Winner winner chicken dinner!

The St Luke's Sluggers romped to victory this week in our softball match against mobile advertising network Mobfox. Spirits were high as the match ended 24-11 to us, with some excellent pitching and fielding skills displayed by our Business Director and In-house Editor, both rather confusingly called Matt.

Now, we like our clients to win almost as much we enjoy winning ourselves and Very.co.uk are up for Best Online Retailer in Lorraine's High Street Fashion Awards.

As well as top notch ads featuring Holly and Fearne they've got great clothes, homeware and electricals to help you Do it in Style, whatever it is you're doing - and we'd love to see them win a Lorraine!

Cast your votes here please:

http://www.itv.com/lorraine/competitions/newtvcompetitions/highstreetfashionawards2013vote/

Thanks!

Winning.

Go Sluggers!

Last night saw the debut of the St Luke's Sluggers in the London Advertising Agency Softball League!

A new team whose capabilities and experience of the game ranged from non-existent to good-but-slightly-rusty we marched on down to Regents Park with our kit and snacks, ready to sock it to Dunnhumby and see how we would fare.

Much fun was had, but sadly we lost. It was 13-8 to Dunnhumby after 5 innings, so we kept it pretty tight... but then one awful innings and the final score left us at 27-9. 

It's got our competitive team spirit ignited though and from here the only way is up! I'm off to swot up on the rules and practice my throw!

GREAT new campaign for UKTI

This week we launched our latest work for Government department UK Trade and Investment. To encourage more UK businesses to see exporting their goods and services as a way to grow and develop their business we've presented iconic images from a range of industries from architecture to retail, legal services and engineering.

The two executions feature a beautiful, bright Aspinal of London handbag surrounded by tough industrial cogs and a mock up of a London skyline featuring the Gherkin, camera lenses and Halsbury's Law books. These represent some of the businesses that are already exporting successfully, with the help and guidance of UKTI.

The campaign will roll out in national, regional and sector-specific press, as well as outdoor, online and through direct mail.

Summer 2013 gets the Littlewoods Touch.

A sun soaked Thai beach, glistening ocean and tropical palm trees provide the stunning backdrop for our Littlewoods Spring Summer 2013 TV advert. 

Launched today, this is Littlewoods’ first Spring Summer campaign in four years, and also marks the launch of Myleene Klass’ first ever swimwear collection – so we had to make it special. 

White sand and azure water were non-negotiable.
                                

The ad (click above to view), which has both 30 and 40 second spots, shows women enjoying their daytime socialising and dancing together around a beach bar. Myleene joins each of them to give her ‘Littlewoods Touch’, transforming their bikinis and swimsuits into fantastic maxi dresses, cover-ups and accessories from the collection. The girls are instantly ready to go from beach to bar, showing that Littlewoods makes the highly desirable summer looks affordable through their low weekly payments.

The Shazam-enabled ad allows viewers to unlock extra interactive content and the Emeli Sande  “Wonder” track on their smartphones. It'll be on your TV screens and in cinemas over the coming weeks, and is guaranteed to make you yearn even more for your summer holiday. I can smell the sunscreen already!
 

 
We let our new campaigns take over the Reception display here at St Luke’s and this is no exception. A snorkel, rubber ring and sun hat have joined a conch, beach cocktail glasses and framed stills from the shoot to welcome visitors to the agency. And to make us think summery thoughts each time we pass to greet a client or make a cup of tea!

Feel free to let us know what you think!

Occasionwear ad launches for Very.co.uk

Last night, the first our next batch of Very ads went on air. This week Holly and the HQ girls present Occasionwear. It's not so much a trend but a crucial range, especially during the Summer season when a plethora of events in our social calendars from weddings, to outdoor parties, summer proms and days at the races require us to put our glad rags on.

The ad features beautiful dresses and accessories from the range available at Very.co.uk, which includes boutique brands such as Little Mistress, as well as big names such as Ted Baker. Do Occasionwear in style this year, whatever your budget!

Week 4 of Very ads!

Last Thursday, just before we all went off to gorge ourselves on Easter eggs for a few days, the latest Very advert was released showing the Cute and Kitsch trend. Partnering candy-sweet colours and bright spring prints, the collection leaves us feeling as sprightly as we should feel in April, no matter what the weatherman says!
                            
This week we have a break before the next batch of Spring ads hit the air on the 11th, and there are eight fantastic new trends to show you from then on. Until then, you can still find all of the past four weeks Very Latest trends from Nautical, to Pretty Tough, Oriental and Cute and Kitsch at very.co.uk

This week's Very latest trend - Oriental

We're into the third week of our Very trend-led ads, and this week it's Oriental. With beautiful oriental themed florals and prints, introduced by Holly in the Very HQ, this look is quirky but classy. You can shop the whole trend now on Very.co.uk, and click the image below for a sneak peak of the advert on YouTube. It will debut on your TV screens tonight and be on for the next week!

