Case Studies

After launching Twisted in 2008 (see the Dom Joly Twisted TV clip over on the right), we supported the brand again in 2009, this time using social media to get our target audience talking about Creme Egg's darker, more evil cousin. We recruited ten Super Agents to the CIA (Cadbury Intelligence Agency) who were challenged to go out and solve clues to find the missing 'goo' from escaped Twisted bars. Using Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, YouTube and all manner of social networking tools they spread the word like wildfire and Cadbury was acclaimed for its creative and effective use of social media marketing (and we picked up the 2009 European Excellence Award for social media). To find out more, view the film put together by our friends at CMW who created the digital and direct marketing elements of the campaign.

When we started working with Campo Viejo it was - at the client's admission - a 'tired' brand with no clear positioning. We put together a multi-faceted campaign targeting urbanite men over 35, with a beautiful cookbook called Kitchen Charisma at the heart of it. We ran cookery classes, seeded recipes through editorial and online, put on instore events with the likes of Divertimenti and Heal's and, without any other marketing support, the brand became number one in its category and entered the top 20 UK wine brands (the only Spanish wine to do so). Harpers, the bible of the drinks world, commented, "Campo Viejo has achieved the wine brand holy grail: creating a premium brand which is both credible and popular."

The Wales The True Taste Awards were set up in 2002 to recognise the very best food and drink products and producers from Wales, and are now run by the Welsh Assembly Government. With over 350 award-winners to promote, our campaign is varied to say the least! From putting on an annual St David's Day Welsh farmers' market in central London, to vodcasts, press trips, tastings and media interviews with producers, we've helped award-winners to grow sales and awareness, as well as establishing the Welsh Assembly Government as a leading supporter of local sourcing and sustainable food production. See more in the films section on the right.

From turning a room into a giant punch bowl to promoting some of the UK's hottest business talent through the Courvoisier The Future 500 networking group, we're never short of a story to tell on Courvoisier's behalf. Our wide-ranging brief encompasses consumer lifestyle press as well as social media, all with the aim of contemporising and demystifying the UK's number one Cognac. To find out more about the amazing architectural punch bowl created by Bompas & Parr, see the campaign film.

When Lotus's direct marketing agency CMW approached us two months before the launch of the Lotus Evora and asked if we could bring to life the creative theme of 'true character in a faceless world' through PR, we took a deep breath and got cracking. Over six weeks we ran a guerrilla campaign which saw 'faceless people' (actors in blank latex masks) appearing at high profile events like Elton John's White Tie & Tiara Ball, Wimbledon and the opening of the Harrods sale. By anonymously seeding photographs and footage on the internet and via the national press, we ensured mass speculation. A two-minute piece on ABC News led to 'faceless people' becoming the most-used online search term in the US that day. When the new car was unveiled at the British International Motor Show, Car magazine called it the 'launch of the day' and by the end of the Show Lotus's order book was almost 50% full, a year before the car appeared in UK showrooms. Have a look at the CMW-created film to see the campaign highlights.

Piaggio wanted its iconic brand, Vespa, to hit the headlines, particularly in the fashion and style media. Our solution was to recruit some of the top names from the worlds of fashion and the arts to create their signature Vespa and auction them for charity. Year one saw people like David Bailey, Rhys Ifans and Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding get creative; in year two Ozwald Boateng, Jimmy Choo, Joseph, Stephen Webster and other British designers got in on the act; year three went international, with Donna Karan, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy and Vivienne Westwood; and in year four Young British Artists became involved, among them Gavin Turk and Gary Hume. The result? The campaign received acres of media coverage, thousands of pounds were raised for good causes and Vespa was named as a Super Brand. Not surprisingly, anyone who's anyone rides a Vespa now, from VV Brown to Gwyneth Paltrow!

Luxury watch brand Corum is proud sponsor of Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie, so our brief is dual purpose: create and maintain a luxury positioning for the brand in a highly competitive marketplace, whilst promoting its nautical heritage through the sponsorship. Our focus is on achieving high quality feature coverage in the broadsheets and top-end lifestyle magazines, whether working with Ben as brand ambassador or by identifying original story angles which appeal to our target journalists. This strategic approach, coupled with excellent media relationships, has led to us (in the client's words) 'delivering the goods' year upon year.

Having developed a relationship with Girls Aloud via their make-up artist, and worked with our client to develop the commercial opportunity, we were briefed by Eylure to launch their first celebrity-endorsed range of lashes, by Britain's biggest girl band. With ambitious sales targets and PR the only marketing vehicle, we had to make sure that it was a textbook campaign. Blanket media coverage secured, the girls' agent pronouncing it "the smoothest event the girls have ever attended and definitely one of the most successful" and sales exceeding all expectations, it seems we hit the mark.

When Collection 2000 rebranded, focusing on fashion and fun, we were tasked with bringing the new positioning to life and engaging opinion formers and trendsetters. By linking up with PPQ for their London Fashion Week show and extending the partnership to Peaches Geldof's inaugural capsule collection for the label, we increased brand awareness and favourability among a key audience of fashionistas such as Alexa Chung and Daisy Lowe, who in turn inspire and influence Collection 2000's target consumers.

Our strategic approach really came to the fore when working with leading nail care brand Sally Hansen. With dozens of products, it would have been easy to spread our efforts thinly across the range and have little impact on the brand as a whole. Instead, we worked with the client on identifying the key lines which delivered most profit and value to the business, and also analysed which media were most influential with the target consumer. By concentrating on the right products and media, we turned a sales decline into growth of 24% within a year.

When we were appointed by Cowes Week the world famous regatta had lost its title sponsor and we were in the grip of a global recession. Undeterred, we set about putting the glamour and fun back into the event by thinking creatively about how to reach the target audience, from sailors and yachties to new visitors of all ages. Our lifestyle-led campaign saw the media getting hands-on with the racing and gave the event a new lease of life, achieving coverage in a huge range of media, including 27 pieces on TV, 19 on radio and 49 in national newspapers. With a total reach of over one billion, the campaign was shortlisted for a European Excellence Award.

When we were asked to launch the new generation Action Camera by Oregon Scientific we had a tight budget and high client expectations to meet. In the run-up to the crucial Christmas trading period PR was the key sales driver, so we had to ensure strong return on investment. We organised an adrenalin-fuelled press launch, taking journalists across London on the back of a motorbike and then sending them down The Thames in a speed boat, giving them the chance to put the product through its paces. They were suitably impressed, with numerous positive reviews, including pieces on the BBC's Something for the Weekend and Five's The Gadget Show, helping shift 3,000 units off the shelves in the first three months alone.

We've worked with AAF (as it's known to its friends) since 2003, promoting three fairs a year (two in London and one in Bristol). Our brief is to drive footfall of the right kind of art buyers, from first-timers to established collectors. Despite the recession, 2008 and 2009 welcomed record-breaking numbers of people through the doors and achieved the highest-ever sales, thanks in no small part to the PR campaign which saw the Fair featured on national television, in full-page features in the nationals and spreads in the glossies.

By working closely with the client to support Umbra's sales strategy, we have helped take this Canadian interiors brand from being stocked in only a few independent UK retailers to listings nationwide at John Lewis, Heal's, Selfridges, House of Fraser and Lakeland, with the diffusion brand U+ available at Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and top independent interiors retailers throughout the country.

In the words of the client, "Media coverage results have surpassed even our most optimistic expectations, resulting in increased brand awareness and sales in a key market for us."