This is the queried list of entrants

ADIDAS: WINNING RETAIL SEARCH WITH PRICE (EXTENSIONS)

MEDIACOM

Retail in Asia, with expectations of double-digit growth YOY and eCommerce sales expected to grow by 14% CAGR until 2021 (source: Forrester), has become transformational for brands. Driven by a constant wall of ‘Mega Sale’ campaigns – 9.9, 11.11, Prime Day, 12.12, Christmas & Chinese New Year – consumers are spending but they expect a ...

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DISCOVERING LIFETIME VALUE FOR GOOGLE ADS

ESSENCE

Online marketers have long enjoyed the ability to track every user touchpoint and action, but for years the industry has focused on short-term goals, such as lead submissions or product purchases, missing important cues and assuming all customers have an equal value over time.Existing tools are helpful when the trackable action is an o...

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FIND UNLIMITED - VODAFONE

VERIZON MEDIA & WAVEMAKER

The most competitive time of the year for the mobile telecoms sector is the iPhone launch, with 34% of mobile service searches happening around the launch. Vodafone wanted to cut through all the noise to launch its new Unlimited offering with an idea as innovative as the new phone itself. But how do you create demand for new tech with tech-savvy 25-54 year old Londoners? You make them hunt for it, as the Pokemon Go phenomenon demonstrated.

We created a city-wide virtual hunt for Apple prizes using vatoms, augmented reality and blockchain technology in an experience users could use on their phones. We encouraged user registration with digital media and influencer activity, and during the Find Unlimited week of activity we launched a platform that allowed users to discover drop zones in a map of London on their phones and ‘grab’ prizes in AR. For the 5 days the campaign was live, we saw 23,000 registered users running around London collecting 14,000 prizes. The campaign trended on Twitter ahead of the Rugby World Cup on an England match-day and off the back of the campaign, Vodafone’s spontaneous brand awareness increased 14%.

MALARIA MUST DIE - THE VOICE PETITION

R/GA London

Malaria is the world’s deadliest ever disease. It still kills a child every two minutes. We're close to ending it, but without unprecedented funding it could mutate and come back stronger than ever. Introducing The Voice Petition. The world's first petition you can sign simply with your voice. To launch the petition we used "deepfake" tech for good, to get David Beckham speaking 9 languages - using the voices of real malaria survivors. People all over the world spoke up to sign the petition, then we took the voices to world leaders resulting in record breaking global funding: $14.01 billion. 

THE DIVISION 2 - ECHO

MAKEMEPULSE

In the Ubisoft game 'Division 2', the world has collapsed, a smallpox hybrid virus has decimated a great part of mankind and every source of information is shut down. For the launch of the new game and to immerse players in this post-apocalyptic world, we developed a chatbot on messenger, using geo-localization, and native AR Technology. We Called it ECHO. 50 A.R Stories linked to site-specific locations such as restaurants, schools or banks. Each story let you be the witness of what could have happened in your neighbourhood if The Division 2 events became true.

In The Division Franchise, ECHOs already exist. It’s a way to tell side stories in gaming. We used the same form that players loved to create a bridge between their life and the world of The Division 2. We advertised the bot in Facebook to gamers that already played to The Division, or could be interested by the game.

We developed a chatbot on messenger, using geo-localization, and native AR Technology built-in Facebook Camera. We wrote, recorded dialogues with 10 actors and made AR scenes of 50 stories taking places in locations which exist in every city : Banks, schools, pet store, churches, stores, etc. By using a webview which loaded a map, players were able to navigate to the nearest locations and play AR Stories in their neighbourhood. Discovering Echos unlocked rewards that players were able to use in-game to ensure their survival.

Thanks to Google Places data, ECHOs were visible in hundreds of millions places and available in 160 countries. In less than two weeks, more than 300 000 users played 1.2 million ECHOs, watching 8300 hours of A.R content, making ECHOs one of the most impactful and wide-spreading AR content projects.

DELIVERING SEAMLESS SEARCH FOR M&S

INCUBETA

Since the dawn of search marketing, advertisers have asked the question “Should we be paying to appear for keywords when we already have organic coverage?”.

Demonstrating incrementality, however, is no easy task. Numerous factors must be considered, including: organic position, paid position, organic competitor depth, paid competitor depth, time, geography, device, audience, promotional periods, and this barely scratches the surface. In addition to this, most organic search results are encrypted by Google, greatly limiting visibility.

The challenge of demonstrating incrementality has meant the answer to this age-old question has remained unresolved…until now! NMPi by Incubeta and M&S partnered to build a proprietary machine learning platform that would answer this question while providing a holistic view of the retailers search activity to help guide its optimisations. NMPi by Incubeta’s “Seamless Search” platform not only provides clients confidence their campaigns are making an impact, but automatically applies changes to paid search keyword coverage based on the platform’s recommendation.

The introduction of the platform has revolutionised M&S’ approach to search marketing and the results have exceeded all expectations. Despite its maturity as a business, NMPi by Incubeta was still able to drive in excess of £35m in revenue, in under 9 months.
 

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2020: INTERACTIVE TRAILER GAME LAUNCH

WIREWAX

Ahead of the release of FM20, Football Manager was looking for a new way to bring their latest launch to an even bigger audience and skyrocket sales. Their biggest barrier to entry: ‘How do you play?”

Faced with this challenge, Football Manager turned to MOX London and WIREWAX to turn this barrier into an open floodgate by delivering an interactive live-action trailer made possible only with the exclusive branching capabilities of WIREWAX’s multi-award-winning interactive video technology.

The results of this mega campaign show just how powerful this fundamental strategy was, expanding audiences internationally and elevating the status of the game in numerous markets. Selling over 1 million copies in just over a month after launch, FM20 launched at No.1 on the EMEA charts and quickly became one of the fastest-selling games in Football Manager history. Thanks to WIREWAX’s interactive video technology, a powerful strategy of ‘show, don’t tell’ cam to life, delivering an undeniably unforgettable game launch.

OPTIMISED FOR ATTENTION - THE CO-OPERATIVE GROUP

CARAT UK

A genuine global-first, this approach has never been used, anywhere in the world.

The fight for consumer attention is one of the biggest facing our industry, and one with particular relevance to digital. The digital marketing industry is in transition as we adapt to a post-cookie, privacy-first world where data-driven advertising and measurement are increasingly challenged.

It was critical for us to help our clients navigate these changes and find new ways to maximise the effectiveness of our media buying through innovative, privacy-compliant techniques.

By combining machine learning, data science, eye tracking research, programmatic optimisation and google technology, a crack team of experts across Carat and Dentsu have pioneered a new approach to buying digital media which optimises the attention people give to our campaigns. We took this global-first to market in the UK and delivered stellar results for our retail client Co-op.

Pay attention, you saw it here first!

THE SAILGP APP

APADMI

SailGP launched in 2019 and set out to redefine sailing and challenge perceptions of what’s even possible on water. It’s a new global sports championship and it’s ambition is great.

Our job was to redefine what’s possible in an app. We had to create a mobile experience in global sport that gave fans something they’d never seen before.

The SailGP app matches the ground-breaking sailing tech on the water by creating a unique view of the action, regardless of how, when or where they chose to tune in. Our team pushed themselves and boundaries.

Live viewers could follow the races as they happened, from the side of the water or the other side of the world. They were able to personalise their experience with real-time video streaming and information captured from 1,200 data points on board the boats. This meant that the app was a richer second-screen experience for sailing enthusiasts as well as sports fans who were new to the sport.

It’s a world-first for the mobile sport experience, combining ground-breaking technology with unique design and a customisable experience.

JFK MOONSHOT

UNIT9

On July 16th, 1969, millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin take flight from Kennedy Space Center aboard Apollo 11. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic moon launch, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation wanted to introduce today’s generation to President Kennedy’s vision for the space program and this pivotal moment in history. So, in partnership with Digitas, we created JFK Moonshot, an Augmented Reality app that enables people to experience the events surrounding the Apollo 11 mission in an immersive way. We built an interactive documentary app that let users learn about the Moon launch and re-live the Apollo 11 mission in Augmented Reality. Using the latest Augmented Reality technology on an enormous scale, we created a simulation of a life-size Saturn V, a replica of the rocket that launched Apollo 11 into space.

JFK Moonshot hit the app store on June 12th and was officially launched at a symposium at the JFK Space Summit a few weeks later. On July 16th, exactly 50 years to the day of the moon launch, users could experience a virtual Moon launch in the app and follow the spacecraft’s five-day journey from the Earth to the Moon from anywhere in the world.

LONGLEAT APP

INTELLIGENT MOBILE

Longleat is one of the UK’s leading visitor attractions. Its world-famous Safari Park and iconic stately home comprises 16 distinct attractions and more than 500 animals across 9,000 acres. Longleat is regularly featured both nationally and internationally television and has been voted the “UK Family Attraction of the Year” multiple times.

Longleat approached Intelligent Mobile to build “the World’s best Safari Park App”. Having produced a number of successful Apps in this sector, Intelligent Mobile understood how the introduction of an App could truly enhance the visitor experience, without detracting from the essence of a visit to Longleat.

Following site visits and workshops in early 2019, we worked collaboratively with Longleat to identify how to use technology to revolutionise the ‘live’ visitor experience on park.

A key to success was to employ technology that enhanced the physical environment and did not detach the visitor from the essence of a visit: the wonderful animals, setting and real-world experience.

From start to launch the Project took 5 months. The App comes to life ‘on park’ where the content and navigation options are unique to each user and their exact current location. As the user moves the App and its contents change. It is a unique personal experience.

PUMA SKILL CUBE, 5TH AVENUE NEW YORK

GREEN ROOM DESIGN

Step inside the Skill Cube, a personalised, 1-2-1 training session with a global sports icon – an industry-first, multi-sensory, immersive digital experience, designed and installed in PUMA’s 5th Ave flagship store.

PUMA needed to evolve its retail experience. Its core ‘Generation Hustle’ consumer is a digital native, living in a culture where sport and gaming coexist with no conscious split between analogue and digital worlds. Our challenge; to create a uniquely authentic, credible and memorable experience worthy of a NYC flagship. 

Hyper-connected with almost limitless access and choice, this core customer has inherently developed a necessity for authentic experiences from the products and brands they interact with. Using this insight, we defined an invisible tech platform; ‘Idols Brought to Earth’, that transported visitors into a personalised coaching session with brand ambassadors Lewis Hamilton, Antoine Griezmann or Romelu Lukaku.

Inside the Skill Cube, visitors are immersed in a multi-sensory environment incorporating 270° floor-to-ceiling LCD content screens, graphic projection, motion sensors, dynamic lighting and surround-sound, also complete with synthetic turf flooring to fully test PUMA footwear features under authentic trial conditions.

The Teamsport experience transports visitors to a CGI replica of an atmospheric San Siro Stadium, reconstructed to superior levels of detail (including 5 million individual grass-blades) and adaptability, where Lukaku or Griezmann coach visitors through a series of head-to-head trials, before scoring them on their performance. Meanwhile, the Training experience transports participants into ‘The Gym’ to train with Lewis Hamilton, who takes them through three trials; ladder, jab and jump, developing their skills to be forever faster.

CONTINUOUS PLAY

STINK STUDIOS

For its A/W 2019 product launch, AUXILIARY was invited to exhibit in the Selfridges shoe department for the very first time. Without the heritage of its luxury peers, how can the 2 year-old footwear brand stand out on Selfridges’ busy shop floor?

