What is brand, and how are brands built? Our founder, Julian Kynaston, answers these questions and more in this no-holds-barred, fast-paced account of how he launched and grew Propaganda into one of the UK’s most successful brand consultancies.
Available now from Amazon and all good book shops.
It’s not everyday you receive a request from one of the world’s most iconic pop stars, well, yesterday, we did!
With the launch of TheO from Cloud Nine, the demand from consumers and the media has been phenomenal and, yesterday, Girls Aloud’s Northern beauty Kimberley Walsh also jumped on the bandwagon.
Kimberley placed an order for two TheO pods, one for herself (Come on, a girls got to treat herself sometimes) and another as a gift for a special someone… Being this year’s must-have hair product, this comes as no surprise!
And, Kimberley isn’t the only celebrity fan of TheO, Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway, famous for her role in the award-winning Devil Wears Prada has also taken an interest in TheO and last week, requested for one to be sent to her London Hotel for her to use whilst in the UK. And, having picked up a pod for herself, former Hollyoaks star Emma Rigby, who played Hannah Ashworth told us, “my new gadget gives me hair body and bounce.” Press coverage as seen in this week’s Heat magazine.
See our work for TheO in our Portfolio.
Posted by Samara Bott.
The final of three films created by Propaganda for cult, British make-up brand, Illamasqua was today released online.
The viral campaign starring ‘This Is England ’86’ actress, Vicky McClure, was designed to demonstrate the brands key message, ‘make-up for your alter ego’.
In the third film the concept has been cleverly brought to life in an encounter between Vicky and her bolder, darker self, Vic. Through a series of quips and differences it is uncovered that the strand keeping the entities together is a desire for expression, through make-up.
You can watch all of the Illamasqua films, as well as the latest installment, Vicky and Vic, here.
Posted by Phoebe Findley.
On 11th August 2007, 20 year-old Sophie Lancaster was viciously stamped on and left unconscious – for nothing more than looking different. She later died of her injuries.
To remember Sophie, the Foundation has rebranded today, 26th November 2010 & Sophie’s birthday, ‘Make a Noise’ day. So, if you have a gig, gathering, are in the office or on your own, please get your phone/camera out and make a noise to show your respect for Sophie! Drum, guitar, spoons or clapping – upload a video of your activity to the S.O.P.H.I.E Foundation Facebook page.
Here’s some pictures of the team today, shooting for Cambridge Weight Plan. We’re on location in the Yorkshire Dales, capturing images of fantastic people who’ve transformed their life through weight-loss and are reaping the rewards.
Look forward to showing you the results soon!
Posted by Nicole Levings.
Our outdoor advertising and sampling days in Leeds were such a success that we decided it was time to share the boostin’ great taste and value of Boost Energy drink with students in other regions.
The Boost team have travelled up and down the country in their Boostmobile, on a mission to combat student winter blues. Freshers week, was well and truly over, the loans were drying up, so, what better way to give the students a much needed boost, than with a free Boost Energy drink to tantalise their taste buds and get them rocking ‘til Christmas.
Boost’s most recent tour, has seen the team visit Sheffield, Bristol, Newcastle and Glasgow, with 6 sheet and phone kiosk advertising to support the street teams’ activity. Check out the pictures and listen to the new radio ad, which have certainly packed a punch. If you don’t believe us, check out http://www.iamimp.com/blog/, who are our brand sampling partners for Boost.
We’ve just released three new images for our Feel Good All Over campaign for premium self tan brand Xen-Tan. Brilliantly photographed by Alisa Connan, the images show girls glowing with confidence, and a natural looking tan, so check back here later to see that project in full.
See more of our work for Xen-Tan here.
Posted by Lee Bennett.
BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine, yesterday talked with Sylvia Lancaster about the death of Sophie three years on, The Sophie Lancaster Foundation and its future, in a very moving and powerful interview.
Sylvia spoke courageously about the tragic attack on Sophie and her boyfriend Robert, of why it happened, the events leading up to her death and of her initial struggles with the police to get Sophie’s murder recognised as a hate crime.
Sylvia explained that after Sophie’s death she established the Sophie Lancaster Foundation to create further awareness of subcultures and to Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere. She believes that we need to educate, not only young people, but the Police, the Judicial System, and the Crown Prosecution System to understand subcultures and to recognise these kind of attacks as hate crimes.
Since the charity was first founded there has been fantastic progress in getting Sophie’s message heard and Jeremy Vine discussed the award winning film, Dark Angel, which was made in Sophie’s memory. Sylvia praised it as a wonderful tribute and a powerful educational tool, which encouraged great discussion and debate. She also revealed that there will be a new film made, created once again by Creative Director, Mark Williams and that once again, cult make-up brand, Illamasqua would be showing its support. Since the interview was broadcast there have been over 50,000 hits on Dark Angel film.
