2019 has been a good year for us.
So, as we close out the decade, we thought that it’d be more fun to reflect on all the positive things we’ve been doing. From welcoming ambitious interns in April to sleeping through November, it’s safe to say we’ve been pretty busy. And, despite the ongoing curate’s egg in politics, economics and global governance, we feel pretty optimistic about the future.
Winter:
The start of 2019 saw a year of new beginnings.
We kicked off the year by helping a major client pivot their traditional ‘push’ marketing to 21st century engagement. We pioneered ‘reverse IP’ targeting for sophistcated Account Based Marketing (ABM) coupled with highly targeted, response-driven landing pages. We created almost 100 in-depth ‘thought leadership’ pieces on global industry trends and sustainability. As a result, we found ourselves finalists in a global marketing awards in New York, only to be narrowly beaten by IBM. (But, as the saying goes, ‘no-one ever got sacked for choosing IBM’.)
We brightened up the dark months too with some bold new screenprints by Rude. Inspirational typography and jazzy graphics make Mondays a little less blue.
Wrapping up the winter months, we helped to spread some charitable warmth with our creative partnership with Edinburgh Business Beats Cancer. In our own creative lab, we cooked up a new concept for charity event. Our animation merged a champagne flute with test tube to highlight why businesses get together to support Cancer Research in Edinburgh. Fantastically, the event smashed the projected £35,000 donation target – a massive £70,000 was raised! With Lou now a board member, we can’t wait to start prepping for the Business Beats Cancer Dinner in Edinburgh in 2020.>
Spring:
Spring saw the awards season blossom for our team.
We won the UK Marketing for Scottish Water’s campaign Your Water Your Life. We couldn’t be more proud of our work on this inspirational campaign. We also supported the NODs which champions Scottish creative talent.
We took pride in designing a spectacular rainbow bottle for Scottish Water to celebrate Pride Day. Highlighting the fact that all of us – regardless of race, gender or sexuality – are all 60% water.
We welcomed a few talented interns into our studio, to give them a taste of ad agency life. Alex joined us as a resident student designer and blessed us with a fabulous array of denim jackets.Kit brought his own student genius and a marvellous mop of hair! We wish them both every success in the future and can’t wait to help nurture new talent in the coming year.
Summer:
Apparently, school wasn’t out for summer.
Our inhouse sustainability expert Andras completed his Business Sustainability Management course at Cambridge University! The man’s a genius. Adding to his list of academic achievements, Andras exemplified a commitment to sustainability and the environment on a daily basis by turning down the office heating. Jumpers all round!
In keeping with the academic angle, we played a creative part in welcoming over 4000 new students from across the globe to UCL’s new hall of residence. To make sure each and every student felt welcomed, we created environmental branding that spoke to the new student body. The internal branding included a partnership with WWF which decked the halls with elegant prints of endangered animals.
Our creativity didn’t go unnoticed. Student satisfaction grew by 18%. We also helped UCL to scoop four industry body awards in the process!
Autumn:
Autumn saw us introduce two more creatives to our growing team. Talented designer and ex-vet Natalie started in September. A week or so later, copywriting and coffee-drinking Jess also joined the AlwaysBe team. It didn’t take them long to find their feet, and they are already supporting key projects that are going to make a lot of noise in the new year.
In November we got a little bit dreamy, as we hosted our ‘Sleep Well, Dream Big’ event. The aim was to inspire marketing people to wake up to the importance of round the clock wellbeing. Guest speaker Dr Lizzie Hill was brilliant. She gave a fascinating talk about the science of sleep. Alongside a couple of ‘star treatment’ cocktails and tasty vegan doughnuts the afternoon was a huge hit!
And finally,
We we’re able to bring the year to a close with a win for Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the year and a second UK Award for Content Marketing!
Not bad for our third year in the game.
Here’s to 2020 – let’s hope you’ll be as contented as we are 💪
