Havas Creative
There’s a saying at Bushmills - “We’re not good because we’re old; we’re old because we’re good” - in other words, perfection is never reached, but always reached for. This is what we wanted to convey in Bushmills new global brand film. Shot on the coast of Antrim close to their distillery, the central character’s ongoing pursuit of surfing perfection is the ideal analogy for the brand’s pursuit of whiskey perfection, all filmed with masterful subtlety by director Tom Green.
One of the most heart-warming images to emerge at the start of the pandemic came from Italy, where people began to sing to each other from their balconies. Our global campaign for Birra Moretti portrays the ingenious ways the residents of a Tuscan town manage to entertain each other, share food and enjoy a beer together, amidst the restrictions. The fact the film was shot during lockdown brought an authentic twist to the production, with director Martin Aamund focusing on the simple pleasures enjoyed at the heart of Italian life.
Batchelors Baked Beans, the alliterative brand everyone in Ireland loves, has been made at the original factory in Cabra, Dublin since 1935. Shot in the area around the factory, the film follows two boys’ playful game of one-upmanship on their journey home from school, illustrating that both Batchelors and the Cabra community are ‘Full of the Good Stuff’.
Famous for connecting its readers with fun, feisty, fearless stories, The Sunday World asked us to demonstrate how they apply the same kind of reporting - continuously - on SundayWorld.com. Our answer was to compose the world’s longest headline, connecting real, diverse stories found on the site itself - all delivered by Dublin rapper Mango.
Do you like ketchup from the fridge or the press? Everyone has an opinion on this important matter, so we put it to a public vote - a ‘refridgerendum’ if you will - to let the people of Ireland decide for themselves. Chef ambassador Paul McGrath returned to moderate the campaign that created lighthearted division, with strong views on both sides.
A great example of how Havas Village works its collaborative magic to create highly successful results. The Creating Our Future initiative asked the country to share ideas as to how researchers could improve our lives into the future. Working with our Village partners at Havas Media, Gate One and Cicero, the campaign idea started on a sticky note - and literally grew into thousands of them, coining the phrase ‘Ireland’s biggest brainstorm’. And it worked - people all over the country got busy thinking, from a trawler in Killybegs to the International Spacestation in orbit, beating our submission target by over 80%.
Buckfast enjoys cult status amongst its loyal fans who love its ‘so bad it’s good’ taste which reminds them of sessions they might prefer to forget. To them, Buckfast’s rebellious nature is the opposite of conventional. The worst thing we could have done for these fans would have been to create an ‘ad’. So that’s exactly what we did - got it totally wrong. SO wrong, it was right! With just one OOH placement on a street in Dublin (and some clever PR), our Buckfast ‘ad’ was seen by 3 million people.
There is a lot of misinformation surrounding epilepsy, leading to people implementing unnecessary precautions to try and ‘protect’ people experiencing a seizure. To mark International Epilepsy Day 2022, volunteers with epilepsy dressed up in ridiculously overprotective outfits to illustrate that all you really need to remember is three simple steps: TIME the seizure, keep them SAFE and Stay with them.
The last thing you’d expect a shower company to do is ask their loyal customers to use them less. Yet that’s precisely what we and our client Triton wanted from a campaign helping to reduce water consumption in Ireland. The Triton 5 Minute Challenge is an important message delivered without an ounce of preachiness, leaving everyone feeling squeaky-clean.
The brief that demanded we make the work matter more than ever, 50808 is a mental health support service aimed at a younger age group who may be more comfortable with texting than speaking. The ubiquity of emojis in texts was the perfect starting point, the campaign flipping their normally light-hearted use to a more thought-provoking space, creating an immediate 560% increase in traffic.
Q. How do you balance the seriousness of mental health with a sense of optimism? A. Our rebranding project for mental health website SpunOut.ie. The icon characters depict various emotions site users might feel, while the colours maintain the required optimism. The characters are also used across social channels, providing a consistent and very recognisable look and feel for the brand.
