We created a multi media campaign for both the on and off-trade. It resulted in an 8% increase in YOY spirit sales for the summer period.
Agency: Tullo Marshall Warren
Bringing Christmas to life with a Guinness Festive Philharmonic
To encourage fans of Guinness to stock up on their favourite tipple over the festive season, we mailed them a Guinness-branded conductor’s baton, along with music to the festive classic - Jingle Bells.
The twist? The musical instrument on which the tune could be played was 5 pint glasses filled to various levels with the black stuff.
To help our drinkers get in tune for Christmas, we created a range of interactive YouTube videos for them to practise on before pouring out their pints.
This campaign picked up FMCG Bronze in the 2012 DMAs.
Agency: Tullo Marshall Warren
A World Class Community for World Class bartenders
The Diageo Reserve Club was an exclusive, invitation-only online destination for world class bartenders - offering them information, insight and inspiration.
This website won The International Content Marketing Awards 2012 'Best Digital Content Solution Of The Year'. It was also Highly Commended in the Rev Awards 2013.
Agency: Tullo Marshall Warren
The ultimate accolade
One of my proudest moments as a creative has to be standing on stage at The Palais Des Festivals in Cannes accepting the Gold Lion for 'Best Loyalty' Programme for our Guinness work.
This is a selection of the creative that secured the gong - digital, direct mail and national press - every piece a gold winner in its own right.
Agency: Tullo Marshall Warren