Without the budget to create an extravagant branded experience, we deliberately focused on the asset we had access to - the display table. We started developing ways to elevate beyond the ordinary, to catch shoppers eyes and draw them away from the tough competition. This process landed us on the idea of bringing the brand to life in augmented reality, through a custom-designed table top that, when activated via QR code, tells AUXILIARY’s rich story.

Once activated, the Continuous Play AR experience transitions the table into an expanded world that interacts with the surface as though one continuous structure. It takes customers into the AUXILIARY story complete with its products and design inspiration which include skating, cars and vintage audio products.

The entire experience was built in Facebook’s augmented reality tool, Spark AR Studio. This was the first time Spark AR was used in a retail environment at this scale.

MASTERCARD LIVE TROPHY

Octagon

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 BARK-ACTIVATED VENDING MACHINE

GMR MARKETING

Going out to the movies just isn’t as popular as it used to be. And it’s certainly not something people plan for in advance. For the launch of The Secret Life of Pets 2, Comcast and animation powerhouse Illumination Entertainment teamed up to generate some buzz—well, technically, barks. 

Comcast partnered with Goodby Silverstein & Partners and GMR to create an experiential campaign focused on social engagement and powered by technology. The main component? A bark-activated vending machine that promoted both The Secret Life of Pets 2 and the concept of voice-activated ordering, mimicking the capabilities of customers’ Xfinity Voice Remotes. 

When curious dog owners at dog parks pressed the larger-than-life Voice Remote button on the machine, they would hear one of a few familiar sounds that drive dogs wild. The vending machine would then listen for the dog to bark and once they did, the machine would dispense a bag of premium dog treats in a limited-edition, The Secret Life of Pets 2 branded bag. 

Inside the machine, our software engineers used machine learning technology to create and train a sophisticated neural network that could analyze sound and reliably identify when a dog barked in real time. On the outside, the brand message was the hero and we made sure that the movie and Voice Remote were the focus of all creative. 

We captured the experiences for social content leading up to the premier of The Secret Life of Pets 2. We also had social influencers at the dog park events, generating buzz among dog parents and fans online. The vending machine was a hit, generating significant buzz on social media and significant positive PR coverage.

TRAVEL TO 2050

AMVBBDO

In a nutshell:

How do you persuade a cynical older audience that smart meters are a good idea, against a backdrop of 1,850 negative media stories in the previous 12 months? 

By building an immersive time travel experience.

By the start of 2019, awareness of smart meters had reached over 95% and over 13 million had been installed. But the rollout had faced numerous technical and logistical challenges, stories of which flooded the national press. In the face of these negative stories, millions of people remained suspicious about them. There was one group in particular that was proving difficult to persuade: the over 65s. 

We needed a new strategy and an innovative new approach if we were to break through the noise and change attitudes.

Telling our audience to get a smart meter via traditional advertising wasn’t working. We had to do something different. We needed them to question their views on smart meters, by making the environmental impact of inaction more tangible, relevant and meaningful. We had to show them the impact that smart meters could make. To do this, we needed a partner that could help us to build trust with the over 65 audience and the National Trust was the perfect fit

But instead of creating advertising for National Trust channels, we decided to do something different: we created bespoke time travel experiences at six properties across the UK. 

‘Travel To 2050’ was a tech led, immersive, multimedia time travel experience, dramatising the potential effects of increasing carbon emissions over time. Transported to 2050, visitors witnessed what various National Trust sites could look like if we fail to protect them from the climate crisis.

The experience successfully repositioned smart meters as an essential next step in modernising Britain’s energy system and building a more sustainable future.

MASTERCARD LIVE TROPHY

OCTAGON

At Rugby World Cup 2019 (RWC2019) Mastercard harnessed the power of ‘Live Storytelling’ with a unique combination of technology, fan passion, and Japanese design to create the world’s first live trophy.

At the full-time whistle of every match, a one of a kind trophy was freshly engraved with live match commentary and presented to the Player of the Match (POTM) by a Mastercard ambassador. The ceremony beamed to the world via the official broadcast feed. 

Never before has the unique story of a sporting match been a tangible part of a trophy and presented to the best performing player. It was created with in-the-moment laser etching and reflected the highlights of the game, which were determined by fans via social listening. 

A priceless memento to mark an exceptional performance on the grandest stage.

A trophy created for one that was loved by millions. Now that’s Priceless.

WORLD’S FIRST 5G AI STYLIST

PUBLICIS•POKE

The world’s first 5G A.I Stylist: Helping you shop affordable red carpet fashion live at the BAFTAs.

Research showed that fashion dominated the conversation at the BAFTA, with 33%* of fans wanting to purchase the looks of their favourite celebrity. However, with the average look costing over £12k star style is out of reach for most. With the support of Cake & M&C Saatchi Public Relations – our agency partners - we were able to leverage a new social phenomenon and innovative technologies to transform the world’s first CGI Supermodel into the world’s first 5G AI Stylist.

As a result, blurring the lines between the digital and real worlds. We gave our influencer the power to do what no human could do. She was able to cross-reference thousands of retailers, in a matter of seconds, and deliver affordable red carpet fashion to fans at home, accessible via a few simple taps on their devices.

ADIDAS X WETRANSFER - SPACE RACE

WETRANSFER

WeTransfer designed a campaign for Adidas to increase awareness and promote their new shoe, the Space Race UltraBoost20. The shoe is a celebration of Adidas’ 5-year partnership with the International Space Station National Library which granted the company access to one-of-a-kind research and the ability to test their products in zero-...

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MICROSOFT AI COGNITIVE BAR

MOMENTUM WORLDWIDE

Microsoft’s Mood Matching Mixer Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services bring the power of AI within reach of business without machine-learning expertise. All it takes is an API to accelerate AI decision-making in highly responsive and contextually aware apps. So, to help people understand how they can harness the power of AI, we elevated an often-confusing conversation into an eloquent experience: by making it do something as gratifyingly simple as giving them a drink. In an immersive, AI driven experiential showcase promoting Azure in a way that people could naturally interact with. Providing every guest with a personalised ‘moment in time’ and a definitive outcome.

Welcome to the Microsoft AI Cognitive Bar. Where Microsoft’s Emotion Recognition API ‘reads’ guests’ emotions to select the perfect mood-enhancing drink for them to enjoy, right there in the moment. Using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services ‘Face API’ to determine each guest’s response to imagery loosely reflecting aspects of the drinks, juices or ice creams available at that particular event, the AI Bar detects anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise or neutral emotional states, as well as guest gender and age.

Judging which pieces of content each guest reacted most strongly to, the AI recommends the most emotionally appropriate ‘reward’ from the experience’s menu. Collected data simultaneously feeds into a real-time Microsoft ‘PowerBI’ Dashboard displaying basic analytics, such as the most recommended drink, number of served guests, etc. It also updates changing ingredient ‘stock’ levels according to how many of each menu item have been served, so the AI Bar can calculate when to cease recommending drinks or ice creams it can no longer serve.

Engaging with BDMs by helping them quickly and simply see how Azure empowers their business with an intelligent edge as they progress towards their digital transformation.

MILLER LITE: CANTROLLER

UNIT9

We built a can of Miller Lite that doubles as a fully functional video game controller. At first glance, the CANtroller looks like a regular can of Miller Lite. But it has something that no other beer can has: some seriously cool hidden technology.

Miller Lite is a well-known drink recognized for their minimalist design. We created a whole new experience combining drinking and gaming. Beer and video games are a winning combination. To revolutionize the way gamers quench their thirst, Miller Lite wanted to bring them one step closer to enjoying a cold one. So we created the CANtroller, a video game controller that also holds 12 ounces of Miller Lite it’s a fully functioning controller equipped with USB charging, bluetooth, haptic feedback and, of course, beer.

For all of the impressive technology involved, the can is extremely elegantly designed. We wrapped a super thin, flexible printed circuit board around the can and stuck metal dome switches on top with adhesive. The final product is a wireless, rechargeable 10-button controller with integrated Bluetooth technology that allows you to connect it to any computer.

NAPAPIJRI FUTURE TEES

1000HEADS

Napapijri. An Italian brand with a Finnish name and the Norwegian flag as the logo, came to us wanting to create noise in the UK market. We designed an ambitious, socially-lead, 360 campaign strategy called Future Tees and targeted the London hype scene. So how did we get over 100 people to queue, in two-degrees celsius, for a brand they can’t even pronounce? Our answer: engineer hype starting from a simple formula: Hype = Notoriety x (Mystery + Exclusivity)

So… Let’s go back. Meet Kojey Radical. Rapper, poet, designer. A true renaissance man and the perfect influencer to give us relevant notoriety. Alongside Kojey, we created the brand’s first augmented reality garment; a limited-edition T-shirt collection designed by Kojey himself, which brings his pioneering vision of the future to life. Sounds impossible, right? Future Tees can be activated using only your smartphone’s camera, launching an AR experience that brings the design to life.

The t-shirt activates a web AR experience we created, using cutting edge image target tracking to anchor the experience to the tee. All the user has to do is point their phone’s camera at the t-shirt. Hidden in the design of the t-shirt is a QR code which launched the framework, making it accessible to everyone without the need to download any additional applications. We established the collection by slowly revealing the design of the t-shirt, its digital features and the inspiration behind it. In doing so, we took our audience with us, on the t-shirts journey We turned mystery on its head, pioneered a new way of creating hype and used social to subvert the classic hype drop.

Through an innovative use of tech and influencer co-creation, we generated a swathe of word of mouth, reaching over 8 million users through our integrated campaign.

SAFETUG 360⁰ EXPERIENCE

Stein IAS

SafeTug software improves safety and efficiency in the process of docking gigantic ships. Tugs work with 360° thrust and visibility, so Stein IAS created a 360° VR video to turn an explainer into an experience. An integrated campaign then engaged 17% of the global addressable market and generated sales to deliver huge ROI.

REAL TALK ABOUT SUICIDE

UNIT9

The REAL TALK ABOUT SUICDE is an interactive video with special social impact. It not only depicts the problem of suicides but actually trains you what to do when you meet a person endangered by the suicidal thoughts. While we are talking about it, this project might have just saved a human's life.

CHANGE INC. - QUIT CIGARETTES

GOODSTUFF & CRAFT

Smoking kills over 96,000 adults annually and is the no.1 cause of cancer in the UK, so getting smokers to quit cigarettes was one of the most difficult, and important, briefs we’ve ever had to work on. We had the almighty challenge of overcoming an addiction as well as an ingrained resistance to previous, rudimentary, ‘shock tactic’ anti-smoking messages that smokers are used to seeing (and ignoring).

With Change Incorporated (a Vice Media company) we changed the narrative around why a smoker should quit and we changed where and how they received those messages.

Our campaign used a dynamic, collaborative workflow and platform-specific technology to turn an vast library of 300 bespoke commissioned content pieces into over 1,000 creative executions to speak to the plethora of personalities, mindsets and barriers we had to overcome. These varied, but tailored content pieces played out across 6 channels to prompt cigarette smokers across the country to take action in quitting. Definitely a change for good.

HUGGIES WITH GOOD-LOOP AND ROCKETMILL: GROWING SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP, PURCHASE INTENT AND CHARITABLE FUNDS.

GOOD-LOOP

Huggies were already happy that their Baby Wipes had a lower environmental impact than other leading brands in the market, but in October 2019 they went further, announcing that over the next five years, Kimberly-Clark would work with leading universities and environmental organisations globally to develop a fully sustainable alternative. Kimberly-Clark tasked Good-Loop with raising awareness of the brand’s sustainability pledge.

Good-Loop knew that media spend is 90% of a brand’s advertising budget, so they came up with a way to convert Huggies’ media spend from a neutral pay out to one that actually adds positive impact in the world.

