Lloyds brings a micro horse to the office
Right, I need to declare something before we start: this is AI. I know it's AI. You know it's AI. Normally, that's where we all switch off and start writing a paragraph about the death of craft, but I think this was done really well.
For Take Your Pet To Work Week, Lloyds brought a micro horse called Cara into the office. A chaotic, tiny little horse. The video documents it trotting around desks and spending time in the office – very cute. And, of course, we all know who she's standing in for. Cancara, the black horse that's been Lloyds' most recognisable asset for years.
It's not really a PR stunt in the traditional sense, but it’s a fun, social play that has that pr-ability: is it real? It’s done well enough to pass as being real, and thats where the conversation lies.
The point they’re getting across is pet insurance – traditionally a bit of a dull subject to communicate, especially for a bank. But, this is a fun video to make some noise about how Lloyds insures pets (maybe not micro horses), whilst pushing a product.
I mean, you see a little horse, and it just does the job.
Client: Lloyds Bank
Agency: Publicis GO
Norwegian takes on British Airways
In case you weren't aware, a really big summer of sport is happening. Whilst we often can’t talk about the [readacted], the brands are piling on the moments with brilliant, creative and iconic reactive content.
The latest to take the stage is Norway's low cost airline, Norwegian.
Football's coming home (it is), but Norway might have something to say about that. Norwegian challenged the British national carrier, tagging British Airways on Instagram with a bet: lose on Saturday, and you have to switch the logo to Norwegian's for the day – and vice versa. British Airways, fair play, didn't rise to it, replying in the comments: "Don't make bets you can't win".
This is the magic of the [redacted]. It brings subtle rivalries and jokey jibes that are in good jest. Brussels Airlines volunteering to be the VAR, and Swiss International Air Lines saying they need to focus on their match against Messi united everyone in a lovely and harmless way.
It’s not pushing flight sales, not asking the public to do anything, and, as the famous Rio Ferdinand meme goes, “Just enjoy it man, we're lucky to be in this time”.
Client: Norwegian Airlines (in-house)
loveholidays beats everyone to the crunch
Every single person reading this has holiday crisps that they still think about, one that they have decided are "the best crisps ever". You know the ones. Found them in a random supermercado on day two, ate your bodyweight in packets by day five – a universally enjoyed experience.
That was the whole concept behind loveholidays' Crisps From Abroad pop-up. It's one of those ideas that's so obviously good from the second you hear about it, that you're almost annoyed you didn't think of it first.
To bring it to life they built a two-day pop-up on Peter Street in Soho, with 4,600 packets and 68 flavours from 19 countries. Inside, they had a TikTok-famous crisps connoisseur behind the counter. I didn’t know that was a job you could have, and now I want it.
What cemented this as a winner are the comments underneath the social media posts, which proved the whole thing right. Everyone piled in with their own holiday-crisps memories, talking about the flavour they searched for online after they got home, and the one they've never seen since.
My only gripe, and it's a compliment dressed as a complaint, (which is actually more of a thought around pop-ups), is that two days wasn't enough. By the time it was doing the rounds online, it was already gone.
Give this a week, and it's not just a nice bit of coverage.
Client: loveholidays
Agency: Ark
Just Eat and Popeyes' "star-studded" delivery squad
I’m a sucker for any look-alike ideas. So, when my social feed was full of them a few weeks ago, after a campaign went viral, it was a dream.
Just Eat and Popeyes built a "Delivery Squad" made up of Jude Bellingham, Lionel Messi, and Bruno Fernandes lookalikes. They then sent them out as delivery riders to drop off free food during the [redacted].
To do this, they tapped into an untapped community – one that’s not all about the pub, lads and beers (oi oi). The Shared Ground, an alcohol-free football community, built around people watching the game together, suddenly had "Bellingham" standing there with free food.
The reactions on camera do all the work. It's a stunt that's wrapped in something fun, simple, easy and a bit silly.
Client: Just Eat, Popeyes
Agency: Just Eats in-house partnerships
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