Ones to Watch - The Most Impactful Campaigns of October

It’s only been 26 days (as of writing this) since the publication of our last roundup of campaigns. In that time, a lettuce outlived the tenure of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, Heidi Klum transformed herself into a worm for her annual Halloween bash, and Rihanna has released her first piece of music in six years.

Here, we take a closer look at some of the most impactful Creative, Digital, and OOH advertising campaigns released in October 2022.

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Campaign #1 - Gymshark's 'Real' Mannequins in First Physical Store

Brand - Gymshark

Category – Sportswear

Agency – In-house

Medium – Experiential

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October saw the opening of Gymshark’s first physical store on Regent Street in London. CEO of the fitness apparel and accessories brand, Ben Francis, said, “It's going to be incredible; it's going to be experiential, and we want to bring as much of that Gymshark vibe and community into this place."  

Until I get to London, I’ll have to take his word for it, but one set of images from the store’s launch caught our eye on LinkedIn.

“Our mannequins are real people from our community or ambassador roster,” said Gymshark’s Chief Brand Officer, Noel Mack, in a statement.

“Representation is everything but it’s not easy to do, so we kicked off a long process of casting, scanning and finally 3D printing to ensure everyone can see themselves at Gymshark London.”

The results in question – a series of mannequins created through the scanning and 3D printing of real people, “a reflection of the diverse Gymshark community.”  

I’d have offered to be scanned, but no one wants to see that.

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Campaign #2 - Yorkshire Tea: Tiny Kettle

Brand – The Yorkshire Tea Company

Category – Food & Drink

Agency - Lucky Generals

Medium – Social film

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When I get home from the gym, I’ll always stick the kettle on ready for a good cup of post-workout tea. But after seeing Lucky Generals' latest creative for Yorkshire Tea, I’ll be thinking twice about the amount of water I’m boiling.

Lucky Generals helped Yorkshire Tea develop their 'Where everything’s done proper' campaign back in 2017.

Since then, a whole host of famous ‘tykes’ have starred in various ads across the years, with Patrick Stewart being the latest by delivering a ‘proper’ leaving speech to (assumingly fictional) employee, Tina.  

However, the ad that got our attention this month focusses on a proper small kettle. In it, Yorkshire Tea presents their idea of a one-brew kettle, designed to save money and the planet by not boiling more water than you need.  

Naturally, the tiny kettle proves problematic, with the ad showing a series of humorous situations in which more water is needed than the kettle can hold. The solution…just boil the water you need when making a brew.

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Campaign #3 - Stonewall: Let’s Give Homophobia a Career-Ending Tackle

Brand - Stonewall

Category – Public Interest

Agency - Lucky Generals

Medium – Integrated

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The nights are getting darker, a chill is in the air and somewhere on Earth, Mariah Carey is beginning to thaw out. It can only mean one thing…the World Cup is around the corner!  

That’s right, this year you can forget the atmosphere of a sunny beer garden and welcome the cosiness of a cramped bar – because the World Cup is in Qatar.

The Gulf Nation, famed for its footballing heritage and impeccable human rights record is hosting one of the planet’s most beloved tournaments.  

In response, the LGBTQI+ charity Stonewall has launched a campaign highlighting some of the problems the sport (and the host country) still faces with homophobia.  

Making their second appearance in this roundup, Stonewall partnered with Lucky Generals to create a campaign aimed at reminding people that while Rainbow Laces continue to change the game, ‘we haven’t won it yet.’  

Called ‘Lace up to keep it up,’ the work from Lucky Generals features several assets using clever takes on well-known football idioms and phrases to highlight the ongoing issue.

So, will football finally be coming home in time for Christmas, or will it be another few years of hurt? Check back in our December/January roundup to find out.

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Campaign #4 - Laphroaig Scotch: Taste Trailblazers

Brand – Laphroaig

Category – Food & Drink

Agency/Production – FMLY CRTV (Family Creative)

Medium – Film

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We’re moving on to a drink that will be consumed a fair bit over the course of the World Cup and colder months – whiskey. One of the contenders vying to be your tipple of choice is Laphroaig, produced on a “storm-lashed island off the west coast of Scotland.”

