Former Havas London CEO launches Juju Studio with backing from Untold
James Fox, former CEO of Havas London, Augusto Sola, former creative partner at Lucky Generals New York, and Imali Hettiarachchi, former strategy lead at The LEGO Group, have launched Juju Studio, an independent creative company in London.
The company is built around a “creative residency” model, in which client brands work directly with the three partners on business and consumer challenges. The partners are shareholders, and the business is backed by South American network Untold, founded by executive chairman Dario Straschnoy.
Fox is partner and CEO, Hettiarachchi is partner and chief strategy officer, and Sola is partner and chief creative officer. Fox spent almost eight years at Lucky Generals, where he opened and ran the US office. Hettiarachchi spent five years at LEGO, after strategy roles at BBH London, adam&eveDDB and Pablo. Sola co-founded 101 London and opened Lucky Generals’ New York office in 2019.
Post Office campaign promotes cash deposits for small businesses
Post Office has launched a UK-wide campaign, created by Bray Leino, encouraging small businesses to deposit cash takings at their local branch.
Running under the line “Post Office has your bank”, the campaign includes a film contrasting the rush of a trader paying in cash with a coffee shop owner who deposits at her local branch. Video-on-demand activity began on 4 November, following audio, out-of-home and social activity in October, and media runs from October 2026 to March 2027. Cash deposits are available at more than 10,500 locations, through work with more than 23 UK banks.
Carat handles media strategy and buying. Fellow MISSION Group agency Speed Communications is delivering two PR campaigns on the time small business owners can lose to cash admin. The work follows a TV campaign for Post Office parcels, launched on 2 November.
Only 10% trust ‘finfluencers’ enough to act on advice, dentsu research finds
Research from dentsu shows that 68% of UK consumers who saw financial influencer content on TikTok took some form of action, but only 10% trust such creators enough to act on what they say.
The firm’s Consumer Navigator Report found that 49% of consumers had come across “finfluencer” content on TikTok in the past year. Of those, 20% acted directly, for example by clicking a link or scanning a QR code, and 15% took no action. A third (34%) verify the information elsewhere before acting, while 34% use the content only for ideas.
The report also found that 45% of consumers use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude at least monthly for financial information. When AI presents similar offers, 28% said familiarity with a provider, or seeing it as established or trustworthy, would have the greatest influence on their decision.
The findings are based on a survey of 2,000 UK adults, carried out by Toluna for dentsu between 16 and 22 September 2026. Respondents had considered, bought, renewed, switched or changed a financial product in the previous 12 months.
Morrisons Christmas campaign reimagines Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Morrisons has launched its Christmas campaign, created by Leo UK and built around a 90-second film that reimagines Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The campaign line is “Christmas Made Just Right”.
The film debuted on 9 November on channels including ITV, Channel 4, Five and Sky. It follows Daddy Bear as he shops at Morrisons Market Street ahead of Baby Bear bringing a new girlfriend, Goldilocks, home for Christmas. It features Morrisons bakers, butchers, fishmongers and deli colleagues, and was directed by Nick Ball, with the three bears created as animatronic characters.
Teaser activity featuring bear sightings ran in Leeds and Bradford, alongside a week-long Baby Bear Instagram takeover and out-of-home work. Morrisons will also take over a full ad break during Gogglebox on 20 November. Zenith leads media strategy, planning and buying, Fabric led organic social, MSL led the teaser activity and MJZ led production.
Morrisons is also selling a bear plush toy, with 50p from each sale donated to Marie Curie.
Former Berkeley COO launches research agency Now or Never Insights
Paul Stallard, former chief operating officer of Berkeley Communications, has launched Now or Never Insights, an independent research agency with offices in Stockbridge, Hampshire, and Manhattan.
Stallard, who is managing director, spent the past two years in New York overseeing Berkeley’s US, Australian and German offices and its international network. He also oversaw Berkeley’s sister agency, Arlington Research.