With this lined up and the launch of the Sophie game, which will be launched into schools around the country in the next couple of weeks, it looks like the message is really starting to get heard. If you missed Jeremy Vine’s interview with Sylvia you can listen to it here
You can see more of our work for S.O.P.H.I.E here.
Posted by Phoebe Findlay.
Illamasqua seems to have built a reputation for doing something daring and different with it’s collections, and it’s recent Autumn Winter one was by no means any different. So when we were challenged with creating the branding and suite of tactics for it’s latest collection ‘The Art of Darkness’, we knew we had a lot to live up to. Here, I’m going to talk you through the resulting creative, which can be seen in full in our portfolio.
As always with Illamasqua, the collection had an inspiring back-story; set in a medieval era where a range of fantastical and mythical beasts meet in an enchanted forest in the 13th hour to create the ever elusive Elixir of life, the collection palette consisted of deep luxurious primary colours, and rich jewel like metallics.
Our first challenge was to create an identity that would convey it’s theme and get the press and stores excited before any of the campaign imagery and products been created. We created an identity system using a scarab, dried bugs (some of the ingredients considered to be used in the Elixir potion), metallic golds, reds, blues and greens (to represent the make-up range), and historically styled typography, to give the graphic elements a medieval, dark, twisted, and yet regal feel, that encapsulated the collection theme. This styling would also form the product packaging. It worked wonderfully, and managed to whet the appetites of the press and bloggers.
Next up was creating the campaign imagery and tactics, made-up by the ever-amazing Alex Box, and masterfully photographed by Tim Brett Day. The press ad and hero image features the aforementioned beasts gathering round a banqueting table in a forest, a setting that’s also featured in the A6 product booklet, where a roll-fold throw out reveals the story behind each character. The full suite of elements included ads, an A5 product book, in-store POS, consumer packaging, launch event collateral, and digital media graphics.
The collection was revealed to an eagerly awaiting press and public audience, receiving a great response, no doubt because the products are so amazing, but we like to think our work played a good part in it too.
You can see more of our work for this collection here, and if you fancy seeing the products for yourself, you can buy them here.
Posted by Lee Bennett.
Congratulations to Seabrook Crisps, who won at last nights prestigious Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards.
It was a star studded event held at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, with Jon Culshaw as master of ceremonies. Other esteemed guests included Chancellor George Osborne, who delivered a keynote speech and SIR Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer, who received a special award for his trailblazing career in the British retail industry.
For full coverage of the event see Business Tuesday with Tuesday’s Yorkshire Post.
Seabrook directors celebrating with Jon Culshaw and SIR Stuart Rose.
Posted by Richard McMurrough.
In August 2007, Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby were attacked by a gang in a park in Lancashire for no other reason than simply for being dressed differently, for being Goths. Sophie tragically died. Propaganda has worked closely with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation since it was first established in memory of Sophie, and in recent years, the charity has gone from strength to strength.
After an award wining film, Dark Angel, an art exhibition of Robert’s work and, the sale of specially designed T-Shirts to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Sophie’s death, the next phase of the Foundation was immanent. Now Propaganda and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation is proud to launch the S.O.P.H.I.E game, which has been developed, designed and produced, in association with our client, Huthwaite International, to bring a message of tolerance to schools and communities everywhere.
A pilot tour will see the game, which is targeted at children in the first year of high school, being taken into key schools across the country along with Sylvia, Sophie’s mother and trained youth worker, to introduce the game. It is hoped that the tour will generate enough interest to encourage schools and community centres to invest in the game to help Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere.
Sylvia Lancaster, Sophie’s mother said: “The S.O.P.H.I.E game has been developed to target children at an age when they are more susceptible to developing prejudices, intolerances or assimilating them from others. It is hoped that the game will help to challenge and educate young peoples perceptions of subcultures by putting it firmly on the educational agenda.”
The game consists of 30 cards, which represent many common ethnic, religious and social groups and subcultures. Players are set a series of tasks, which challenges preconceptions and encourages development in problem solving and team working skills. At first the players are encouraged to pick a team of five based only on appearances. Throughout the game they find out background information about the characters such as hobbies and skills. The players are then given the chance to revise their first decisions ready to help them in the final stage of the game when they are given a scenario. Those included are an emergency, an expedition, making a Go-Kart and making a rocket. Discussions are prompted throughout to explore the player’s original motives and what they have learnt from taking the time to find out more.
All of the funds made from the game will go back into the Foundation to help it grow and continue its good work.
See more of our work for SOPHIE here, and find out more about the foundation, here.
Happy days. Propaganda is in the awards again. This time it was The Fresh Awards. We picked up Golds in TV and broadcast categories as well as Charity and animation for our Sophie Lancaster film. We’re very pleased and very proud of this work. The consistent and generous recognition the work is receiving is wonderful because it means the film’s powerful message is getting through.
You can view the winning animation here, and find out more about the Sophie Lancaster Foundation here.
Posted by Mark Williams.