Using existing Baby Wipes ad content and their ‘ethical ad player’, Good-Loop enabled people to donate part of Huggies’ media budget to one of three baby-focused UK charities, in return for 15 seconds of their attention as they watched the ad.

The campaign raised £20,000 in donations – funding, among other things, the equivalent to over 200 nights’ accommodation for parents with sick children in hospital, 50 emergency phone lines for pregnant women at risk and three ‘Make a Wish’ dream projects for critically ill youngsters. The campaign also delivered 45% uplift in purchase intent for Baby Wipes, 20% more completed views of the ad than originally planned, and an uplift of 11% in the number of people who now associate Huggies Baby Wipes with sustainability, laying important foundations for the brand to own this space moving forward.

ISLAMIC RELIEF'S NEW VIDEO GAME - VIRTUE REALITY

ISLAMIC RELIEF

Rising islamophobia is a global problem and is widely impacting the Muslim community across the globe. Last year we saw the appalling massacre at the Christchurch mosque unfold, which sadly, inspired a videogame showing Muslims being killed.

Although this was banned, it demonstrates the challenges the Muslim community face. Muslims are often depicted as the ‘baddies’ in various videogames which could negatively impact the younger generations. This is by instilling the stereotypical idea of Muslims as bad people which is mirrored in today’s media causing the rise of the islamophobia.

As an international aid agency we realised there was currently no fun interactive tool for children to learn about international development. Therefore we wanted to create a tool that educated youngsters about how international development works and how money donated to Islamic Relief helps people in developing countries.

All whilst tackling islamophobic stereotypes of Muslims, showing them doing good. In 2019, Muslim charity Islamic Relief UK launched a videogame in partnership with Ultimatum Games, to teach young people how international aid works and to tackle negative perceptions of Muslims. The game, ‘Virtue Reality’, is based on real international development projects run by Islamic Relief in more than 40 countries across the world, from Pakistan to Mali. The game’s aid workers are all Muslim, carrying out good deeds, challenging the gaming industry’s mainstream narrative that Muslims are the bad guys, the oppressors or just terrorists.

The gamer builds projects such as shelters and schools. As they click, the gamer accumulates enough ‘DeedCoins’ – the game’s currency – to build the first phase of a project. These DeedCoins reflect the good deeds that Muslims are expected to carry out as part of their faith.

OPTIMISED FOR ATTENTION - THE CO-OPERATIVE GROUP

CARAT UK

A genuine global-first, this approach has never been used, anywhere in the world.

Co-op’s core target audience are convenience shoppers who care about the environment. Research told us that they pay less attention to advertising than average. Essentially, we were having to work even harder to ensure our campaigns got the attention they needed.

We created a unique solution. By combining machine learning, data science, eye tracking research, programmatic optimisation and Google technology, a crack team of experts across Carat and Dentsu have pioneered a new approach to buying digital media which optimises the attention people give to our campaigns. We took this global-first to market in the UK and delivered stellar results for our retail client Co-op. Pay attention, you saw it here first!

SAVING THE WORLD, ONE CHAT AT A TIME

MERKLE

The World Wide Fund for Nature is the world’s leading independent conservation organisation founded in 1961, working in the field of wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment.

Their mission is to create a world where people and wildlife can thrive together. During the Christmas period, the WWF team were looking for a way to increase user engagement and generate greater brand affinity.

Combined with a realisation that many of their customer support queries were coming from people asking what animal they should adopt, there were was a clear opportunity to address this recurring request by combining the branding piece with the BAU KPI of increasing animal adoptions.

The team decided to create a Chatbot that asked a few simple questions to help users find the perfect animal to adopt based on matching personality types to animals, which would then provide a link to adopting that animal on the WWF website.

The bot was positioned as a ‘gifting bot’ helping those in the market for Christmas presents. By creating a highly engaging user journey that both educated the consumer and met WWFs KPIs of driving animal adoption, the team achieved 2,570 conversations with increased View Through and Conversion Rates at a low Cost Per Conversion.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS… TO REACH CORD-CUTTERS ON CONNECTED TV

OMG / HEARTS AND SCIENCE/ THE TRADE DESK

Picture the scene: it’s Christmastime, the decorations are up, the gifts are under the tree – and a global video-sharing network wants to target light TV viewers in the 18-34 age bracket in a cost-effective way. 

Enter global advertising company The Trade Desk and OMG’s Hearts and Science agency with a CTV and video awareness campaign using a suite of audience and planning tools – and innovative data strategies – to push reach further than the client had ever seen before. 

This is no ordinary Christmas campaign. This is a ‘Hearts and Science ft. The Trade Desk’ Christmas campaign.

We activated a holistic branding strategy using The Trade Desk’s technology, maximising reach as planned across a whole host of video verticals – from CTV, to short-form VOD and outstream. 

The campaign smashed conventional VOD benchmarks and exceeded client expectations massively.

THE EVOQUE BUTTON: TRIGGERING A REACTION

EDIT & SPARK44

We know that people who test drive the new Evoque love it; however, they’re time starved, bombarded by digital marketing, and struggle to visit a Land Rover Retailer. We needed to cut through the noise and reach them with an innovative solution that makes booking a test drive a joy, not a chore. We reinvented the test drive booking process, making it as simple as pushing a button. To echo the luxury of an Evoque through a personalised, pioneering, highly targeted direct mail experience that culminated in an engine stop-start button press that automated a test drive booking and CRM experience. This audience are desirable: young, affluent, tech-savvy, and value design and premium brands. However, they are time poor and know the value of their data. They are unlikely to opt-in to email communications and are already saturated by marketing. Direct mail provides cut-through with them, but creating a seamless route to act was historically challenging. We decided to produce personalised direct mail radical and technologically advanced enough to engage them, get them talking, and, ultimately, encourage them to test drive the new Evoque. We created game-changing direct mail tailored to the digital generation. We became the first to use automated WND Network and Sigfox technology to enable a mail recipient to book a test drive with a button push – and remove multiple customer barriers to booking a test drive. 44% of recipients started their engines – they received comms and a Retailer booking with low manual involvement. 

Of those 2,000-plus test drive requests, 10% purchased a new Evoque. 

And the sales are still coming. With a budget of £150,000, current ROI stands at 48:1. All underpinned by automated audience selection.

CONNECTING EE WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS

Essence

GOODSTUFF - THE RAPPORT REPORT

Goodstuff

PROJECT JAMES

News UK

PROJECT JAMES – YOUR DIGITAL BUTLER

News UK & Merkle

DISCOVERING LIFETIME VALUE FOR GOOGLE ADS

ESSENCE

Online marketers have long enjoyed the ability to track every user touchpoint and action, but for years the industry has focused on short-term goals, such as lead submissions or product purchases, missing important cues and assuming all customers have an equal value over time.

Existing tools are helpful when the trackable action is an on-site or even an offline purchase, but advertisers working towards a delayed or lifetime revenue goal are presented with a challenge. When revenue cannot be measured immediately, campaign optimisations are delayed and therefore less effective. For their Google Ads campaign targeting marketers, Google tasked Essence with finding a brand new way to identify and target customers with a higher lifetime value.

We set about finding a solution using machine learning and ended up with a bespoke platform - the only solution in the market that solves the problem of long-term value identification; it is self-learning and automatically adapts to changing business scenarios and market conditions. Oh, and the results are also fantastic.

AD-LIB & SHELL OPTIMISE CREATIVE MID-FLIGHT TO 5X VTR

AD-LIB DIGITAL

Ad-Lib is a creative management platform for brands to store, deploy and optimise all advertising creative, allowing every ad to be useful and relevant to the consumer. Our creative automation technology (which includes AI for image resizing and video editing) enables brands to scale creative globally while making significant time and cost savings. As Marketing Partners of both Google and Facebook, we help clients to maximise these key relationships while delivering cross-channel creative across display, video and social.

Ad-Lib provides the necessary tools to enable creative to be fluid and easy to customise, rather than permanent and only changeable at great cost. Shell utilised Ad-Lib’s creative automation technology, including AI for image resizing and video editing, to repurpose creative for their variety of digital formats.

Using Ad-Lib’s software and Google's Gaudi image tagging and AI, Shell also optimised their video content mid-campaign flight to further improve the performance of their campaign. Ad-Lib identified the top-performing content as being 'marine based' and, using these real-time insights, Ad-Lib produced new 'marine' creative by stitching together further 'marine' scenes from existing assets. We then added in these new ‘optimal’ variants mid-flight to drive overall performance.

The AI optimised video creative was delivered against Shell’s primary KPIs resulting in an impressive 88% lower cost-per-minute and 5x higher view-through-rate than the initial videos!

This campaign proves that data-driven creative is essential when it comes to driving better performance. Using this data we were able to quickly incorporate a new creative brief mid-campaign to generate optimised creative. Not only was this a technological-first for Shell, it was also a huge success!

LEXUS GETS EMOTIONAL WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

M/SIX

Back in 2018, Lexus used 15 years of award-winning luxury campaigns to craft the first car advert written by AI, produced by a human for the launch of the Lexus ES Executive Saloon car. Lexus explored the idea that humans could collaborate with machines to create an advertisement that mimics the ES model’s intuitive driving experience – the perfect blend of man and machine working together.

Fast forward to 2019 and Lexus ripped up the rule book again and launched the new self-charging UX Hybrid SUV crossover. With this launch, Lexus wanted to delve deeper into machine learning to create a connection on a human level with a new target audience. m/SIX devised a solution that utilised AI for creative testing and content distribution.

The campaign produced sterling results:

Serving an optimised advertisement based on audience age delivered an increase video completion rate (VCR) of +54%

Using the customised assets based on the emotional responses from the IBM facial coding delivered a further +75% increase in VCR

An increase of 59% in VCR (at the beginning of the campaign) to 80% at the end of the campaign

MAGPIE: A 100% AI-DRIVEN MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Merkle

MALARIA MUST DIE - THE VOICE PETITION

R/GA LONDON

Malaria is the world’s deadliest ever disease. It still kills a child every two minutes. We're close to ending it, but without unprecedented funding it could mutate and come back stronger than ever. Introducing The Voice Petition. The world's first petition you can sign simply with your voice. To launch the petition we used "deepfake" tech for good, to get David Beckham speaking 9 languages - using the voices of real malaria survivors. People all over the world spoke up to sign the petition, then we took the voices to world leaders resulting in record breaking global funding: $14.01 billion. 

TRANSFORMING DIGITAL MEDIA INTO BUSINESS OUTCOMES FOR FORD

GTB, XAXIS EMEA AND MINDSHARE

The automotive sector continues to change at a rate not seen since the earliest days of mass-production. Global headwinds suggest flat or reduced marketing investment for many manufacturers, whilst emerging technology continues to influence the way customers research and make decisions when buying a car. Accountability of marketing spend and outcomes that reflect true business goals are becoming ever-more important for clients in the automotive industry. But to achieve this challenge, brands need a clear view of where spend should be directed to boost the likelihood of desired actions, such as orders or dealership visits, and this granular insight isn’t easy to obtain. 

In Norway and the Netherlands, Ford’s WPP agency partners: GTB, Xaxis and Mindshare, drove a significant increase in the number of test drives from Ford’s digital media spend, and did it for less. Using AI to inform programmatic buying for standard media outcomes is not new. But using AI to optimise programmatic buying for a tangible result that was more aligned to Ford’s business was. Leveraging a tailor-made AI strategy designed specifically for Ford’s unique business goal, the auto giant achieved a 65% decrease in the Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) on test drives across both markets. The Netherlands also saw an overall increase in conversion rates by 145%, with Norway’s conversion rates up 49% vs the existing benchmark.

