Phill & Darren

In May 2024, Rishi Sunak called a surprise election, and as the date neared, polls suggested a new Prime Minister was looking likely. This would mean a whole new cabinet.

If anyone knows new cabinets, it's Wickes. So we took a chance before the election results came in and quickly created a friendly reminder for potential new PM, Keir Starmer. We sent an ad van to park outside his new home at 10 Downing Street, paired with a full-page ad in the Daily Mail beside the news of Labour’s victory. It even made a cheeky appearance behind the live broadcast on BBC News.

Director: Smith & Foulkes

The South Western Railway ‘Spread your wings’ relaunch was created to remind people of all the good stuff they’ve been missing out on during the various phases of lockdown and to nudge them back into London again from around the SWR network. We developed the characters with Smith & Foulkes to celebrate the unique relationships that often build between longer distance commuters. 

Beyond broadcast we developed a new identity for the brand that extends across OOH, print, digital and social.

Photographer: Tal Silverman

Director - Amanda Blue

Retirement is something that we spend our entire career saving for. The thought of 40 years’ worth of savings being stolen from you by a scammer is a sickening one and a growing problem in the UK. This campaign aims to make that feeling all the more unpalatable by dramatising the scammer heartlessly enjoying the proceeds of his victim’s hard-earned pension.

Stephen Pipe - Blow Dry                         

Gary Freedman - Wedding Dress & Proposal

The Big Mac is the first product that springs to mind when you think of McDonald’s. And when you start thinking about a Big Mac it’s pretty hard to stop thinking about one.

To illustrate this point we implemented digital, special-build billboards on busy London streets. The moment a passer by saw the image of the giant Big Mac on the billboard it immediately produced a thought bubble of a Big Mac above their head that followed their every move. 

Director: Paul Gay

Director: James Rouse

Every Christmas, many families across Britain take to the road on long journeys to visit their loved ones. With 862 Drive Thru and Service Station restaurants, McDonald's has long been a part of those Christmas journeys. 

So in November we launched the first ‘Journey to Christmas’ TV ad and social media campaign, which encouraged the people of Britain to film and upload themselves singing along – to Wizzard’s 1973 classic – on their own Christmas car journeys.

The campaign was then supported by a festive hub highlighting the best and worst of all the entries on the road to Christmas.

The journey concluded with a one-off airing of the final crowdsourced TV ad during the peak slot of Christmas day itself.

Director: Sam Huntley

Director: Sam Huntley

In partnership with the radio station LBC, we organised a radio phone-in inviting listeners to discuss the subject of employing ex-offenders.

By way of parallel to a job application, the phone-in format was subverted as James Whale instantly rejected them the moment an ex-offender called in.

A social campaign for charity Karma Nirvana to support the first annual Day of Memory for victims of 'honour' killings.

The British public were asked to break the silence on honour-based abuse by tweeting #RememberShafilea to restore the memory of Shafilea Ahmed – a young British girl who was suffocated with a plastic bag by her parents for refusing an arranged marriage.

Powered by tweets of support, the social campaign aimed to use plastic in a positive way and create a 3D printed permanent memorial to commemorate both her and the many victims of ‘honour’ killings in the UK. 

Since the inaugural Day of Memory, calls to the helpline have increased 263% and an extra £500,000 in direct government funding has been pledged.

Director: Johnny Green

An interactive film to celebrate and drive awareness of the endless encouragement the Special Olympics offers to young children with learning disabilities. The user is invited to encourage the athlete in the film themselves and in doing so, see first-hand the power of the organisation’s work.

To experience the interactive film click here

Director: Mike Maguire

In response to online demand we released a limited run of 12” vinyls in collaboration with the DJ Jonny Trunk, which led to the track being officially released on iTunes

As a social and PR stunt for the GambleAware Bet Regret campaign – in the week of the Grand National – Dean Saunders spun a convincing yarn for April Fool’s live on talkSPORT’s breakfast show. An elaborate tale about his new racehorse named ‘Chasing Losses’.

Creative Directors / Team: Laura & Elliot

What happens to all of the dry-cleaning that customers never return to collect?

It's reported that 15% is never claimed.

The Dry/Clean Initiative was developed by Leo Burnett in collaboration with Action on Addiction to repurpose the masses of unclaimed items of formal wear from dry-cleaners across the UK.

By fitting out ex-addicts with sharp suits the initiative helps them rebuild their confidence and make a strong first impression in job interview situations.

Director: Sam Huntley

Young people in built-up areas in the UK have long suffered from a lack of access to adequate football pitches. The issue is epitomised by the dreaded ‘NO BALL GAMES’ signs which can be found on the walls of most estates and communities nationwide.

As a consequence, kids often find themselves being unable to play football in the areas most convenient to their homes and are forced to play in spaces which might not be suitable or safe.

We created the ‘Ball Games Allowed’ initiative to confront and address the challenges young people face in finding spaces to play in inner city areas where the need is greatest.

The initiative unlocks community access to local pitch facilities such as schools and colleges with qualified coaches driven by a Coca-Cola on-pack promotion.

People have huge affection for Boots, it’s on every high street and always there when we need it. But in recent years, this affection for the brand has become a bit passive. They were looking to modernise the brand with a fresh platform idea to replace ‘Let’s Feel Good’.

No matter what you are going through in life, whether you are a new mum needing advice for your baby, a teen experiencing acne, a dad going bald or a divorcee rebuilding confidence. Boots do have the services, expertise and products to help you get through it and get back out there.

We created this new brand platform at Ogilvy in the months before the pandemic took hold in 2020, unfortunately this meant before production the entire project was ultimately shelved.

Findmypast.co.uk has extensive archives of Court and Prison records, Newspaper Archives and Military Records to help people uncover curious stories from their family histories. 

 Stories they can capture and preserve for future generations, but also share at dinner parties to appear more interesting.  

 A campaign idea we wrote for the brand, which launched in April 2021. 

The brief was about the inimitable soul and timeless swagger of the Mustang, now re-imagined with the new Mach-E electric engine. This led us to creating the James Brown Superbad concept for the European launch film for BBDO Germany.