Cadbury Dairy Milk has launched ‘It could only be… Cadbury Dairy Milk,’ an integrated campaign developed by creative agency of record, VCCP, that aims to celebrate the taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk. At the heart of the campaign is a 15” film which shows a Cadbury Dairy Milk chunk melt in slow motion. The campaign has launched in the UK across online video, YouTube, social media, out-of-home, radio, and print. The out-of-home executions are spearheaded by a Piccadilly Lights takeover featuring a 40” film of the chunk melting. This will play every 10 minutes until 1 June 2025. An immersive 3D soundscape will also accompany the campaign in the UK, running across Spotify, Global Radio and Octave. And the podcast ‘Off Menu’ will run personalised sponsored content during its ad breaks. VCCP’s content creation studio Girl&Bear worked with Director Dan Tobin Smith and Time Based Arts on the visual elements of the campaign. Media planning and buying was led by Publicis Media.
Publicis Groupe has announced the acquisition of influencer marketing platform Captiv8. Publicis will combine Captiv8’s reach, proprietary technology, and social commerce capabilities with Influential’s scale and client services, powered by Epsilon’s identity and activation technology. Captiv8 will be positioned within Publicis Connected Media and integrated with Influential to power Publicis Groupe’s global Influencer offering worldwide.
Boost Drinks – part of AG Barr – is launching a mass participation challenge on Strava as part of a new media campaign planned by independent agency the7stars. The campaign, centred around a challenge dubbed ‘The Boost Sport 5k,’ encourages Strava users to take on an achievable fitness goal – and rewards them for doing so. Participants who complete the challenge between 31 May and 8 June will earn a Boost badge on the app and be entered into a prize draw to win a year’s supply of Boost Sport and branded merchandise. Boost has also sponsored two location-based segments on Strava: Belfast – Ormeau Parkrun and Blackfriars to Millennium Bridge – Cross Bridges Run. Both segments run from 31 May to 30 June and also offer digital badges and prizes. The wider campaign, which is being supported by 72 micro-influencers across social platforms, will run across cinema, out-of-home, vinyl bus wraps, and electric taxi wraps in London, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
Hovis has launched a new brand platform and campaign with its creative agency of record, VCCP. The new brand platform ‘Strength Baked In’ celebrates Hovis’ roots and marks a return to the values first baked into the brand, which started mass production in Macclesfield in 1886. The campaign centres around a film – directed by Zak Razvi and produced by VCCP’s content creation studio Girl&Bear. The 40” hero spot traces a cinematic path through Hovis’ ‘ghost signs’, still visible on brick walls across towns like Stockport and Preston. It culminates in the paining of a new Hovis mural, watched by a boy who offers the painter a slice of toast. In addition to the campaign film, VCCP commissioned an original piece of research from Vice journalist Clive Martin exploring strength in modern Britain. This research laid the foundation for the campaign strategy. The campaign is running across TV, social, digital, and in-store.
Strategy and creative agency VSA Partners has launched Design4Better, a new initiative that reimagines creative brand designs not just for clients or pitches, but simply for the joy of design. The site features speculative logo redesigns of classic brands and experiences such as Delta Air Lines, SoccerBible and Dick’s Sporting Goods – each one created without a brief. The goal is to continually explore and rethink what branding could be if designers follow their instincts rather than a brief. Visitors can explore the gallery of conceptual redesigns and submit redesign requests.
Performance marketing agency All Response Media has announced the winner of its TV Stars 2025 advertising competition. In January, 60 UK startups entered the competition in a bid to win £50,000 worth of fully-funded advertising, with fully managed and optimised airtime from All Response Media and free creative production to craft a 30-second TV ad. 10 finalists were selected to take part in face-to-face pitches to a panel of experts and, in the end, Wype – which sells eco-friendly wet wipe alternatives – emerged as the winner. The competition was backed by partners at UKTN, Founders Factory, Transmission, Astus Group, and Sky Media.
