News
The Gate launches “We find the way” for Guide Dogs
Guide Dogs, the leading UK charity for people with sight loss has revamped its brand platform, and created a national campaign that launches tomorrow celebrating the wide range of services the charity offers.
Developed by The Gate, the campaign “We Find the Way” showcases the broader range of services that Guide Dogs offer, beyond the dogs themselves, aiming to raise awareness of the organization's purpose to help people with sight loss live the life they choose.
Guide Dogs has been supporting people with sight loss for over 90 years, with a mission to help them live actively, independently, and well. This is Guide Dogs first truly integrated brand and legacy fundraising campaign, with a media plan and creative tailored for brand awareness in prime time and a legacy response during daytime.
The film tells the story of two brothers growing up together, and how their fierce sibling rivalry hangs in the balance when one develops sight loss. It shows how the range of services from Guide Dogs help the brother with a vision impairment as his life develops: from learning life-skills with his habilitation specialist at an early age to eventually being partnered with a guide dog. It reveals that with Guide Dogs support he is able to live the full life he chooses including continuing the mischievous rivalry with his brother.
The campaign’s casting includes people with lived experience of sight loss, to ensure authentic representation of the organisation's service users. The production team consulted with Guide Dog inhouse specialists, people with sight loss and Guide Dog users at key stages of the process to ensure the production was fully accessible and the action authentic.
The campaign will run nationwide from tomorrow across multiple channels, including TV, digital, and social media. The film was directed by Arni Thor Jonsson through Dark Energy Films. Media planning and buying for the campaign was handled by Medialab.
Emma Foulds, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Guide Dogs, said: “We are delighted to partner with The Gate to showcase the full range of services that Guide Dogs offers. It was fantastic to be able to cast people with sight loss from our Guide Dogs network to bring our lead characters to life. The campaign is an opportunity to raise awareness of our mission and to show how the right support can help people with sight loss live the life they choose.”
Deborah Bourne, Director of Fundraising at Guide Dogs, said: "This creative collaboration between Guide Dogs' brand and fundraising teams has been a joy to work on. Together with The Gate, we have driven out a powerful campaign which places a spotlight on the long-lasting impact of leaving a gift in your will and deepens public understanding of the work Guide Dogs delivers. We hope to start conversations with legacy donors of the future – inviting them to find out more about how they could leave a truly powerful and personal legacy.”
Lucas Peon, CCO of The Gate, said: “We wanted to help audiences feel the importance of supporting people with sight loss from childhood through adulthood, so that they can continue living a full life. And the story about the relationship between two brothers felt full of emotions that everyone can relate to. All of us at The Gate are proud and grateful to be part of this campaign."
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ED of Strategy & Planning, Piers Pollock on ‘Beyond the Climate Bubble’
Little Black Book asked our brilliant Executive Director, Strategy & Planning, Piers Pollock, his opinion on ‘Beyond the Climate Bubble’ a report by Media Bounty, that lays out strategies to market to the persuadables and argues that hyper-focusing on the ‘climate conscious elite’ won’t move the needle.
Read interview here
Lead Designer, Allison Ball on ‘The look of love’
Ahead of Valentine’s Day Little Black Book asked our Lead Designer, Allison Ball, to share her advice on design for love, without the clichés.
Read the article here
The Gate launches new campaign for SMARTY mobile 'Less Malarkey, More SMARTY'
SMARTY, the SIM-only mobile network owned by Hutchison 3G, launches this week a new fully-integrated marketing campaign, “Less malarkey, more SMARTY”. The campaign was developed by MSQ, whose remit joins-up brand, direct response, customer engagement and PR.
Launched in August 2017, SMARTY is powered by the Three UK network and has a mission to bring simplicity, transparency and trust to an industry often associated with complication and confusion.
“Less malarkey, more SMARTY” brings to life SMARTY’s simple and honest approach to mobile in a way that pokes fun at needless complexity in our daily lives and showcases SMARTY’s competitive SIM-only plans. The campaign has two films, the first showcases a farmer who only accepts payment in crypto currency for his potatoes and onions, and the second a customer who is struggling to buy plain white paint in a store with a sea of white paint options. Karl Pilkington, the king of no-nonsense, is the voice of the campaign.
