Dan publishes essay in Marketing and Campaign

Our MD and Planning Director Dan Hulse, has yet again been busy writing articles for industry press, and has just been published as one of the writers in a series of essays entitled 'Applied Thinking', which feature in Marketing Magazine and Campaign.

Dan's piece, entitled 'Unity,' focuses on the desire for Marketing Directors to create change within their corporations, who all too often prioritise the short term changes that can occur during their tenure, rather than striving for strategic long term changes which can fundamentally improve and grow their brands and businesses.

Dan explains that through unity with their internal teams, and agencies as key strategic partners, Marketing Directors can really change their businesses and create impactful communications which drive further and deeper than creating ads, but mould the whole business from the inside out. Citing that really the most impactful audience is the internal one, and that unity as a business and with their partner agency on board too, real change can be realised. This reflects the work Dominos and Currys have carried out with their brands, but also the projects we have implemented with our Majestic Wine client at St Luke's, and the projects we continue to strive for as we set Agendas for our clients to allow them to outmanoeuvre their competition.

Time to dust off the awards cabinet!

It's not every day that an advert for a feminine hygiene product is mentioned in the same breath as ones for Nike, BMW or the award hoarding awareness campaign 'Dumb Ways to Die.' However, we're delighted to say that our Mooncup 'Rap Battle' won Bronze for 'Best Original Song' at the London International Awards (LIA) awards in November.

                                               
The London based awards celebrate the creativity and power of ideas in all forms of advertising, digital, branded content, design, production, music and sound. The lyrical flow of our rap battle and its unconventional content stood out amongst some pretty hefty competition, and we're delighted with our bronze trophy.

And the winning doesn't stop there! Our Moments of Truth campaign for Strongbow, which launched earlier this year has also just won a Silver in the Epica Awards in the drinks category.
     
                                

They say things come in threes, and here is our final win (for the moment!) Our Business Director Jonathan Dale has been crowned winner of The Biggr Picture, a competition run by Campaign and Flickr to find the most talented 'extra curricular' Adlander. We're very proud of Jonathan's culinary achievements and his star feature in this week's Campaign.

Interconnected by deeds not words.

Our Managing Director, Dan has written a fantastic article which has been published in both Marketing Magazine and Campaign this month. "Interconnected" breaks down the real truths behind brands and how they act in an increasingly connected, information sharing market place. Brands can no longer get away with claiming excellent service or superb value in the safe confines of outbound communications without proving it in practice, as in the harsh reality of the interconnected world, the nature of such claims will be revealed by how the brand acts. Customers will share their experiences of those actions on social media and price comparison sites with great ease.


                                         

Dan's article goes on to explain the interconnected world in the light of how we work here at St Luke's, with particular mention to our Strongbow, Majestic, Very.co.uk and Littlewoods clients. Our agenda is not only transform a brand's communication ideas, but also the client's business ideas in order to create a strategy that rings true throughout their whole organisation, and create a brand identity which reflects the fundamental truths of their audience, company and product.

I don't want to give the whole article away, you can read it here, and you should. It gives great food for thought on how we can sculpt and encourage organisations to embody their brand identity and be true to themselves in an interconnected world.

Moments of Truth - New Strongbow Work!

Last night, after the England V Brazil match, was the grand debut of our latest Strongbow advert. The 60s spot is entitled 'Moments of Truth' and encounters blokes in a variety of nerve-wracking situations, showing how fear distorts their reality in each of the scenarios. However, they all triumph, smashing it as they step up and face their fears! From the best man's speech, to the nail-biting penalty shoot out, these characters embody the Strongbow brand which rewards the man who gets the job done.

Beautifully directed by Sam Brown, with the undeniably epic O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) as its soundtrack, the tension is palpable throughout the spot, yet exaggerated facial expressions and comedy moments provide some relief - keeping the suspense but making the ad more entertaining!

This spot is the spearhead of the 2013 'Earn It' campaign which involves a range of Strongbow challenges that men can apply to participate in - if they think they're up to it! The first challenge is looking for fellas to step up to take a ball from top cricket fast bowler Jimmy Anderson.

The ad has received coverage in Campaign magazine and Brand Republic amongst others, but the most overwhelming thing was the amount of Tweets registered after the spot went out. We briefly trended worldwide, and were 8th in the UK! Tweeters really got involved and loved the ad - some even calling it their ad of the year so far. We're all very proud of it, and I for one feel it was definitely worth sitting through a pretty dull football match to see!

If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? Click the image below, and let us know what you think!

Number 1 and Number 2 most recalled ads this week!

We gave ourselves a pat on the back yesterday as Campaign magazine's list of the Top 10 Ads this week featured our work for Littlewoods and Very at number 1 and number 2!

The list is compiled in association with TNS and Ebiquity, and measures advert recall, which is a quantitative measure of effectiveness. It shows that these ads, featuring Myleene Klass and Holly Willoughby, have resonated with their audiences enough to stay in their minds and be recalled after watching. Job well done, proving that we help our brands to position themselves in their customer's minds and stay there.

There's even more good stuff to come next week, so watch this space. Happy Friday!

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.

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!