PROJECT PEGASUS: GIVING CONTEXT TO GOOGLE NEST

ESSENCE

Google are pioneers in using A.I for personalisation. It’s in Google’s products and their advertising. But effective personalised ads can be labour-intensive and hard to scale - and they’re usually based on personal data.

At the same time, consumer concerns about privacy and the way companies are using data to shape behaviour are growing. As the industry debates the balance between personalisation and privacy, we saw an opportunity to achieve both, and in doing so, reject the tradeoff between relevance and respect for audiences.

Google tasked Essence with creating a scalable privacy-first way of introducing Google Nest - an already well-known brand - to new audiences and growing purchase consideration. We partnered with the Guardian to bring to life the magic of Google Nest in everyday ways and engage readers in the moment.

BEST USE OF CREATIVE PERSONALISATION

A MILLION ADS

We created radio ads for Compare the Market’s rewards scheme Meerkat Meals that personalise to the listener’s location, the day of the week and even to the specific time of day. The ads referred by name to both local chain restaurants and independents -​ using the voices of Compare the Market characters Sergei and Aleksandr themselves.

We created a campaign that brought these iconic TV characters to listeners’ local areas for the very first time. Our campaign is a prime example of​ big brands creatively using technology to become local​; dropping the nationally-famous meerkats into the listeners’ hometown and doing so with​ 1,457,201 variations of messages​ from the Meerkats across multiple ads throughout the year.

DIAGEO: WHAT’S YOUR WHISKY SELECTOR

UNIT9

What’s Your Whisky?’ is an innovative digital experience which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to analyse people’s flavour preferences and match them with their perfect Single Malt Whisky from Diageo’s portfolio. The project was designed specifically to help overcome consumer’s key barriers to purchase premium whisky. These include:

The complexity and saturation of the whisky category Risk aversion due to the category’s expensive price point

A recessive and stuffy perception of the category

The previous marketing strategy for the Diageo malt whisky portfolio had been inconsistent, including comms around provenance, quality of ingredients and cultural events.

Subsequently, Diageo commissioned purchase decision journey research and found that the overarching theme throughout all touchpoints was that the key driver of purchase decisions was flavour.

Working with Diageo, we therefore decided to create a new transformational campaign to help overcome the key barriers to purchase and focus on flavour. With Diageo, we developed an innovative, interactive and scalable whisky digital activation which leverages exciting new technologies to revolutionise the way Diageo talks to consumers about their Single Malt Whisky portfolio.

Partnering with FlavorPrint, the project team profiled 18 of the most loved Diageo single malts, using AI and ML, FlavorPrint were able to map each whisky into a 33 dimensional model, featuring over 500 flavour data points. When a user launches the digital experience, they answer 11 dynamic, visual flavour based questions such as “Do you like smoked foods?“. The AI then analyses the answers and maps the user’s unique “FlavorPrint”, suggesting the single malt(s) within Diageo’s portfolio best matched to their personal flavour preferences. This highly personalised and innovative brand experience sought to overcome ke

MAGPIE: A 100% AI-DRIVEN MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

MERKLE

To transform the way Twitter does digital marketing. We were challenged to create a cross-channel strategy that leveraged the best of Twitter – it’s high-quality, real-time conversations - to reach users off platform with relevant, personalised ads that drive both new user acquisition and increase user engagement.

Taking a proof of concept developed in 2018, we built a fully realised, custom campaign management tool, Magpie, that uses bespoke AI to analyse trending topics in real-time, and curate personalised trend recommendations, delivering them as digital ads across display and search formats within 15 minutes of a trend breaking. To achieve this, we developed several industry-first solutions to create visually coherent creative for multiple channels, with dynamic, AI-driven messaging. This allowed us to serve users personalised ads based on their interests at scale across a range of digital touch points, at scale; all with minimal human intervention.

Implementing Magpie significantly improved the performance of our digital campaign, increasing conversions by 212% year on year, with cost per conversion falling by 51%. More than this, Magpie has aligned Twitter’s marketing strategy with their core brand values of being the source of real-time news and conversions.

THOUGHTFUL MARKETING MOVEMENT SET IN MOTION, THANKS TO BLOOM & WILD

BRAZE

Bloom & Wild is the UK’s most loved online florist with a mission to make sending and receiving flowers the joy that it should be. They launched in 2013 with an innovative letterbox flower format that can be delivered even when the recipient is out - enabling their customers to delight recipients and show they care more easily. And whilst many people want to celebrate special occasions like Mother's Day or Valentine's Day with flowers, for some people these marketing reminders can bring complicated feelings.

For those customers for whom receiving emails on these holidays could be heartbreaking, Bloom & Wild saw an opportunity to be more caring and thoughtful—by giving customers the opportunity to opt-out of messaging that could be insensitive to their current situation. Using the customer engagement tool by Braze, Bloom & Wild successfully aligned with their core values of putting customers first and showing care by executing a no-frills opt-out campaign that wasn't focused on achieving business KPIs but rather, delivering a simple message about putting customers first. Aside from winning headlines with its campaign, Bloom & Wild’s competitors have since followed their footsteps. They have set the bar for what defines a successful business—one that provides relevant and memorable experiences rather than simply driving sales.

MARS #BOUNTYGATE

MEDIACOM

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a family-size tub of assorted chocolates, like Celebrations, to dip into. To truly engage our audience and ensure Celebrations were the tub they were thinking about, we did the last thing they wanted. We put a Bounty – their least favourite flavour – behind the first day of the Celebrations advent calendar. In fact, to really rile them, we put one behind the second day as well!

It was a Christmas catastrophe for Bounty-hating Celebration fans but a chocolate triumph for Mars. By convincing the brand to move from traditional TV activity to a social-led stunt, we caused an online storm, gained enough social traction to be discussed on This Morning (the nation’s top daytime TV show) …and sold 90,000 more Celebrations tubs than in the previous year.

CHANGE INC. - QUIT CIGARETTES

GOODSTUFF & CRAFT

Cigarettes are one of the world’s top #5 most addictive vices, so getting smokers to engage with your message is one of the most difficult briefs we’ve ever had as they’re so resistant to conventional quit messages.

We had the almighty challenge of overcoming an addiction as well as an ingrained resistance to previous, rudimentary, ‘shock tactic’ anti-smoking messages that smokers are used to seeing (and ignoring).

With Change Incorporated (a Vice Media company) we changed the narrative around why a smoker should quit and we changed where and how they received those messages.

Our campaign used a dynamic, collaborative workflow and platform-specific technology to turn an vast library of 300 bespoke commissioned content pieces into over 1,000 creative executions to speak to the plethora of personalities, mindsets and barriers we had to overcome.

These varied, but tailored content pieces played out across 6 channels to prompt cigarette smokers across the country to take action in quitting. 

Definitely a change for good.

PROJECT JAMES – YOUR DIGITAL BUTLER

NEWS UK & MERKLE

The Times provides news content from behind a paywall, therefore driving value from the subscription is key. Content consumption forms a key part of the engagement strategy and this brief was to use AI-driven models to build engagement from the newsletters, thus building out customer value, and reducing churn.

Project James – Your Digital Butler sees the use of AI technology to process current customer behaviour in order to predict the optimum content, frequency, format and time of send for 80,000 subscribers to the Times content emails.

Branding the initiative internally allowed different teams within News UK to join forces with Google, Twipe and Merkle in order to run the campaign. A clear proposition – James delivers tailored news content, at the right time, in the right format, with the right frequency – ensured approval with the Board.

Over the 34-week period of the project, engagement (opens and clicks) increased by 21%. However click through rate alone increased by 200%. Ultimately this led to a 49% reduction in churn.

IBM WATSON AI WIMBLEDON CAMPAIGN

DOOH.COM, KINETIC WORLDWIDE, MINDSHARE & OGILVY

Unlocking the power of digital out of home; this ingenious campaign provided true utility to customers, and potential customers alike, dynamically created a unique experience for the audience. 

2019 marked the 30th year IBM had been the official supplier of Information Technology to the All England Club and The Championships, Wimbledon. To celebrate this anniversary, IBM wanted to demonstrate the computational power of their Watson AI. The campaign used IBM Watson’s AI capabilities to inform digital creatives during Wimbledon 2019 - creating highlights and sending them to DOOH screens across London’s transport network within minutes.

By enabling DOOH screens to bring people key moments from the tournament in real-time, they were able to keep up to date with the action, even without being able to watch the live broadcast. The result was an astonishingly complex campaign with data-driven creatives at its heart; in total, 60,000 creatives were broadcast. 

This was an incredible demonstration of the innovative brand activity rooted in data-driven insight, solving a problem for customers by bringing them live feedback of the tournament when they wouldn’t be able to access it themselves.

ACHIEVING RECORD-BREAKING CRM FOR KFC & IRIS

IRIS

Last year was KFC’s best ever for CRM.

But as with any programme of digital activity, the proof is in the pudding. KFC had questions that needed to be answered: how much are we driving incremental purchases? Are we simply tracking transactions that would have taken place anyway? How successful are we at maximising revenue? What is the true ROI of the CRM programme?

And so the Iris team set about answering them. In the process, we developed a series of insights that led to a fundamental shift in how KFC uses CRM: from a frequency-driving channel for the brand’s heaviest buyers, to a penetration-driving channel for a broad range of QSR customers.

BOOSTING BRAND PERCEPTION WITH LIVE INSIGHTS FOR IKEA

Xaxis EMEA & Mediacom

CRM DREAMS

CODE, PART OF RAPP GROUP

Ralph Lauren, the epitome of the American dream, famously said, “I don’t design clothes, I design dreams.” However, the European CRM programme was quite the opposite. Ambition and vision thwarted by martech and systems. The brand eroded by over-discounting. A wake up transformation was needed.

Our solution was to tap into the dreams of 9M customers, delivering the Ralph Lauren world, in the right way for them. From brand stories to product suggestions, our mix of brand-understanding and machine-learning allows us to create the most engaging communications, and effective programmes, designed round their own personal journey with the brand.

We took a 3-pronged approach:

1st BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION WITH STYLE: A tech stack and processes boot camp, to spend less on doing, and more on insight hunting.

2nd COUTURE QUALITY DATA-STITCHING: Creating a 360o view of every possible customer signal. 

3rd THE COMMUNICATIONS ENGINE OF DREAMS: Personalised recommendations engine for 9.1 million individuals.

In year one we drove an inspiring incremental $22m, with a Return on Investment of 7:1. Customer satisfaction

DLG LIFETIME VALUE

MediaCom

MALARIA MUST DIE - THE VOICE PETITION

R/GA London

Malaria is the world’s deadliest ever disease. It still kills a child every two minutes. We're close to ending it, but without unprecedented funding it could mutate and come back stronger than ever.

Introducing The Voice Petition. The world's first petition you can sign simply with your voice.

To launch the petition we used "deepfake" tech for good, to get David Beckham speaking 9 languages - using the voices of real malaria survivors. 

People all over the world spoke up to sign the petition, then we took the voices to world leaders resulting in record breaking global funding: $14.01 billion.

FIND UNLIMITED - VODAFONE

VERIZON MEDIA & WAVEMAKER

The most competitive time of the year for the mobile telecoms sector is the iPhone launch, with 34% of mobile service searches happening around the launch. Vodafone wanted to cut through all the noise to launch its new Unlimited offering with an idea as innovative as the new phone itself. But how do you create demand for new tech with tech-savvy 25-54 year old Londoners? You make them hunt for it, as the Pokemon Go phenomenon demonstrated.