Deftones wearing Blackmail T-shirt

Chino Moreno, vocalist and lead guitarist of heavy metal legends Deftones, has been spotted sporting the signature 'Wolf' tee which featured in the Blackmail short film created and directed in-house by our Simon Allen. The band performed a live session at Maida Vale for Radio 1's Rock Show, which is where this backstage shot was taken. You can see the stunningly haunting Blackmail film in question here.

The Very latest: Pretty Tough

It's Thursday again, which means the second trend in our new Very.co.uk adverts plays out tonight! The latest look introduced by Holly Willoughby and the HQ girls is Pretty Tough, showcasing stylish feminine looks with a feisty edge. You can expect leather-look items mixed with sequins and denim, and military inspired pieces paired with pastel tones, to suit both your girly and edgy sides.

Click the image to see for yourself and pick your favourite!

Is advertising one big Carnival?

The IPA knew just what we needed on a bitterly cold, grey and windy Monday evening in London; to be transported to the 6th largest, and arguably most colourful economy in the world - Brazil.

Freshly made caipirinha in hand, we relaxed and listened intently to Creative Pioneers delegates recount the experiences from their trip, which formed part of the Olympic handover from London 2012 to Rio 2016. The aim was to share knowledge and experiences of the crucial role of advertising during our Olympics – from sponsorship, to marketing, funding and public engagement. Our work for the GLA formed part of the creative showcase of work from 2012 that was shared with the Brazilians but sadly, none of us were fortunate enough to go on the trip.

The lucky delegates, headed up by Nicola Mendelsohn (Chair of the IPA and Karmarama) shared some fascinating and enlightening facts about the state of the market in Brazil, agencies over there and future opportunities for joint ventures – especially in tech startups.

Some of the standout stats included how 40 million Brazilians have become middle class in the past 10 years, thanks to booming business, credit growth and the massive increase in minimum wage – 70% in real terms!

 Technology is booming too, with 94% of Brazilians connected to the internet, especially on mobile devices. Combined with the improving availability and quality of education, their appreciation of culture is growing as well. This all helps to form a fantastic consumer demographic for brands and advertisers, making advertising an industry definitely worth keeping an eye on.

The main drawback, and quite a large one at that, is the absence of a strong infrastructure. Too many cars and people. Not enough roads, airports or power. One thing is for sure, the upcoming World Cup in 2014 will be a big test to see whether the country and its star city Rio are on track to host a successful Olympics. 

Passion and enthusiasm are present in bucket loads, but the infrastructure will have to follow suit, and we’ll all be watching!

Very Spring/Summer 2013 campaign launches today!

Good news! The evenings are getting lighter, there is no frost on the ground and our Very Spring/Summer campaign featuring Holly Willoughby and the HQ girls launches today! It’s time to get excited about the hottest new trends from Very.co.uk.

The TV ads, which go on air for the first time during Emmerdale tonight (ITV 6.55pm), see Holly and the girls back in our futuristic Very HQ - but with a twist to the usual format. There will be new 10 second spots being shown every single week for the next three months, featuring the hottest new trends to make sure whatever you do, you do it in style this season. The first week is Nautical theme, and the rest – well, you’ll have to wait and see – but feel free to let us know which ones are your favourites!

In fitting with the launch we’re re-designing our Reception display here at the agency, and we’re even going to (attempt to) theme our weekly Friday afternoon nibbles according to the trend of the week – I’ve got a feeling some will be easier than others... Photos to follow!

Take a look at the latest advert on our website, and make sure you keep up with the trends every week!

Outdoor Hall of Fame Awards

Last night was the Campaign magazine Outdoor Hall of Fame awards in association with the Outdoor Media Centre, a great opportunity to mingle and take a look back at some of the most striking and engaging OOH creative work from the past year, and from the archives.

A panel of 5 judges and 7,400 public votes decided on 14 winners out of the 52 finalists to be inducted into the Outdoor Hall of Fame.

We were there to support out Summer Like No Other campaign for the Greater London Authority - sadly we left empty handed (boo, hiss) but some of the winners included Land Rover's "Passport Stamps" from RKCR Y&R, " Jubilee Ma'amite" for Marmite by Adam and Eve DDB and "Salvation" for Lurpak by Wieden and Kennedy.

Outdoor is the medium where great creative work can really grab people's attention, and the Awards reminded us that even though we're in an age of what can sometimes feel like online and digital obsession, there is still most definitely a place for striking, effective outdoor print.

Mooncup: the Slammers' opinions.

Now, we know we’ve mentioned the plethora of reactions to our Tampon vs Mooncup viral before on this blog, but there is one in particular that we’d like to share in a little more detail.