For Laphroaig, “taste is everything.” Admittedly, taste is a big part of any food or drink brand, but this Scottish brand ‘go to great lengths to get flavours just right, for more than 200 years.’

To show just how much taste means to them, Laphroaig have launched the new campaign ‘Taste Trailblazers,’ with the first being world-famous Argentinian chef, Francis Mallmann.  

Kicking off the initiative is a short, 21-minute film produced by FMLY CRTV (Family Creative.) It follows Francis as he explores the island of Islay, discussing how Laphroaig uses peat, salt, and fire in their approach to create flavours and evolve the culinary world like nobody else has.

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Campaign #5 - Smart Energy GB: Gadget

Brand - Smart Energy GB

Category – Energy

Agency - AMV BBDO

Medium – Video ad

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ll know that the word ‘energy’ has been cropping up a lot in the news lately. You’ll often find it followed by the word ‘crisis,’ which is never a good sign.  

Put ‘smart,’ before it, however, and things begin to look a little more optimistic. To spread the message of how a smart meter can help us better manage our household budgets and save energy, Smart Energy GB have partnered with AMV BBDO to launch an integrated marketing campaign.

As part of their brand platform “Join the Energy Revolution,” the second piece of work to feature the famous physicist Albert Einstein sees him still getting to grips with certain aspects of modern life. Meeting for a cup of tea, his neighbour Darren spots Einstein’s smart meter and asks if it’s a new gadget of his. Einstein explains that it shows how much energy he’s using daily, weekly, and monthly. Darren double checks that it’s not a time machine, with Einstein replying, ‘of course not Darren, that’s in the shed.’

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The Ultimate Guide to Updating your Video Content Strategy

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Campaign #6 - Bubble: Dog

Brand - Bubble

Category – Apps

Agency - Creature London

Medium – Out of Home

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You don’t need a time machine to move onto this next campaign. Bubble, the London tech start-up and the UK’s biggest on-demand childcare platform, have launched their biggest marketing campaign ever with help from the team at Creature London.

Bubble’s app allows parents to discover, book, and pay for flexible childcare on-demand. Since its launch in 2016 by Co-Founders Ari Last and Adrian Murdock, more than 2 million hours of childcare have been requested on its platform. Over 200,00 of those users have joined via word of mouth alone.

Bubble tasks creature with helping bring Bubble to the mainstream market, putting together an OOH campaign that celebrates and brings to life the company’s mission of helping parents ‘be all they need to be.’

The campaign is called ‘We’re more than how our kids see us,’ and plays with the idea that once someone becomes a parent, our original self can quickly become forgotten. This idea comes to life on posters across the tube, billboards, and digital displays across London, showing the duality of being a professional parent by sharing pictures of mums and dads created by their children, with humorous copy contrasting the worlds of work and home.

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Campaign #7 - Health and Her: Perimenopause

Brand - Health and Her

Category – Health

Agency - Bountiful Cow

Medium – TV campaign

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Having appeared in our roundup for September, the agency Bountiful Cow is back with a campaign for Health and Her, a start-up brand committed to supporting women through the menopause.

To coincide with World Menopause Day in the month of October, Health and Her launched a three-week TV campaign to drive the sales of the Health and Her Perimenopause Multi-Nutrient Support, and to raise awareness of their wider services from a free menopause app, symptom checker, and expert advice to a menopause specialist GP clinic.  

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Campaign #8 - Burberry: Night Creatures  

Brand – Burberry

Category – Fashion

Agency/Production – Riff Raff

Medium – Film

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Finally, we come to a brand that appeared in the same October roundup of last year. Following on from the highly acclaimed ‘Open Spaces’ film, the luxury fashion house Burberry has released the latest instalment of the dreamlike series, ‘Night Creatures.’  

The creative vision of Riccardo Tisci, the film begins with a trio of friends traveling on a London night bus, all kitted out in Burberry. The bus comes to a sudden stop as passers-by run away from some unknown entity.

Curious, they step off the bus and are confronted by a strange, tentacled-like creature. As it takes hold of the friends, a beautiful ‘dance’ begins against the backdrop of London’s urban landscape, a dance like that in ‘Open Spaces.’  

Assessing that the creature isn’t a threat, they let it take them on a journey, accumulating in them resting on the monster as it swims down the Thames towards Tower Bridge.

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