We created a city-wide virtual hunt for Apple prizes using vatoms, augmented reality and blockchain technology in an experience users could use on their phones. We encouraged user registration with digital media and influencer activity, and during the Find Unlimited week of activity we launched a platform that allowed users to discover drop zones in a map of London on their phones and ‘grab’ prizes in AR. 

For the 5 days the campaign was live, we saw 23,000 registered users running around London collecting 14,000 prizes. The campaign trended on Twitter ahead of the Rugby World Cup on an England match-day and off the back of the campaign, Vodafone’s spontaneous brand awareness increased 14%.

COSTA READY TO DRINK

MediaCom

UBERALL & BP: ‘NEAR ME’ MARKETING DRIVING CUSTOMERS TO THE FORECOURT

Uberall

Nearly half of all Google searches are ‘Near Me’ searches for products and services in the local area, and this search is often the very first touchpoint in the customer journey. Consumers expect the route from online search to offline visit – their ‘Near Me Brand Experience’ (NMBX) – to be smooth and engaging. Yet, nearly half of online business listings have incorrect or incomplete information, per Uberall research.

BP, with 1,319 UK locations, sought to provide a compelling online NMBX from the start by strengthening its online visibility, and increasing customer engagement and awareness of each location’s unique offerings. But managing the location data and online reviews manually for so many outlets, over 125+ online platforms, wasn’t feasible.

BP enlisted NMBX expert Uberall to tackle the imposing task of making sure its online-listings data was correct across its entire UK network. Now, 100% of BP stations have accurate geo-coordinates and street listings. Additionally, Uberall’s ‘pin-within-a-pin’ innovation means that each of BP’s offerings – fuel, Wild Bean Café and M&S Simply Food – are optimised for local searches.

Consumer brand experience has been significantly enhanced, with a 277% increase in customers successfully finding BP listings when searching on Google Search or Maps and a 289% increase in customers viewing BP listings on Google Maps, amounting to over 72 million more views.

Furthermore, Uberall performed an intensive reputation analysis which informed BP’s new strategy, and BP now manages its online reputation across all of its UK locations from one inbox, ensuring consistency and responsiveness.

In the ‘Near Me’ age, consumers are looking for a personalised experience amongst a sea of unknown online options. Through BP’s partnership with Uberall, even a large, multinational brand like BP is engaging with customers on a local level, and providing a compelling NMBX – through every step of the customer journey.

MAGPIE: A 100% AI-DRIVEN MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

MERKLE

To transform the way Twitter does digital marketing. We were challenged to create a cross-channel strategy that leveraged the best of Twitter – it’s high-quality, real-time conversations - to reach users off platform with relevant, personalised ads that drive both new user acquisition and increase user engagement. Taking a proof of concept developed in 2018, we built a fully realised, custom campaign management tool, Magpie, that uses bespoke AI to analyse trending topics in real-time, and curate personalised trend recommendations, delivering them as digital ads across display and search formats within 15 minutes of a trend breaking.

To achieve this, we developed several industry-first solutions to create visually coherent creative for multiple channels, with dynamic, AI-driven messaging. This allowed us to serve users personalised ads based on their interests at scale across a range of digital touch points, at scale; all with minimal human intervention.

Implementing Magpie significantly improved the performance of our digital campaign, increasing conversions by 212% year on year, with cost per conversion falling by 51%. More than this, Magpie has aligned Twitter’s marketing strategy with their core brand values of being the source of real-time news and conversions.

CROUD & PAYSAFE: DRIVING GLOBAL GROWTH

CROUD

Paysafe Group knew that users of their digital wallet brand Skill were more valuable from a lifetime value perspective if they transacted via the Skrill app, rather than using the service via their desktop or mobile sites.

The challenge to the Croud team was therefore to drive existing Skrill customers to become regular users of the service itself (sending money to family and friends, funding their digital wallet for online purchases), all via the app - and this needed to be done on a global scale. Croud’s Programmatic team formulated a holistic campaign strategy that spanned audience creation and media laydown, through to messaging refinement and creative development.

Recognising the need for a highly targeted approach, the team turned to Display and Video 360 (DV360), due to its extensive targeting capabilities. To create the assets, the Programmatic team leaned on our Croudie network for market-specific insights, as well as using Croud Create - Croud’s internal creative team - to design eye-catching ads tailored for each market, operating system, and more.

Accurate tracking was essential in measuring the success of the campaign, so Croud worked closely with Paysafe’s internal team of app developers, to establish comprehensive in-app event tracking. This meant that the user’s journey could be tracked end-to-end - from app download, to app login, to in-app transaction - all utilising the Firebase software development kit. The campaign was a huge success for Skrill, generating an ROI of over 3x by the end of the third month of the campaign, with revenues increasing by 325%.

HOW THE7STARS AND THE TRADE DESK’S AUTUMN CAMPAIGN FOR GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY SAW CUSTOMERS FALL-ING BACK IN LOVE WITH TRAIN TRAVEL

THE7STARS/THE TRADE DESK

Great Western Rail (GWR) has made significant investment into its network over the past few years, leading to a huge improvement in the travelling experience for customers.

Driving consideration for rail travel to the leisure market can be challenging, combined with the fact that autumn is typically one of the trickiest times of the year for rail companies. GWR tasked us with reaching a wide audience of leisure travellers and increasing (and improving) brand awareness, as well as filling trains across the network to capacity.

We worked collaboratively with The Trade Desk to implement a variety of strategies to deliver success for GWR, including:

1.Prospecting – targeting our core audience on a whitelist based on the behaviour of visitors to GWR’s website.

2.Finding new audiences – using AI to run powerful lookalike modelling based on the characteristics of the core audience, to extend GWR’s pool of customers to target

3.Growing geographical footprint –identify the regions where awareness of cheap train travel was low and targeting users in these locations Thanks to our smart use of programmatic technology, we exceeded the client’s benchmarks across all metrics.

MAGNET, NEEDLE & HAYSTACK: UTILISING AUDIENCE GUARANTEED TO CAPTURE AUDIENCES AND EVADE COMPETITION

OMD UK

Barclayloan is a loan product offered by Barclays, exclusively available to existing customers whose eligibility status is predetermined by Enhanced Risk Credit Assessments (ERA). As a result of the complex product eligibility criteria posed, OMD faced a number of challenges in delivering positive business impacts for Barclays through the use of programmatic display activity.

The overarching business objective for Barclays: to achieve a yearly CPA of no more than £200 for this product from paid media activity. OMD worked closely with Barclays to identify their eligible audiences, defining them clearly before developing ways to target them via programmatic display.

By connecting the client’s Data Management Platform (DMP) to our Demand Side Platform (DSP), we targeted pre-qualified audience pool via the Barclays CRM database. The approach improved efficiency significantly by reducing media wastage and allowed Barclays to re-invest budget savings to reach more of the eligible pool. However, this posed a new challenge of scale as only a limited proportion of the CRM audience data that sat within the Barclays DMP could be matched within the DSP. To address this we leveraged Google’s Audience Guaranteed (AG) product to help us achieve two goals: maximise reach against eligible audiences and gain competitive advantage versus other advertisers who may also be going after the same audiences.

The improved targeting and Audience Guaranteed strategy resulted in:

•A reduction in media wastage of 25%, and a saving of over £500k (based on Loans 2019 media budget)

•A 56% increase in incremental impressions to DMP audiences on eBay, and a 51% reduction in CPA vs programmatic auction environment

•A 17% reduction in total digital display campaign CPA versus the 2019 target •Audience engagement increased 63% YoY attributable to the implementation of dynamic creative optimisation

•A 48% reduction in CPM versus equivalent strategy run via Open Market

CROUD & FRONTIER: LAUNCHING PLANET ZOO

CROUD

In an incredibly crowded and competitive landscape, Croud were tasked with delivering an integrated launch campaign for Frontier’s latest video game, Planet Zoo. Having delivered an extremely successful launch for their Jurassic World Evolution game the previous year, the pressure was on - and made all the more challenging due to the paid media budget being just 10% of what it was for Jurassic World Evolution.

Our strategy was to build engagement via consistent and precise targeting throughout the journey. We designed sequential messaging that spoke to consumers at each stage of that process: from initial awareness, to pre-order, to purchase. Because of its reach and targeting capabilities, YouTube was at the heart of that approach, but was greatly supported by the activity outside of this environment.

Disruptive creative was key to the success of the campaign, as was taking a joined-up approach across channels. For instance, when Frontier launched out-of-home ads around King’s Cross, we used geo-fencing to re-engage with users who were likely to have seen the ads. And we also tapped into relevant offline events, such as the release of the new Lion King film, to drive maximum media efficiency.

Despite reduced paid media budgets, the Planet Zoo launch was a resounding success. By the end of the pre-order phase alone, we had driven an amazing 2.5m new users and 17.9m video views. And the cost-per-action from paid media activity was 75% lower than for Jurassic World Evolution. Thanks to an integrated launch campaign, Planet Zoo achieved a day-one PC launch record for Frontier, as well as becoming the global number one bestseller on games platform Steam.

Watch the case study video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExPZc8zMkbs

CHANGE INC. - QUIT CIGARETTES

Goodstuff & Craft

DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE GROWTH FOR SPECSAVERS

MANNING GOTTLIEB OMD

We’ve become accustomed to using data-driven dynamic creative to personalise digital experiences, but this remains rare in more traditional channels. Working with Specsavers, Manning Gottlieb OMD took proven performance principles and applied them to Digital Out of Home advertising to drive increased in-store sales.Combining complex cl...

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BT PICCADILLY LIGHTS

PUBLICIS•POKE

BT’s commitment to provide 5 million kids in the UK with the tech skills they need is a real benefit for the nation. To create awareness and build brand love, we set out to demonstrate this commitment via BT’s Skills For Tomorrow programme, and help the brand achieve its goal of reaching 5 million kids and sparking their imaginations about what they might be able to do with code.

IBM WATSON AI WIMBLEDON CAMPAIGN

DOOH.com, Kinetic Worldwide, Mindshare & Ogilvy

SCOTTISH WIDOWS YOUR FUTURE SELF

MediaCom

SKY - DEEP OCEAN LIVE

Rapport

It is widely publicised that the health of our oceans is a global concern.Sky Ocean Rescue was launched to highlight the real danger plastics are causing, and to inspire people to make small everyday changes that collectively will make a huge difference.Their latest mission was no different… They set out to explore parts of the Indian ...

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CHARLOTTE MONK-CHIPMAN

REBOUND RETURNS

Charlotte is the Marketing Director of retail logistics giant ReBOUND Returns. The business reported sales in 2019 of £16.7 million and already process 40 million returns each year for a wide range of online retailers including, Gymshark and ASOS (a founding client).

She has demonstrated a fearless approach in educating an entire industry to change the way returns are perceived, resulting in monumental client wins for the brand. Charlotte has been featured in National news outlets discussing the misconceptions surrounding serial returners and the untapped wealth of marketing potential returns hold.

CEO of ReBOUND Returns, Graham Best comments “We hired Charlotte through our graduate training scheme and I was quickly impressed by her creativity and entrepreneurial mindset.

In the years since she has played an integral role in ReBOUND’s continued growth from startup to global scaleup, building our brand from the ground up from logo design to media strategy. She has developed and grown our marketing assets to position ReBOUND as worldwide return experts, driving business leads through always-on, multichannel marketing campaigns.

At the same time, she has effectively educated an entire industry, developing research to shift retail’s mindset on returns from a pure logistics issue into an asset that can be harnessed to drive future sales.”

Charlotte has been instrumental in the shift of the returns industry, leading the way for efficient and sustainable returns strategies, positioning ReBOUND as an industry leader and voice of authority. She has enabled the brand to position itself to be an authoritative voice at the forefront of sustainable, data-driven returning through engaging educational content, industry-shaping events and bespoke client strategy.