Chella Quint is New York expat, who now lives in Sheffield and a writes a blog entitled “Adventures in Menstruating.” She’s an active public speaker, has given a TedX talk about periods and the representation of sanitary protection in advertising, and is also well acquainted with poetry slammers. She combined these talents, along with asking fellow slammers for their opinions about our Rap Battle, and has displayed them in a blogpost, which comes to some extremely interesting analytical conclusions about how we portray the Tampon and Mooncup relationship, such as:

"As the Tampon Crew started the rap battle, it’s showing how those companies are quietly bullying us all into using what’s already widely known, and trying to bully other options out of the market by going, ‘Ew weird reusable femcare go away.’ So if anyone wakes up to that, the ad’s done a great service. Mooncup had good rhymes, and great lines such as ‘we only collect from the menstrual flow’ and ending the ad with ‘no strings attached’ is great wordplay."

If that's whet your appetite you can read the full blog at http://chartyourcycle.wordpress.com/

Paloma Faith's new video

Our in-house director Simon Allen has escaped the agency today to direct Paloma Faith's latest video.

He sent us this snap from backstage at the shoot of Paloma looking super glamourous!

Si also directed her video for Never Tear Us Apart; we're looking forward to seeing what he's done this time!

New Mailout

We've set up a new weekly internal email as a "Mashup" of the latest industry news and happenings which relate to us and our clients. And some stuff of general random interest too. The sort of thing that's quite nice to have a glance through over a cup of tea, or while you're "checking your emails."

If you're interested in having a look too you can find it here http://ymlp.com/z8grgJ.

Green Deal with it!

Our latest print campaign for the Department of Energy and Climate Change is for their Green Deal initiative, and has taken over the pages of national and regional press!

Our adverts urge homeowners, who already know they can benefit by tackling issues such as rising energy costs, to “Green Deal with it” and make their home more energy efficient; saving themselves money on monthly bills in the long term.

The Green Deal offers an affordable way to make practical, energy saving home improvements for homeowners across the whole of the UK, with Welsh language ads placed in Welsh press, and tailored offers for England and Scotland. Gwych^*.

^*Brilliant

It's Pancake Day!

Are you savoury or sweet?

This was the question heavily debated in the office today. So, we decided to get our very own MasterChef into the kitchen to prepare a culinary masterpiece of microwave pancakes. Who says microwave meals aren't delicious? Dozens of Galettes and a Crepe Suzette or 2 later - we are all stuffed!

Share with us your pancake related stories and the best story wins a lesson with the Masterchef!

It's a hit!

After launching our Tampon Vs Mooncup Rap Battle last week, we knew it was going to get people talking. I mean, who wouldn’t have a reaction to a viral rap battle about periods? After over 130,000 views on YouTube it has sparked conversation within the advertising industry, as well as amongst the public on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Opinions have been coming in thick and fast, ranging from incredulity, to ingenuity and insanity– but we welcome them all!

What we welcome most of all though, is when our work gets a nod from a well-respected industry publication such as Marketing, which it has done today. Wahey! We feature in their “Viral Hit or Miss” section (page 13), and with a score of 7/10 and descriptions such as “a catchy beat, funny, informative and smartly edited” we’re pleased to say it’s a hit!

If you haven’t seen the viral yet, check it out here, pick a side, share and keep the conversation flowing #TamponvsMooncup.

Menstrual Tension: Let the Battle Commence

Today we launched our latest piece of work for Mooncup, the innovative sanitary protection brand, pitting them against their main rival – the tampon – in a no-holds barred rap battle. Both “crews” represent the benefits of using their product in a feisty yet light-hearted way, giving women the information they need to make up their own minds about which product they want to champion.

Our work for Mooncup is always fun and attention grabbing. Our last print and outdoor campaign caused quite a stir, presenting a variety of different names that women often call their vaginas, such as “Bajingo” “Lady Garden” and “Fru Fru” alongside the website loveyourvagina.com, causing many a double-take on the morning commute.

We’ve even let Mooncup take over our Reception display here at St Luke’s, with our white shelves stacked with a whole array of feminine hygiene products. Quite an unusual display, I’m sure you’ll agree, but we’re an open-minded bunch.

The Mooncup Vs Tampon Rap Battle video can be found on the Mooncup Youtube, Facebook and Twitter pages, and then will direct viewers to the main site. We want to encourage as much sharing and discussion as possible, so get watching and hashtagging #mooncupvstampon #mooncupcrew.

Represent.

Summer 2012: Gone, but not forgotten.

We’re thrilled to announce here at St Luke’s that our ‘A Summer Like No Other’ campaign for Greater London Authority has been shortlisted for Campaign magazine’s Outdoor Hall of Fame.

Our vibrant prints, which encouraged Londoners to see their city in a different light during the Mayor’s £90million programme of events last summer, were seen all across London. They became some of the Summer’s most iconic images, with our front desk even fielding calls with requests for copies as personal souvenirs.

Votes will now be cast at www.outdoorhalloffame.co.uk to pick the winners - fingers crossed!