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do: is a project-based advertising agency whose clients since 1999 include Christie’s, Sky, Selfridges, GWR PLC, Navman, Myla, EatBigFish, EMAP, TalkTalk and Unilever. To find out more contact Chris West on +44 (0) 20 7727 8308.

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Site designed and directed by Scott Leonard.

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Site constructed by Paul Mulraney.

Content

MORGAN’S SPICED - Taking an Underground Brand (Semi-)Mainstream.

We believe a brand’s third dimension is how it operates differently in different media.
To take this newly established brand into flyposters, the trick was not to automatically extend the existing press campaign (rubbish), but maintain the successful brand presence generated in R&B clubs.
So we shot some lifestyle, avoided any heavy handed logo-packshot and consider this some of our most innovative work, commissioned by our bravest client.

MYLA - Launching A World’s First

We produced the launch advertising for Myla, the world’s first premium designer sex brand for women.
Our insight was that all fashion brands (and previous sex brands) work by looking good on the outside so you feel good on the inside - as a very luxury brand, Myla women would look good on the outside because they felt good on the inside.
We built empathy with modern woman’s internal dialogues, matched with an enigmatic illustration style.

SMASH HITS MAGAZINE - Helping an old brand appear hip.

We helped grow sales and unify the brand by rediscovering the relevance of an old favourite: it’s still a big deal for a band to make the front cover of Smash Hits magazine.
We shot a template commercial with drop-in mid-sections, as adaptations for each issue. It would have been fine, except for the meddling of those pesky teenage janitors.

NEW SCIENTIST MAGAZINE - Helping a great product appear relevant.

We realised that the magazine’s science concerned itself with issues that actually concern us all (at least those of us with a switched-on interest in the world around us). So we decided to prick commuters’ somnambulant bubble.

PREDICTIONS

On an intermittent basis, Chris West likes to make a fool of himself by trying to predict what will happen in advertising and marketing in the next twelve months. Here are his predictions for 2004:

SELFRIDGES CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN - you can’t say everything, so say one thing well.

We needed to unite a disparate media budget and a disparate offering.
So we simplified and produced one graphic, lovable image that ran on 48-sheet posters, busses and electronic media.
While other Oxford Street retailers had a y-o-y decrease, Selfridges’ figures continued to grow.

SKY DIGITAL - Launching a complicated new product simply.

Sky asked us to create a TV campaign to explain how Digital worked.
Instead of ‘telling’, we ‘showed’ with a team of ‘Entertainment Paramedics’ who kidnapped innocent, bored bystanders. We filmed their reactions, questions and discoveries to use as our TV campaign.
We believe we are the only agency to be given, unasked, a success bonus by Sky (or maybe we’re the only agency naive enough not to have asked for one upfront?)

GWR TRENT FM - Keeping the Familiar Front of Mind.

How do you remind the people of Nottingham to listen to their longest-established local DJs? Since we can’t tell anyone anything new about Jo and Twiggy, we chose to focus on what they do for the City itself.
Figures grew after the campaign ran across posters, busses and street art.

AMREF - Making a limited budget more effective.

There’s a big difference between ‘interested’ and ‘committed’. Instead of appealing to lovers of Africa, we aimed fund-raising ads for this African charity at people travelling to Africa who might themselves be in jeopardy.

CHRIS WEST, travel writing.

Chris West is also a contributor to the UK’s biggest selling Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Times.
He has written numerous articles for the Travel section, describing both his experiences and the stories of others.

CHRISTIE’S INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN - Uniting a conflicted company.

We helped Christie’s lovers of fine art and lovers of fine commerce realise they depend on each other.
We produced a global roadshow, matching key pieces sold with key phrases from the Board’s speeches.
Finishing with an unashamedly emotional film that made the audience cry.

CHRISTIE’S CONTEMPORARY COLLECTORS - Engioneering a younger sub-brand for an established parent.

Instead of the obvious premium-ising tactics, we researched and engineered a set of accessible and fun values for a new, younger brand, to fit a new younger clientele.
We then designed and named (Christie’s Contemporary Collectors) a series of events as a manifestation of the brand with data capture and a new more passionate lexicon.
The events are now self-funding.

CONSULTANCY PROJECTS

We have acted as brand, marketing and business consultants for the following companies:
TalkTalk (new promotional strategies)
Ashridge Business School (MBA recruitment)
EatBigFish (brand ideas)
Vizeum (brand language)
Harry Winston jewellery (buy out)
Unilever Best Foods, Rotterdam (brand language)
JCB (Creative catalyst)

DISCOVERY NETWORKS EUROPE - internal comms, at a time of difficult growth.

As the European Company grew up and left its Washington parent, we communicated the results of EatBigFish’es Challenger Workshop program with a company-wide day, interactive development and a curated exhibition.
E4 - Launching a new series after a disappointment

To promote the third series of Banzai (a tongue-in-cheek home gambling show) we decided to use posters as mini-challenges in themselves. Figures grew compared to the previous series, but strangely we still only have our concepts to show you.

GWR 2TEN FM - Aggressive Defence Against a Rival Launch

We needed to preserve listening figures when a new, higher spending rival launched. We decided to tickle people’s loyalty and remind them of the good time they always have had, and always will have, with 2Ten.

GWR BEACON FM - Replacing something Old and Loved with something New

By making the new seem familiar (the new DJs were in many ways a typical Black Country marriage of opposites), we managed to not only avoid listeners leaving with the old DJs but we grew listening figures too.

GWR RADIO GROUP, Internal Comms Campaign - Launching a Company-Within-A-Company

We had to unify the company’s creative people, scattered around 50+ regional offices.
We identified one factor true to each person’s working life and used it as a building block to explain what they must offer clients and listeners.
We devised a launch program of road shows, conferences and printed material to keep the new life fresh in people’s minds; it was lead from the top as the new head of Creation offered his resignation 12 months hence if business targets hadn’t been met. We, and he, are happy to say that the targets were exceeded.

SMASH HITS MAGAZINE - Helping an old brand appear hip.

In 2002, our challenge was to rediscover a relevance for the brand (it’s still a big deal for bands to make the cover of the magazine). We shot a template TV commercial with seven drop-in mid-sections to give the campaign longevity.
Second time around, in 2004, with the brand re-established, we decided to reflect our young teen readers’ unstoppable quest for pop trivia.

CAMPAIGN MAGAZINE - Making trade advertising interesting

It is a great compliment, but a scary proposition, being asked to produce advertising for the advertising industry’s magazine.
In 2004, Campaign magazine relaunched to include coverage of non-creative sectors of the industry. We realised that the best way to explain why Campaign was changing was to reflect how the industry itself had changed.