LISA ARNOLD

STEIN IAS

Lisa Arnold’s career is taking off and Stein IAS is fortunate enough to be caught in her slipstream. Aged just 26, she’s having a profound impact on our agency, transforming processes, generating vital new insights and enhancing service delivery for clients. Lisa lives and breathes data and analytics, and she’s using this passion to drive Stein IAS to the next level.

She’s implementing cutting-edge predictive analytics across our offering. She’s revolutionizing how our Insights team create personas, incorporating digital body language to optimize budget spend and target audiences more effectively. And thanks to Lisa, we can precisely demonstrate the effectiveness of our digital output.

Playing a crucial role on innovative, award-winning campaigns while using data-driven insights to enhance the way our agency works? All in a day’s work for this Generation Z Trailblazer.

General Enquiries ‐ Tamsin Ballantyne • [email protected]

Sponsorship Opportunities ‐ James Butters • [email protected] 0208 267 8290 | 07789876194

SHAUN LOHMAN

ADGILE MEDIA

Shaun Lohman is the developer of Adgile's proprietary ICR Technology. The ambition to develop ICR was in recognition of the requirement to provide a solution to a global TV industry problem.

ICR is a self-learning content recognition technology that literally “watches” TV broadcasts and video streams 24/7. The technology employs proprietary content recognition and machine learning to identify and catalogue All advertising and brand content in real time, be it commercials or in-programme integrations.

ICR operates in high resolution with granular level content recognition down to individual products, offers and prices. This real-time granular data has never been available before for live TV, and the automation of this critical legacy medium is a game-changing technology.

ADAM SINGOLDA

TABOOLA

Adam Singolda: driving a content revolution More than 10 years ago, Adam Singolda became obsessed with discovery. Trying to watch TV and unable to find anything interesting, he hit on a simple but big idea: people shouldn’t be wasting time looking for content inspiration; content should be looking for them. Adam decided to fix this issue by building what he described as a ‘search engine in reverse.’

SARA ROBERTSOn

Xaxis

SIMON HARPER

CLINIGEN GROUP

Simon Harper is Vice President of Digital for Clinigen Group – a rapidly growing, global speciality pharmaceutical and services company. Its mission is to deliver the right medicine, to the right patient, at the right time.

What makes Clinigen Group different is the combination of its businesses. They complement each other across the lifecycle of a medicine, from clinical trial to unlicensed and licensed supply, increasing access to medicines and improving the lives of patients. Right now, the business is undergoing a major digital transformation programme. It’s rationalising complex drug product data into Oracle ERP and changing how healthcare professionals are serviced globally. Simon has been instrumental in spearheading Clinigen’s commitment to delivering a world-class customer experience through big customer-focused initiatives.

One of those was the development of Clinigen Direct which makes access to ‘hard to find medicines’ by healthcare professionals around the world quicker, easier and safer. These often life-saving medicines can be challenging to locate and transport through the complex global regulatory environment. Healthcare professionals need to find a partner they can trust to deliver and one that can guide them through the process. To that end, Clinigen have conducted primary research to shape a technology-enabled customer service platform that fully leverages their global insight.

Clinigen Direct also collates and provides data on global medicine shortages to enhance supply chain efficiency and minimise disruption. On top of this, Simon has passionately run an award campaign to recognise the vital role of the often over-looked hospital pharmacist. These pharmacists’ dedication and expertise in sourcing hard to find medicines is often life-saving. Ultimately, Simon and his team’s understanding of the requirements and pressures that these healthcare professionals face, has enabled them to develop a bespoke digital experience that delivers on real customer needs.

ESSENCE

UNIT9

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT - BATTLE OF BARON

UNIT9 AND BBH SINGAPORE

League of Legends is one of the world's most popular PC games, so when Riot Games announced the release of the mobile version of League, Wild Rift was expanding its open beta to Vietnam, Oceania, Taiwan, Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa, and Russia we knew we had to celebrate the launch with the fans and turn mobile skepti...

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MARS - TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY

MEDIACOM

Snickers launched their FA Partnership by becoming more relevant to fanatical football supporters, focussing on an untapped cultural moment in the football calendar: Transfer Deadline Day.Working with a network of highly credible football vloggers we created a fictional player, Rick Barness, and seeded a unique rumour that spread so su...

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SHEER DRIVING PLEASURE WITH BMW - SHARING CHRISTMAS CHEER DELIVERED WITH CAVAI

CAVAI

Cavai is a pioneer in the new and growing field of conversational advertising and enables brands to drive real consumer engagement using innovative ad formats to create memorable experiences. Combining technology and creativity, Cavai's unique solution facilitates engaging and scalable two-way interactions between people and brands in ...

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THE MISSION

VMLY&R

The Navy needed to recruit submariners, a job which entails working and living onboard highly classified submarines. Our challenge was to show off the thrilling nature of the job, without compromising our national security.The Mission is an interactive text-based adventure game that puts our audience in the shoes of an Australian Navy ...

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VODAFONE FINDING UNLIMITED FROM YOUR COUCH

VERIZON MEDIA

Verizon Media, Carat and The Story Lab were all set to turn the UK's city streets into a virtual augmented-reality (AR) scavenger hunt for Vodafone's release of the Samsung S20 5G. Then lockdown happened, and we quickly pivoted the game to bring it to everyone's living rooms, with the use of virtual objects with blockchain technology. ...

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THE MET UNFRAMED

UNIT9 AND VERIZON

In partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon, UNIT9 created The Met Unframed, an immersive virtual art and gaming experience, with AR enhancements powered by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband. At a time when The Met's doors were physically shut, together with Verizon, they wanted to collaborate to democratise art by bringing ...

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FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR LOCAL - VIRTUAL REDEMPTION SOLUTION

BECAUSE EXPERIENTIAL

To support Australia's pubs during lockdown, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) devised the For the Love of Your Local initiative. Aimed at generating immediate venue cashflow for bars, it encouraged purchasing 2-for-1 beer vouchers whilst their doors were closed. Additionally, we wanted patron...

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#MYHEROES: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO CELEBRATE KEY WORKERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

DOOH.COM

#MyHeroes core purpose was highlighting the selfless people in our lives - those everyday heroes who, until the pandemic hit, were perhaps taken for granted. We wanted to put a face to the people behind the institutions - to tell their story and celebrate them as individuals. The response to this collaborative concept was overwhelming,...

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LEVI'S HUMAN NATURE FW21 / XYZ

XYZ

Levi's Human Nature was Levi's first-ever virtual sales launch, showcasing their new FW21 Collection to staff, wholesale and franchise partners across Europe. The hybrid virtual experience was designed specifically to address the obstacles presented by the Covid-19 pandemic that made physical events impossible to deliver in 2020/21.The...

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MICROSOFT) XBOX: POWER YOUR DREAMS

UNIT9 AND EDELMAN

We worked with Edelman (London) to create an epic virtual launch activation as part of Xbox's 'Power Your Dreams' global campaign to showcase the highly anticipated Xbox Series X - the world's most powerful console. Microsoft wanted to host the hottest virtual gaming event of the year that paralleled the new console's incredible capabi...

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VODAFONE FINDING UNLIMITED FROM YOUR COUCH

VERIZON MEDIA

Verizon Media, Carat and The Story Lab were all set to turn the UK's city streets into a virtual augmented-reality (AR) scavenger hunt for Vodafone's release of the Samsung S20 5G. Then lockdown happened, and we quickly pivoted the game to bring it to everyone's living rooms, with the use of virtual objects with blockchain technology. ...

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ALL 4 DYNAMIC AUDIO + NOW TV

CHANNEL 4

Last year we launched Dynamic, a suite of new creative formats on All 4 which enable advertisers to run thousands of versions of data-driven creative for a single ad campaign across all of All 4's platforms, including big screen devices. Dynamic allows brands to use All 4's first party data to create bespoke targeted messages within th...

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BOOTS - WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW

MEDIACOM

Boots What the World Needs Now campaign recognised that 2020 was a year like no other, and that acts of kindness is what the UK needed most. Boots realised that many were going to face significant financial challenges over Christmas so as an act of love sweet love offered a gifting range at 10 or under. Our ambition was to surprise and...

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BOSE: LISTEN UP! DELIVERING PERSONALISED AUDIO AT SCALE

A MILLION ADS

Audio equipment specialist Bose wanted to raise awareness and drive purchase intent of its new product, QuietComfort Earbuds, across Germany in November and December 2020.The campaign needed to target a very specific audience - Escape Enthusiasts. Digital audio was the perfect medium for cutting through the advertising noise and speaki...

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KEEPING THE FLAME ALIVE FOR THE TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES

ESSENCE, ADFORM AND BANNERFLOW

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has a long-term ambition to bring the Olympics to existing and new audiences to build a better world through sport. But with the shock postponement of the highly anticipated Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to the global pandemic, the IOC was at risk of losing touch with its audience. With a new da...

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USING DYNAMIC CREATIVE TO PERSONALISE JBL TO CONSUMERS

MATTERKIND

Programmatic strategy that delivered JBL's product range of headphones, portable speakers, soundbars and smart speakers across 11 EMEA markets, ensuring that we delivered specific creative related to each product, to a relevant audience within each specific local language to each market. We also needed the campaign to allow for changes...

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VOLVO HOLISTIC DCO - MINDSHARE, GREY GOTHENBURG, XAXIS

XAXIS EMEA

Volvo Norway set their WPP agency partners, Mindshare, Xaxis, and Grey a clear target: increase the number of cost-effective conversions from their digital advertising. Leveraging proprietary AI and Dynamic Creative Optimisation, Mindshare and Xaxis created 2,358 unique display and video ads, each one tailored to suit its individual en...

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BRANDM4TCH: THE FIRST COOKIE-LESS DATA MATCHING BROADCASTER PRODUCT

CHANNEL 4

What happens when advertisers stop playing Guess Who and start targeting known customers in a broadcaster environment? In 2020, as part our Advanced Data Suite on All 4, we launched BRANDM4TCH, which for the first time enables advertisers to match their own first party data with our 24m registered users in a quick, safe and compliant m...

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(PUB) CRAWLING AMAZON FOR LAITHWAITES SUCCESS

Incubeta

ISBA & AOP PROGRAMMATIC SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY STUDY BY PWC

PWC

A truly ground-breaking study that, for the first time anywhere in the world, matched programmatic supply chain data end-to-end i.e. all the way from advertisers to publishers.PwC uncovered industry-changing insight: (i) major challenges with data access and quality; and (ii) 15% of spend disappearing into an unattributable unknown del...

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DFS - HALO-LUXE: AN UNMISSABLE CAMPAIGN

MEDIACOM

Mass-marketing or precision targeting is a question that has preoccupied our industry for over two decades. For advertisers working within finite budgets, this is a real world question on how to approach their campaigns. Our DFS Halo Luxe launch encapsulated this dilemma. Our solution was an innovation that achieved the best of both wo...

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VOLVO HOLISTIC DCO - MINDSHARE, GREY GOTHENBURG, XAXIS

XAXIS EMEA

Volvo Norway set their WPP agency partners, Mindshare, Xaxis, and Grey a clear target: increase the number of cost-effective conversions from their digital advertising. Leveraging proprietary AI and Dynamic Creative Optimisation, Mindshare and Xaxis created 2,358 unique display and video ads, each one tailored to suit its individual en...

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THE MET UNFRAMED

UNIT9 AND VERIZON

In partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon, UNIT9 created The Met Unframed, an immersive virtual art and gaming experience, with AR enhancements powered by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband. At a time when The Met's doors were physically shut, together with Verizon, they wanted to collaborate to democratise art by bringing ...