The agency provides quantitative and qualitative research, from consumer and B2B surveys to thought leadership reports, for PR, communications, marketing and creative agencies and for brands directly. It aims to help clients produce research that earns coverage and is cited by AI tools, and has run projects in the UK, US and other markets during a beta phase. Prices are published on its website.
musicMagpie appoints No Brainer for Digital PR
musicMagpie has appointed North West-based Search + Discovery agency No Brainer to lead its Digital PR strategy.
No Brainer will deliver campaigns and always-on activity, focused on building musicMagpie’s visibility across the ways consumers find and research brands online, including search, AI and social media.
Founded in 2007, musicMagpie buys and sells refurbished consumer technology and media. The Stockport-based business was acquired by AO in 2024.
Mollie’s appoints CEEK for social, content and paid media
Mollie’s has appointed London-based agency CEEK to lead social media, content, creator marketing and paid media across Mollie’s Motels, Mollie’s Hotel and Studio IV. The appointment follows a competitive pitch.
Mollie’s has motels in Oxford and Bristol, and opened its first city-centre hotel in Manchester last year. The hotel includes Studio IV, a basement cocktail bar and live music venue.
CEEK’s brief is to increase awareness of the brand. The agency is developing a social-first strategy covering Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, alongside creator partnerships and paid activity on Meta, Google and TikTok, with performance data feeding back into creative.
Extramile Digital moves to employee ownership
Staffordshire digital marketing agency Extramile Digital has transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), effective from early November 2026.
The trust holds the company’s shares on behalf of employees, who become beneficiaries. Staff will have more transparency on business performance and may receive annual profit-share bonuses where profits allow. The trust will be overseen by a five-member board.
Based in Stone, the agency said the owners wanted a long-term succession plan that preserved its independence and culture. The existing executive leadership team will continue to run the business, and client relationships and day-to-day service will remain unchanged.
Tribera designs Costa Coffee’s 2026 Christmas cups
Costa Coffee has unveiled its 2026 Christmas cup collection, designed for the second year running by Birmingham-based creative agency Tribera. The cups will be in UK stores and selected international markets this festive season.
The three designs show a Christmas market with a big wheel and a Costa store at its centre, a snowy alpine village with cable cars and a sledge, and a city square with fireworks and a Costa van. Shared details include ribbon-tied trees, winding paths and coffee steam made of beans and hearts rising from chimneys.
Costa’s brief asked for a design built around togetherness and connection. A team of four at Tribera began work in the spring and spent six months on development. Early ideas such as a river and bridge and an ice rink were replaced to leave more room for people in each scene.
Production limits included a maximum of seven colours. A specialist artworker adapted the illustrations to a curved cutter guide for print.
Barclays launches ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ campaign with VCCP
Barclays UK has launched a brand campaign, ‘We’ve Got Your Back’, created with agency VCCP. It is the latest instalment of the ‘Backing Your Future’ platform that Barclays launched globally earlier this year.
The first film, ‘Fraudsters’, is a 30-second spot directed by Ninian Doff through Reset UK, with VCCP’s content studio Girl&Bear. Mime artists mirror people in everyday scenes, while one woman remains unaffected. The film says Barclays can detect fraud in under a second, and Barclays cites figures showing fraud accounts for around 46% of crime against individuals and households in England and Wales, with incidents up 11% in the latest year.
The campaign runs across TV, social, out-of-home, digital out-of-home, radio, cinema and in-branch from 12 November. A second chapter launches on 20 November, with three further films to follow. OMD handles media strategy, planning and buying, and Born Social is running a social campaign on TikTok, Meta and YouTube that includes creators.
West Brom Building Society appoints two Birmingham agencies
West Brom Building Society has appointed two Birmingham-based agencies to handle creative and strategic media activity for the rest of 2026 and into 2027.
One Black Bear will lead brand strategy and creative, while independent media agency BBJ&K will lead media strategy, planning and buying.
The society will work with both agencies on integrated campaigns intended to strengthen its brand, engage new audiences and support growth. It is the UK’s eighth largest building society and was founded in 1849.
