LEGO EASTER CHICKS

Working in-house at the LEGO Agency, we were briefed to create an Easter campaign encouraging parents and relatives to consider a LEGO set as a gift, instead of the usual chocolate egg.

Using real baby chicks, just 1 day old, we directed a stills and live action shoot complete with chick-wrangler and animal welfare officer. The little stars were only too happy to take to the stage, until the studio lights went on, when they promptly fell asleep.

Our Easter chicks quickly became rock stars in LEGO markets all over the world. And for markets where, culturally, chicks don’t represent Easter, we developed the Easter Dragon Egg instead – this time in CGI, complete with fireball and smoke.

LEGO BIRTHDAYS

As part of a wider Gifting Occasions brief, we developed concepts to position LEGO sets as an outstanding gift idea for birthdays.

The Balloon Dogs videos were created in CGI in London, and appeared in social, digital and in-store displays that could be used at any time of year to prompt purchase.

LEGO CHRISTMAS

We launched the new tagline ‘Rebuild the World’ in the Christmas shopper environment with imaginative ‘rebuilds’ bursting out of a gift box. The models were things that kids love, but with an imaginative twist: a princess-rocket-tower, a flamingo-dragon, a car-boat-plane.

Our Bursting Box appeared in LEGO retail and affiliated stores worldwide – the first time the same creative was used across the board. And our call-to-action, ‘Change everything with a gift,’ was translated for every market.

The box and models were shot in London using special builds created in Denmark and flown over by one of the LEGO Group’s amazing Brick-Doctors, who remained on set throughout and ready to scrub in, when required.

LEGO TREATS

Our Gifting Occasions brief extended to impulse purchases of small treats for children. Our job was to position LEGO sets as a gift that’s altogether better than chocolates or sweets. The candy bags were bought, loaded, arranged and shot in London to get the most realistic image possible. The creative work appeared in-store at point-of-purchase.

LEGO CITY PASSENGER TRAIN

Our creative challenge was to demonstrate the coolness factor of LEGO City’s new bullet train to older children with a passion for trains. Our solution was a TVC and cutdown videos for social and shopper centred around a fantastic train journey through a child’s imagination.

Shot in Denmark, using live action and CGI, we created a rollercoaster ride through some of the amazing LEGO City environments a child can build, while highlighting new product features like dimmable headlights, bistro-style dining and accessible double-doors for bikes and wheelchairs.

LEGO SUSTAINABILITY

The LEGO Group had been doing a lot of work on Sustainability, they just hadn’t told anyone about it! We were recruited into a task force to establish a whole new Sustainability platform designed to answer questions about LEGO Systems and the environment.

We developed a series of loops featuring creatures designed specially for LEGO Sustainability known as ‘Critters’. The animation and sound design were created during lockdown with more than a little help from Microsoft Teams.

The loops appeared across FB, IG, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest – even Weibo in China, and in programmatic ad and search placements – building awareness and generating conversations about reusability, recycling and repurposing of LEGO bricks.

LEGO MINOR OCCASIONS

Our brief was to create ideas for minor gifting occasions in the year as part of the ‘Make Their Day’ campaign. The occasions were Children’s Day, Summer Holidays and Back to School – where a small purchase of a LEGO set can go a long way to keeping kids happy, playing and motivated.

The objects were built from LEGO elements and captured in camera, while the headlines were translated into a raft of languages across Central and Eastern Europe, including Russian.

LEGO BLACK FRIDAY

Our first major LEGO Agency brief was to create excitement around Black Friday, one of the most important sales periods of the year. The ‘Price Smash’ visual and animation was a big success and ran across Europe for 3 years straight, and counting…

KIA MOTORS

Our brief was to bring the above-the-line Kia creative work into the showroom, and through the letterbox. We created brochures combining the cartoon world of the TV campaign with car shots and product detail.

The playful nature of the brand gave us plenty of scope to have fun with DM, creating pop-ups, wordsearch puzzles, sliding reveals, and even an offer for sexy underwear.

NAKED SMOOTHIES

We produced an outdoor campaign that took the brand in a new direction. Rather than focus on the content of the drink, Naked smoothies spoke directly to dynamic young people, motivating them with the promise of a burst of natural fruit energy to power key moments in their day.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
AGENCY: MTL

The TDA briefed us to promote the new MTL postgraduate course, Masters in Teaching and Learning. We created bespoke packs for headteachers, coaches and teachers. The course was a departure from general teacher training, so we created a brand new art direction style that was adopted across all communications.

VANISH POWER POWDER

Research showed us that TV viewers were happier being told how to use Vanish PowerPowder if the message was delivered with humour. Hence the Carpet Medics, who appeared in moments of crisis to show people how to bring a fusty old carpet back to life.

MERCEDES E-CLASS COUPE

Using footage of the new Mercedes E-class Coupe, we created a Cinema and TV ad, and YouTube video, showcasing the new design and intelligent features in loving detail. The film was edited with a soundtrack and finished with our strapline: ‘Intelligence brought to life.’

FINISH POWER & PURE

Reckitt Benckiser developed a new dishwasher tab in the Finish range with more Active Oxygen and less chemicals, called ‘Power & Pure’. We launched the new range with a 30 second TV spot that announced the arrival of a purer dishwasher tablet that still cleans with the same awesome power of Finish.

BELVITA DUO CRUNCH

Belvita created a new breakfast bar that combined two classic flavours, strawberry and natural yoghurt. We launched the new Duo Crunch with digital posters celebrating the coming together of two classic flavours for breakfast.

FIRST GREAT WESTERN

Our brief was to encourage off-peak rail travel between London and the West Country. We created a new art direction style for the brand taking cues from budget airlines to convey a value message.

Skilled in the art of the old-school marker visual, Adrian has always been renowned for the quality of his sketches. Recently, he traded in his set of cool greys, inks, lightbox and layout pads in favour of an iPad Pro and took his visuals to the next level. Here’s a small selection to show what’s possible with a good eye and Procreate.

Adrian was determined to recreate the classic marker pen style on the iPad, so we’ve thrown in some of his traditional visuals to compare. See if you can spot the difference.

CHILDREN’S WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
COUNCIL (CWDC)

The 'name-badge' DM was created to recruit new social workers. We wanted to present a fair picture of the job, so we asked four social workers to tell their stories and hired Laura Pannack to photograph them. Laura was named 'One to Watch' by Creative Review soon after.

In the 'Express Delivery' DM, we offered top UK graduates a fast track to social work, sent in an Express Delivery envelope designed by Adrian.

MICROSOFT OFFICE

We wrote and recorded 3 radio ads for Microsoft Office, talking to families about creating presentations for work and school, all based on the insight that your kids are so much better at this than you are.

BETFAIR

We developed a copy tone for Betfair that was distinctly British rather than American, designed to reflect the brand's values of openness, honesty and that traditional sense of fair play. The 'Less Vegas' poster ran on the Cromwell Road while more specific messages were placed in digital media.

STARLIGHT

The Starlight Charity grants wishes to sick and terminally ill children. When a free 96-sheet poster site was donated above the TVR garage at the Chiswick Roundabout, the poster pretty much wrote itself.
Then, Sod's law, the garage closed in the same week that the poster went up – otherwise you'd see a window filled with gleaming TVRs. Best laid plans and all that...