The campaign will run nationwide from today across TV, Radio, OOH, Print, Social and Digital channels as well as in customer engagement and PR. The campaign was developed by a joined-up MSQ team blending The Gate’s creative and strategic leadership with MBAStack’s customer engagement expertise and MSQ’s PR capability. Media planning and buying for the campaign was handled by Zenith.
Lucas Peon, Chief Creative Officer of The Gate, MSQ’s lead creative agency, said: “SMARTY’s commitment to brilliant simplicity aligns perfectly with our mission to create advertising that connects with people on a deeper level. The new brand platform does just that by highlighting the real-life benefits of being a SMARTY customer and calling out the malarkey that often comes with traditional mobile network providers."
Sayed Hajamaideen, Head of Brand & Marketing at SMARTY, said: “MSQ truly understands our brand and the message we want to convey to our customers, we’re confident that our new brand platfom will resonate with people who are tired of the malarkey and complexity that often comes with mobile network providers and are looking for a simpler, better alternative."
Full Campaign here
CEO, Jamie Elliott on the IPA Bellwether Report
Our CEO, Jamie Elliott , was interviewed by LBB on the recent IPA Bellwether Report. He gave his opinion about what the marketing spend report signifies amidst the cost of living crisis, and what he thinks agencies should be doing to respond.
His response was:
It’s good, of course, to see spend increasing. And, while making predictions about the future is a mug’s game, one hopes that as the global outlook brightens with China opening up, natural gas prices falling and so on, we could see a stronger second half than feared with inflation falling more quickly than forecast in the UK. In that context, brands that have maintained spend will be well placed to capitalise on their investment.
Read the full article via LBB
CSO Kit Altin shortlisted Strategy Leader of the Year 2022
Kit Altin, Chief Strategy Officer, has been shortlisted for the second year in a row as Strategic Leader of the Year by Campaign Magazine, at the Campaign Agency of the Year 2022 Awards.
The Gate hires executive producer
The Gate & MSQ Studios have appointed Sonny Botero as first Executive Producer on the back of strong growth. Botero will report to CCO Lucas Peon and will be responsible for elevating the work and for growing production capabilities across the agency and the group.
Formerly a Senior Producer at Wunderman Thompson, Botero led the production on popular HSBC UK campaigns with Richard Ayoade and the award-winning Vicious Circle.
Botero started producing at McCann London before moving over to TBWA/Media Arts Lab, and produced numerous campaigns for Apple across the UK and Europe. He then continued his work at the illustrious RKCR/Y&R London, CHI and J. Walter Thompson, where he worked on global campaigns for Nespresso, Lexus, M&S, Lloyds Bank, Subway, L’Oréal and Duracell.
Botero has also made possible some outstanding productions such as Nespresso's ‘We Are The Choices We Make’, Ribena’s ‘The Farmist’, and Berocca’s ‘Dancing Chameleon’. And his work has been recognised by some of the top festivals in the world such as D&AD, Cannes Lions, Clios and One Show.
Lucas Peon, CCO of The Gate, said: “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Sonny into the team. He is an exceptional talent, who mixes experience with great attitude - a combination that has always helped him and his teams achieve great things. I have no doubt he will help us raise the work and grow our production capabilities across the agency and the group.”
Sonny Botero said, “I am absolutely delighted to be joining The Gate & MSQ Studios and to work with such a fascinating and diverse agency. Both Lucas and Jamie are incredibly inspiring individuals, one feels their passion and drive. We share the same ethos of making amazing work with talented people. It’s an exciting new chapter for me and I am particularly keen to contribute and help produce more fantastic work.’’
CD Rob Bovington selected to be in the jury for the Caples Awards
Rob Bovington, Creative Director, has been selected to be part of the jury for the Caples Awards 2023, a global advertising & marketing awards show run by creative people for creative people to recognise work that works.
