ST LUKE'S LAUNCHES LITTLEWOODS SPRING SUMMER 2014 CAMPAIGN

Aside from the Easter bank holiday almost being upon us, there is something else to look forward to; the launch of our new SS14 ad for our client, Littlewoods, which features Littlewoods brand ambassador, Myleene Klass. With a colourful World Cup just around the corner and hopefully a warm summer, the campaign encourages families to get themselves, their homes and gardens ready now for a memorable summer, whether they are holidaying abroad or embracing the British summer at home.

(Littlewoods Outdoor 20 Second ad)

The responsive campaign consists of four 20 second spots and a full suite of 10 second adverts that highlight the broad range of Summer must haves available at the online department store. Everyone at St Luke’s is also excited to see the campaign have the flexibility to respond to external factors such as weather changes and here’s hoping, any sporting successes.

 (Littlewoods Indoor 20 second ad)

The campaign will be supported by National press and social media as well as Direct response TV. The ad breaks on Thursday 17th April and will appear in ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ ad break. It will run on national TV until 18 June.

Welcoming isme to the St Luke's fold

We're delighted to announce that we've been appointed by existing client Shop Direct to handle the advertising account for their isme brand, following a recent competitive pitch.

There's no time to waste, as we're working on an exciting advertising campaign for Spring/Summer 2014.

isme is primarily targeted at 50+ women and will see us partnering with their brand ambassador Carol Vorderman in this campaign.

Jon Owen, Retail Brand Director at Shop Direct, said: “St Luke’s impressed us with their audience insight and with creative work that both builds the brand and works hard commercially.” Our CEO Neil added, “Being awarded isme is a testament to the outstanding results we have seen from our Very and Littlewoods campaigns and plays to our strength of managing brand portfolios. We can’t wait to set a new agenda for this exciting young brand.”

It's been fabulous news for our work for Shop Direct recently, and here's to continuing with new work on another great brand.

Welcome to the family, isme!

More Adwatch success for Littlewoods

Following on from the success prior to Christmas with our Shop Direct clients Littlewoods and Very.co.uk both being announced in Marketing Magazine’s overall “Adwatch of the Year,” the New Year has brought further success for Littlewoods.

Data taken from during the Christmas period placed our Littlewoods advert 6th for most recalled ad (54%), but it also placed 8th in the ranking of most liked TV commercials (18%). 

To put this achievement in to perspective, only four other brands made it on to both lists - John Lewis, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and Asda.

The Littlewoods Christmas advert, which saw Myleene Klass helping out at Santa’s grotto, alongside fellow brand ambassador Mark Wright, depicted the essence of Christmas, with fun, music, presents and of course, Santa. Combined with the strategic combination of 30" and 10" executions, the 'always-on' approach to media has continued the 'front of mind' awareness we achieved throughout 2013, but for the first time we're landing work in the recall and most liked lists.

At St Luke’s HQ we're delighted with the results and recognition from the industry as it brilliantly reflects the hard work that has gone into the campaign from both the team here and Shop Direct. 

Here's to Spring/Summer bringing more success!

Adwatch of the Year

December brings out the reminiscent and celebratory nature in most all of us. It's a time to look back on the achievements of the year, the trials and tribulations we've overcome and look forward to what the new year will bring.

For us at St Luke's it's been a particularly successful year, and this has been topped off by Marketing Magazine's "Adwatch of the Year" feature, which runs down the 20 most effective adverts of the year in terms of memory recall. Adwatch of the Year 2013 celebrates our Shop Direct clients Littlewoods and Very.co.uk as the year's biggest success story. Throughout the year, adverts for both have featured prominently in the weekly brand recall listings during their time on air, but for both to make the top 10 of the year is a fantastic achievement for them and for us!

It's even more remarkable when the budgets for both brands were considerably lower than any other ad in the top 20, making us the best value advertisers of the year!

It's been a fantastic team effort, and has seen both brands making the best creative and effective work they have ever done - from Littlewoods launching their first Kids ad for Ladybird, to Very and their new uber-stylish Definitions brand it's great to see recognition from the ad industry as well as those crucial sales figures increasing.

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.

Ho Ho Ho! Christmas excitement arrives as our Littlewoods advert airs!

It's the first of November which can only mean one thing, Christmas is coming and the best adverts, seasonal songs and  festive jumpers are all heading our way!

 We've been quick off the mark with our campaign for Littlewoods, which launched today. It's set in Santa's workshop in the North Pole, where a girl has posted her letter to Father Christmas, and he starts to read it aloud. Myleene Klass magically wraps presents while Santa's other celebrity helper Mark Wright, is sitting on a shelf, waiting to be chosen as a Christmas gift for a lucky lady. There are a whole host of elves bustling around in the workshop too, to make sure that every child and family gets the presents they deserve, all with the help of the Littlewoods Touch, meaning you can spread the cost of your gifts. We also filmed a Behind the Scenes film, so you can see what it was like on set, and how we made the magic.
The ad features a "Christmassed-up" version of Arlissa's track "Into The Light"  which was featured in the Funfair campaign, and was also directed by Michael Gracey through Partizan.
Let us know what you think, it's given us the Christmas spirit at St Luke's, and there's even more to come this week...