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(MICROSOFT) XBOX: POWER YOUR DREAMS

UNIT9 AND EDELMAN

We worked with Edelman (London) to create an epic virtual launch activation as part of Xbox's 'Power Your Dreams' global campaign to showcase the highly anticipated Xbox Series X - the world's most powerful console. Microsoft wanted to host the hottest virtual gaming event of the year that paralleled the new console's incredible capabi...

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CADBURY'S SECRET SANTA

VCCP

The Cadbury Secret Santa Postal Service has delighted people around the country since it first started in 2018, allowing the public to sign-up in person and send free chocolate to their loved ones. Christmas in 2020 would be different, the global pandemic meant we could not continue with an experiential pop-up, we needed a new way to d...

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EE BAFTA 5G-POWERED AR DRESS

UNIT9

At the 2020 BAFTAs, EE wanted to use its award-winning network and expansive 5G capabilities to create an exciting, fun and innovative activation that allowed film fans to be part of the action on the BAFTA red carpet.So we opened the BAFTA red carpet with the world's first 5G-powered augmented reality dress. The one-of-a-kind dress wa...

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FLY CAMPARI GROUP

SHARPEND

Global Travel Retail (GTR) has been severely impacted as a result of COVID-19, with in-store retail volumes of wines and spirits not expected to recover until it's safe to re-embrace air travel.Difficult as trading conditions are, major retail players have reaffirmed their commitment to duty free and some are even innovating. In partic...

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THE RAINWALL

GEORGE P. JOHNSON

Before hybrid was a term on trend we created a storytelling experience that used digital innovation in a physical experience and Magic Leap technology to connect and transform in virtual.The Rainwall evocatively told of Cisco's social and environmental ambition; to positively impact 1 billion lives by 2025.For an organisation that spec...

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PROTECTSET

MULLENLOWE MENA

More than 93% of kids play video games. And with the pandemic, children are spending more time in their rooms and, consequently, gaming. Uncoincidentally, reports of online sexual abuse are emerging with unprecedented frequency around the world, with some perpetrators grooming hundreds and even thousands of victims. The ProtectSet, a c...

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EE BAFTA 5G-POWERED AR DRESS

UNIT9

At the 2020 BAFTAs, EE wanted to use its award-winning network and expansive 5G capabilities to create an exciting, fun and innovative activation that allowed film fans to be part of the action on the BAFTA red carpet.So we opened the BAFTA red carpet with the world's first 5G-powered augmented reality dress. The one-of-a-kind dress wa...

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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT - BATTLE OF BARON

UNIT9 AND BBH SINGAPORE

League of Legends is one of the world's most popular PC games, so when Riot Games announced the release of the mobile version of League, Wild Rift was expanding its open beta to Vietnam, Oceania, Taiwan, Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa, and Russia we knew we had to celebrate the launch with the fans and turn mobile skepti...

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THREE'S 5G MULTI-SENSORY FASHION SHOW AND AR MODEL OF ADWOA ABOAH

PRETTYGREEN

To launch Three's 5G mobile network, Three showcased how 5G could transform the fashion show at LFW. Using its partnership with Central Saint Martins, it created the world's first muti-sensory fashion show and an AR version of supermodel Adwoa Aboah. This enabled Aboah to sit on the FROW and watch herself walk down the runway via a 5G ...

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FROM PSYCHOLOGY TO PSYCHOGRAPHIC TARGETING

GOODSTUFF

People suffering from a gambling disorder is a large and continuing issue in Great Britain. Not just for gamblers themselves; as many as 7% of adults, or 3.6 million people, report having been negatively affected by someone else's gambling. By using psychographic and app download/usage data to target those most at risk we were able to ...

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THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX

Total Media

(PUB) CRAWLING AMAZON FOR LAITHWAITES SUCCESS

Incubeta

FRONTLINE SPOTIFY FOR DOGS

OMD UK

The nation's mental health has been understandably high on everyone's agenda during lockdown, however, less consideration had been given to the impact on our canine friends. So, in a deliberately disruptive move, we decided to turn Frontline into the much-needed source of calm for newly adopted dogs, with a specially commissioned ""Paw...

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PG TIPS CUPPAS TOGETHER

MINDSHARE UK & UNILEVER

A nice cup of tea is a universal symbol of warmth and support in a crisis, a simple shared pleasure that brings us all comfort and companionship. And as the pandemic kicked in from March 2020 and people had to stay in, shield or self-isolate, the already-serious issue of loneliness took on a new urgency. PG Tips wanted to do something ...

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SPOTIFY PUMPED

WHOWOTWHY

At home workouts saw a boom during 2020 as Brits swapped the gym for their living rooms, evident on the Spotify platform with over 385,000 workout playlists created or added to in 2020. So we launched Spotify Pumped, a new fitness microsite that created free personalized HIIT workout experiences for both existing and non-Spotify users ...

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BT ENTERPRISE: MASTERING SEARCH TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES IN 2020

ESSENCE

BT Enterprise is the leading business communications provider in the UK, connecting more than 1m businesses with an extensive portfolio of communications and IT solutions, empowering companies through digital transformation. In 2020, BT Enterprise launched a campaign to support UK business owners through its extensive range of flexible...

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DLG - USING MEDIA FOR MORE THAN MARKETING

MEDIACOM

In 2020 we uncovered a costly problem for Direct Line (DL). Our own customers were being stolen from us by accident management companies (AMCs), who were hijacking our brand search. Not only were these AMCs often fraudulent and causing great distress to our customers, but they were also extremely expensive for Direct Line and eroding t...

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THE DAILY DIGITAL CONTROL CENTRE - A RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Manning Gottlieb OMD in conjunction with Topham Guerin

Covid-19 has impacted us all. From a communications standpoint, it has spanned over 14 centrally driven health marketing campaigns and 40 sub-campaigns, making it the biggest behaviour change challenge in the 100-year history of Government communications. Each campaign offered a new audience to prioritise, meaning platforms that could ...

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A SMOKIN' HOT KOL CAMPAIGN FOR WEBER

BECAUSE EXPERIENTIAL

Weber's SmokeFire is no ordinary BBQ. It's a multifunctional grilling machine that sears as well as it smokes and bakes, and impressively does everything in between! Weber wanted us to help them introduce it to the UK's home grillers. Ordinarily, this would have included live experiences that pulled people in with the sound of the sizz...

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MAC COSMETICS VIRTUAL TRY-ON

MANNING GOTTLIEB OMD

During the peak of UK lockdown (April and May 2020), MAC faced the challenge that so many other retail stores did and had to shut the doors to their physical stores. The lost opportunity for their consumers to trial products before they buy, along with the lack of their expert in-store teams to aid sales, was a massive obstacle for rev...

Read More

MARS - MALTESERS BUNNIES

MEDIACOM

Up against some pretty stiff egg-shaped competition, for Maltesers Bunnies we created a unique spin on the classic Easter hunt tradition. By launching Snapchat's first ever AR treasure hunt, we even turned humble OOH phone kiosks into bunny hunting beacons! As a result we brought 18-34 shoppers back to the Maltesers brand, and in doing...

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PITTING PUPPETS IN THE POLLS FOR BRITBOX

TOTAL MEDIA

In challenging times we knew there was an opportunity for the launch of BritBox's first original commission, Spitting Image, to ignite feelings of nostalgia and boost the mood of the nation. In a highly competitive market, we identified the ideal addressable audience to deliver an innovative and unique paid social campaign across Insta...

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YORKSHIRE TEA TOAST & JAM

GOODSTUFF

Making curious brews are Yorkshire Tea's bread and butter or should we say Toast & Jam? The number one tea brand in the UK launched a controversial new flavour into its Special Brews range and kept the naysayers on our side by championing their damning reviews as ads to drive buzz and trial. Cue a hilarious race to get the funniest twe...

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#MYHEROES: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO CELEBRATE KEY WORKERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

DOOH.COM

#MyHeroes core purpose was highlighting the selfless people in our lives - those everyday heroes who, until the pandemic hit, were perhaps taken for granted. We wanted to put a face to the people behind the institutions - to tell their story and celebrate them as individuals. The response to this collaborative concept was overwhelming ...

Read More

DFS - HALO-LUXE: AN UNMISSABLE CAMPAIGN

MEDIACOM

Mass-marketing or precision targeting is a question that has preoccupied our industry for over two decades. For advertisers working within finite budgets, this is a real world question on how to approach their campaigns. Our DFS Halo Luxe launch encapsulated this dilemma.Our solution was an innovation that achieved the best of both wor...

Read More

INTERACTIVE TOUCHLESS EXPERIENCE

OMGDOOH

In the wake of Covid-19 just as our behaviours and attitudes out of home have shifted, so have the ways in which we consume content - the changes to public safety were at the forefront of our minds when shaping our approach for Škoda's interactive campaign last summer. We partnered with Ultraleap, Talon, Clear Channel, PHD, Fallon and ...

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LEGO 'REBUILD THE WORLD': MID-AIR HAPTICS

RAPPORT

After an utterly exhausting 2020 for families, parents had lost the simple joy of seeing their children play.Yet it's only when parents see kids engaged in the process of building LEGO that they appreciate its true benefits of creativity, development and fun. So to keep LEGO at the top of wish-lists, we needed to give parents and child...

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THE WORLD'S TALLEST DONATION BOX

MULLENLOWE MENA

The World's Tallest Donation Box was launched as part of the 10 million meals campaign with aims to provide 1.2 million meals by illuminating a staggering 1.2 million lights on the facade of Burj Khalifa, in a dazzling display of the social solidarity and cohesion. The initiative enabled institutions, companies and the general public t...

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TSB - CUSTOMER DATA DELIVERS PLANNING TRANSFORMATION AND BUSINESS SUCCESS

THE7STARS

October 2020 saw TSB launch a new product, the Spend & Save premium current account. With brand health suffering from store closures (positivity towards the brand was down 61%), our campaign needed to work hard to convert those already with TSB but considering an account switch. Faced with a 61% budget cut, the simple road to efficient...

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COSTA - FIRST ONE'S ON US

MEDIACOM

This is the story of how Costa faced into the challenges of 2020 by leveraging one of their most powerful and underutilised assets their CRM data. As the nation cautiously emerged from lockdown, Costa used CRM data to inform an acquisition campaign that saw over a million people download the Costa app to take up Costa's irresistible of...

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HOW MADE.COM GREW CRM REVENUE TWICE AS QUICKLY WITH OMETRIA

OMETRIA

MADE.COM is renowned as a leader in customer experience and in taking a customer-focused approach to innovation. The marketing team champions a personalised approach to marketing communications, and as a digital-first brand, the customer journey begins and ends online. MADE.COM has a customer subscriber base of millions and needed a pa...

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NHS - COVID-19 TEST & TRACE APP - LAUNCHING A LIFE-SAVING APP IN RECORD TIME

MANNING GOTTLIEB OMD

The launch of the NHS Covid-19 app, a cornerstone of the Government's Test & Trace programme, marked a significant moment in the nation's fight against Coronavirus. With COVID-19 cases rising across the world many governments implemented contact tracing apps. Mass adoption of the UK's NHS Covid-19 App was critical to enhance its abilit...

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CROUD & THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION: POPPY APPEAL 2020

CROUD

For the Royal British Legion, the UK's largest Armed Forces charity, 2020 brought with it many challenges for the Poppy Appeal, the charity's biggest annual fundraising campaign. As the nation was urged to stay home, there were far fewer opportunities for face-to-face fundraising to take place. The brief was to deliver an integrated ca...