Ding - we're at the top of the charts with Littlewoods Funfair!

We're delighted to have tied at the top spot in Marketing Magazine's Top 10 ads of the week.

The chart of ads is based on those which are most highly recalled for that week, and our delightful Funfair advert and its respective 10" cutdowns have raced to the top of the chart with 44% recall, alongside the anti-smoking campaign Stoptober.

We've received great feedback in industry press and on social media for the campaign, which you can watch below featuring Myleene Klass, Mark Wright and a track from the up and coming singer Arlissa.

Roll up! Roll up, to the Littlewoods Funfair!

To sit alongside our current Autumn Winter TV campaign for Littlewoods, featuring Myleene Klass and Mark Wright, we have been busy creating and developing a social media campaign to encourage interaction and engagement with the Littlewoods Funfair this season.

The Autumn social media campaign kicked off on October 3rd and will feature a series of Funfair themed Facebook games that employ a mixture of platforms including Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat over the next month.

Littlewoods are offering participants a chance to win a range of prizes, from the latest tablets to fashion essentials. The games themselves are all based on classic funfair games, each given the Littlewoods touch – such as ' Snap-a-mole, Hook-a-Duck and Test your strength.'

The first game was Test Your Strength, which received over 1800 likes, making 3 winners. The 2nd game opens today, and you can keep up to date with all the games and have your chance to win on the Littlewoods Facebook page, and you can watch our Autumn Winter adverts here.

Autumn Winter 2013 gets the Littlewoods Touch

The nights are drawing in, and as we mourn the end of summer, it's time to get excited about the glow of Autumn and wrapping up from the cold.

Today we launched our Autumn Winter advert for Littlewoods! Set at a beautiful traditional fairground, Myleene Klass is back to give her "Littlewoods Touch" and we have a cameo appearance from Goodsouls brand ambassador and TV presenter Mark Wright. The soundtrack is by up and coming singer Arlissa and is called "Into the Light" and you can watch it from the image below.

The advert showcases the fantastic pieces available in the AW13 women’s fashion range as well as featuring key items from the children’s and men’s collections. Myleene travels through the fairground, giving the "Littlewoods Touch" to transform outfits from casual day to sumptuous nightwear. We've got all the trimmings - a coconut shy, candy floss stand, a beautiful Victorian style steam carousel and a   Test Your Strength Machine, which is where she meets Mark Wright. 

It was a fantastic set, and we definitely got involved with the carousel while shooting! Myleene and Mark also appeared to enjoy themselves, as they got involved with the Behind the Scenes film which you can watch here.

Our display at St Luke's has also joined in with the occasion, and features candy floss, coconuts, sweeties, yellow ducks and fairy lights!

Follow us on Twitter at @stlukescomms and let us know what you think!

Abra-abra cadabra - Littlewoods Kids goes live!

If the enjoyment and success of filming our latest Littlewoods advert for their Ladybird children's range is anything to go by, then the oft-quoted phrase "never work with children or animals" is a load of old codswallop. We loved it.

A cast of excitable, playful and very cute 4 to 7 year olds are the stars of our latest ad which launched on August 1st. It's a throwback to a traditional children’s party, primarily set in a beautiful garden - where computers, phones and gadgets are replaced by pass the parcel, blind mans buff and general frolicking and dancing. Unfortunately for our ears, they wanted to dance to Gangnam Style on repeat between takes. Director Karen Cunningham said “The idea was to create an old fashioned party… back to lovingly made jelly, and cupcakes and beautifully homemade birthday cake.” During the ad, a very cute "mini Myleene", played by Evie Lew-Davies, magically touches the other party guests making their outfits transform into a second stylish outfit from the Ladybird collection, showcasing their fantastic range. When all the work is done "mini Myleene" transforms into adult Myleene Klass to give the final Littlewoods touch.

                           

 The soundtrack is the ridiculously catchy Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band, and the campaign will be supported by online, social media and print ads. We're excited to continue working with Littlewoods in their aim to become the biggest suppliers of quality children’s clothing in the UK.


Ch-ch-check it out in the image above.

The Only Way is Littlewoods for Mark Wright!

Dapper ITV2 star and Heart FM DJ, Mark Wright has joined Littlewoods as the new brand ambassador for their menswear label, Goodsouls.

The unveiling of his debut capsule collection tied in with the start of London Collections: Men's fashion week. It includes casual t-shirts, jeans and jumpers, as well as suits and outerwear, with the aim of taking men and their wardrobes from date-night to an evening out with the boys.

Gary Kibble, retail director for Littlewoods, said: "We couldn't be more thrilled that Mark has joined the Littlewoods family as style ambassador for our Goodsouls range. His popularity among our customer base is unmatched by any other male celebrity in the UK at the moment and we're confident that his personal style and eye for fashion will translate into a collection that our customers will love."

We're looking forward to working with him in future Littlewoods ads too, and the collection is available from www.littlewoods.com as of today, 20th June.

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!

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!