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BRITISH GAS - LOCAL HEROES

MEDIACOM

Brand building campaigns are not always front of mind for cost per acquisition focused clients due to the difficulty in directly attributing brand investments to last touch CPA goals. With our Local Heroes campaign, we proved that investing in brand can help to reduce last touch CPAs. Running an integrated brand campaign across Radio, ...

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MCDONALD'S I'M LOVIN IT LIVE: LIFTING THE NATIONS SPIRITS IN LOCKDOWN

OMD UK

To help end the monotony of the past year, and bring some joy to homes across the country, McDonald's in collaboration with OMD UK wanted to put on, the biggest and best music event of the year while also reaching a broad audience with the many benefits the McDonald's App has for users. We were tasked with making I'm Lovin it Live bigg...

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PROFIT HUNTER - TECH LION

GRAVITY GLOBAL

The Embraer Profit Hunter campaign by Gravity outperformed competitor aircraft manufacturers globally. Giving the brand fame in the largest markets of the US to places where the brand has little awareness like Kazakhstan and successfully selling to these markets. In Kazakhstan the airline requested the campaign is reproduced on the nos...

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DORITOS AR QUEST

VERIZON MEDIA

Agency: PepsiCo and Playstation

PlayStation is known for its four iconic shapes: Square, Cross, Circle and Triangle. And the triangle is also Doritos signature shape. But what if you found Doritos in other shapes? In the build-up to the launch of the PlayStation 5, Verizon Media and OMD worked with Doritos to extend their on-pack PS5 partnership and target the gaming...

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COCA-COLA - APPRECIATING LOCALS

MEDIACOM

When COVID hit, Coca-Cola halted their advertising spend for the longest period in their history. 121 days later, the challenge was to re-establish Coke in the minds of the nation. As COVID surged, so did people's support for local businesses. So, when Coke came back to market, rather than just talk about themselves, Coke showcased the...

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FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR LOCAL - VIRTUAL REDEMPTION LOCATION-BASED CAMPAIGN

BECAUSE EXPERIENTIAL

Like most industries globally during the lockdown, the pub industry in Australia was hit heavily, and many of the pub owners were placed under immense financial pressure. To help remedy this, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) partnered to create the For the Love of Your Local initiative. Aimed...

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GOING THE EXTRA MILE: HOW FREE NOW DELIVERED LONDONERS FROM COMMUTER HELL

FREE NOW, THE TRADE DESK AND THE7STARS

We've all been there: it's 5pm, you're leaving the high street after another successful day of (essential) retail therapy, ready to head back to a home cooked meal but the dreaded TfL announcement strikes severe delays on the central line. Coming to the rescue, The Trade Desk, The7Stars and FREE NOW enter, with a location-based awarene...

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IN-STORE BOOKING APPOINTMENTS FOR SPECSAVERS UK VIA DISPLAY

AD-LIB.IO

After the first national lockdown of 2020, by late summer, the UK was finally getting back to normal; many largely brick & mortar businesses had taken a hit in the first half of the year and there was a clear drive across all sectors to get people back on the high street.Specsavers has always been an agile company, and responded quickl...

Read More

MARS - MALTESERS BUNNIES

MEDIACOM

Up against some pretty stiff egg-shaped competition, for Maltesers Bunnies we created a unique spin on the classic Easter hunt tradition. By launching Snapchat's first ever AR treasure hunt, we even turned humble OOH phone kiosks into bunny hunting beacons! As a result we brought 18-34 shoppers back to the Maltesers brand, and in doing...

Read More

VOLVO HOLISTIC DCO - MINDSHARE, GREY GOTHENBURG, XAXIS

XAXIS EMEA

Volvo Norway set their WPP agency partners, Mindshare, Xaxis, and Grey a clear target: increase the number of cost-effective conversions from their digital advertising. Leveraging proprietary AI and Dynamic Creative Optimisation, Mindshare and Xaxis created 2,358 unique display and video ads, each one tailored to suit its individual en...

Read More

EXPANDING HI-TECH HOTEL BRAND AWARENESS IN DIGITAL CHINA

ICLICK INTERACTIVE ASIA GROUP LIMITED

With outbound tourism from China growing significantly over the past few years, many hotel clients would like to capture this huge opportunity to benefit from the surge in Chinese visitors to UK. In today's mobile-led era, W London Hotel needed a partner to help them to successfully engage with Chinese travellers and what they lacked w...

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KEREL COOPER

CRENSHAW COMMUNICATIONS

Kerel Cooper is Chief Marketing Officer at LiveIntent, one of Business Insider’s hottest adtech companies two years in a row (2019, 2020). Kerel has emerged as a respected thought leader in the digital advertising industry, offering expert commentary in the media and at industry conferences like 3 Percent Movement, AfroTech World, Blac...

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PROJJOL BANERJEA

ZeoTap

Projjol Banerjea is an international entrepreneur, startup advisor, and angel investor. As founder and Chief Product Officer of award-winning customer intelligence platform Zeotap, Projjol shapes the company's strategic vision and drives execution, rapidly accelerating it to the forefront of the martech space.

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ANDREW CASALE

INDEX EXCHANGE

As President and CEO of Index Exchange, Andrew leads the brightest minds in advertising technology across the U.S., Canada, Europe and APAC. With a sharp focus on delivering benefits to media companies like The New York Times, Hearst, Daily Mail and Conde Nast as they tackle the world of automation, he's built Index Exchange as one of ...

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KELLY KOKONAS

STARCOM

When Starcom's global clients are grappling with the complexities of data strategy, they turn to Kelly Kokonas, Executive Vice President of Global Data Strategy and the media agency's very own technology pioneer. Through direct client engagement, agency leadership and talent development, Kelly has chartered new paths, harnessing the po...

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SHAUN ZACHARIA

TRIPLELIFT

Shaun Zacharia is a pioneer in programmatic advertising. Over the last nine years, his vision, persistence and technical savvy have been the main ingredients in launching Native advertising for the open web, steering his company to exponential growth and creating an entirely new ad medium that bridges television and online media. He ha...

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ADCOUNCIL: SHE CAN STEM

UNIT9 AND HEAT

The Ad Council's ongoing She Can STEM campaign aims to encourage young girls to pursue their interests in science, technology, engineering and math. STEM gets a tough rep for being cold, calculated and reserved for those who have a knack for it. To counteract these misconceptions, the Ad Council and Deloitte's Digital Heat wanted to sh...

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THE MET UNFRAMED

UNIT9 AND VERIZON

In partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon, UNIT9 created The Met Unframed, an immersive virtual art and gaming experience, with AR enhancements powered by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband. At a time when The Met's doors were physically shut, together with Verizon, they wanted to collaborate to democratise art by bringing ...

Read More

THE WORLD'S TALLEST DONATION BOX

MULLENLOWE MENA FZ

The World's Tallest Donation Box was launched as part of the 10 million meals campaign with aims to provide 1.2 million meals by illuminating a staggering 1.2 million lights on the facade of Burj Khalifa, in a dazzling display of the social solidarity and cohesion. The initiative enabled institutions, companies and the general public t...

Read More

THREE'S 5G MULTI-SENSORY FASHION SHOW AND AR MODEL OF ADWOA ABOAH

PRETTYGREEN

To launch Three's 5G mobile network, Three showcased how 5G could transform the fashion show at LFW. Using its partnership with Central Saint Martin's, it created the world's first muti-sensory fashion show and an AR version of supermodel Adwoa Aboah. This enabled Aboah to sit on the FROW and watch herself walk down the runway via a 5G...

Read More

FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR LOCAL - A VIRTUAL REDEMPTION SYSTEM FOR A CAMPAIGN WORTH RAISING A GLASS TO

BECAUSE EXPERIENTIAL

To support Australia's pubs during lockdown, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) devised the For the Love of Your Local campaign. Aimed at generating immediate venue cashflow for bars, it encouraged purchasing 2-for-1 beer vouchers whilst their doors were closed. Additionally, we wanted patrons ...

Read More

OPEN LIKE NEVER BEFORE

AD-LIB.IO

Coca-Cola and Ad-Lib worked together to enable 000s of local businesses to run tailored ads and Open Like Never Before. As countries started coming out of COVID lockdowns, Coca-Cola launched its new platform Open Like Never Before to offer multiple means of support to Hotel, Restaurant and Caf partners during the re-opening phase. This...

Read More

(MICROSOFT) XBOX: POWER YOUR DREAMS

UNIT9 AND EDELMAN

We worked with Edelman (London) to create an epic virtual launch activation as part of Xbox's 'Power Your Dreams' global campaign to showcase the highly anticipated Xbox Series X - the world's most powerful console. Microsoft wanted to host the hottest virtual gaming event of the year that paralleled the new console's incredible capabi...

Read More

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT - BATTLE OF BARON

UNIT9 and BBH Singapore

League of Legends is one of the world's most popular PC games, so when Riot Games announced the release of the mobile version of League, Wild Rift was expanding its open beta to Vietnam, Oceania, Taiwan, Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa, and Russia we knew we had to celebrate the launch with the fans and turn mobile skepti...

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DRIVING SALES AND FOOTFALL TO NESPRESSO STORES VIA PROGRAMMATIC OOH

VIOOH & STOREBOOST

Nespresso wanted to resolve the issue of stabilising their Westfield London in-store visitors throughout the day, where they would see peaks and troughs with no way of being able to predict the patterns, as well as generally increase sales of their products by promoting them to visitors of the malls. Using JCDecaux screens within the m...

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(PUB) CRAWLING AMAZON FOR LAITHWAITES SUCCESS

Incubeta

BIGUP.AI

ANALOGFOLK

When we read research saying women are four times more likely to shrink their successes through language, and so perpetrate negative outcomes such as missing out on promotions, we took action. As most were cutting back, we invested in a world-first AI tool BigUp.AI that helps women self-promote with confidence. Launched on IWD, it uses...

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THE WORLD'S TALLEST DONATION BOX

MULLENLOWE MENA

The World's Tallest Donation Box was launched as part of the 10 million meals campaign with aims to provide 1.2 million meals by illuminating a staggering 1.2 million lights on the facade of Burj Khalifa, in a dazzling display of the social solidarity and cohesion. The initiative enabled institutions, companies and the general public t...

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BLOCKDOWN SIMULATOR

AKQA INC.

When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, the most dangerous outbreak was that of misinformation. While it was clear that social distancing slowed the spread of the virus, the way this data was presented was often hard to understand. So we built a map where players could simulate a zombie outbreak in a medieval village, before applying soc...

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PROTECTSET

MULLENLOWE MENA

More than 93% of kids play video games. And with the pandemic, children are spending more time in their rooms and, consequently, gaming. Uncoincidentally, reports of online sexual abuse are emerging with unprecedented frequency around the world, with some perpetrators grooming hundreds and even thousands of victims. The ProtectSet, a c...

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REFUGE NATIONAL DOMESTIC ABUSE HELPLINE WEBSITE

WUNDERMAN THOMPSON UK

With 1.6 million women having experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2019 and a devastating two women a week reportedly killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales alone, domestic abuse is one of the biggest issues facing women and children in the UK. Refuge knows this only too well. They run the 24-hour Nat...

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AD-LIB.IO IS CURRENTLY THE START-UP TECH PARTNER OF CHOICE FOR 10 OF THE 30 LARGEST GLOBAL BRANDS

Ad-Lib.io

BOLDSPACE - START-UP OF THE YEAR

Boldspace

EGOLI MEDIA AUTOMATED CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Egoli Media

72 WAYS TO THANK THE NHS

Boldspace

UNIT9

UNIT9