This year we celebrate our 21st anniversary. To mark the occasion we’ve selected 21 pieces of our award-winning work. Vote for your favourite by October 13th and you could win a bottle of Glenfiddich – another award-winning 21 year old. You can only vote once. But you’ll need to enter your details before your choice is confirmed.
Good luck and enjoy.
ProjectScotland offers 16 to 30 year olds structured volunteering placements for three months all across Scotland. We didn’t want ProjectScotland to look or sound like any other volunteering charity. It needed to be young, funny and irreverent to chime with its audience and surpass expectations. Yes and yes.
Stand out from the crowd. That’s what Jura whisky needed to do in 2013. No small feat when you’re bottle to bottle with big names on the supermarket shelf. Luckily, it’s not every day a distillery goes bust, reopens against the odds, and rebuilds an island. So we told this story. With beautiful animation. And an authentic voice. Filling glasses around the world. Increasing sales by 52%. And firmly placing Jura in a world of its own.
As the old century came to an end ScotRail introduced their every 15 minutes service between Edinburgh and Glasgow. We created a campaign that played on the new closeness that existed between the two and suggested (deep breath) they aren’t that different after all.
‘Just a penny chew then, mister’ This commercial from the 2001 launch campaign struck a chord with audiences all over the country. Voted one of Scotland’s funniest ads and most quotable, it was accompanied by en equally endearing companion piece called ‘Lavvy heid’. But is it worthy of your vote?
We worked with the Baxters Food Group for over a decade, helping to market the famous Scottish family business’ range of soup, sauce and pickle products. This idea for their sponsorship of the Loch Ness Marathon featured on everything from t-shirts to vinyls and has become somewhat iconic over the years.
The challenge was to create a simple but visually striking campaign to relaunch the new series and help reposition Taggart, a long-running television institution, as the granddaddy of all police shows. With a 35% increase in viewing figures we succeeded in bringing it back with a bloody bang.
In the days before Creative Scotland, Scottish Screen was the national body responsible for archiving and film promotion in Scotland. We created a series of films to both explain and dramatise the organisation’s activities. ‘2001’ was made with Stanley Kubrick’s approval the year before he died.
With over 5,000 house fires a year in Scotland, the need to fit smoke alarms is as great as ever. It’s not something we should ever be complacent about. This online film for the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service dramatises that point as simply and starkly as possible.
This campaign for STV promoted their late night, live broadcasts of the 2014 World Cup. Stay up and you’ll keep up. Perfect for those who don’t know their Huntelaars from their Albas.
This small space press ad was more than a little provocative. It jabbed ever so gently at all those who through complacency or apathy refuse to install smoke alarms to protect themselves and their families. Rather than encourage or persuade it adopted a disinterested tone to reflect that of the audience.
Matthew Algie supplies 4,000 leading independent and branded coffee shops. They needed a little brand refreshment. We couldn’t help but notice their obsession for producing the best cup of coffee, every time. Something our new brand identity captured perfectly.
In 2008 over 70% of Scots were not on the Organ Donor Register. So we were tasked by the Scottish Government with developing a new campaign to highlight the fact that there was no middle ground. The choice people had to make was ultimately black and white. A provocative approach that led to a 242% uplift in response.
Most road accidents on country roads are caused by young male drivers. Often they’ll be with their pals and the car will be full of noise and distractions. It’s what’s happening inside the car that can lead to an accident – an insight we brought to life in this one-shot cinema commercial.
This brand identity was created to launch Digital World, an initiative designed to raise the profile of digital skills and combat the growing skills shortage that Scotland’s booming digital sector faced. To reflect an ever-changing industry the identity was fluid, flexible and endless.
There’s nothing worse (or more dangerous) than undercooked chicken. So Food Standards Scotland asked us to develop a high impact Summer BBQ campaign to highlight the perils of pink chicken. And to make it engaging and memorable we employed a pink chicken. Called Andrew. And occasionally Ross.
VisitScotland briefed us to create its first-ever global communications campaign to promote Scotland in the UK, Canada, US, France, Germany and Australia. A series of online films introduced potential visitors to the rich and varied people of Scotland. Here you can vote for the launch film that kicked it all off.
It used to be microsites and Apps, now it’s AR and VR. But with any new piece of technology employing it in a creative, unexpected way is what earns you standout and impact. This slice of experiential for Road Safety Scotland presents itself as a typical VR experience. It’s anything but.
Sterling is Scotland’s largest furniture retailer, with nine stores up and down the land. Consequently, as you might expect, they sell a lot of sofas. And there’s no question that a nice comfy Sterling sofa is the best place to watch TV, especially for those key edge-of-your-seat sporting moments.
Everyone knows Staples sell, well, staples. And pens. And office supplies. But what didn’t immediately spring to mind was the great customer service. So we created a campaign that championed Staples’ friendly staff as your partners for the office. Here to help you succeed. And pick out the right ink cartridge without a fuss. Staff are so helpful you can’t thank them enough. And you always leave the store thinking – that was easy.
Small but perfectly formed. There’s not much to say about this than it’s a delicious visual meeting of mouthwatering product shot and vertically challenged sportsman. All executed with the typical irreverence that was John Smith’s hallmark at the time.
To recruit much needed new panel members we created a stark and thought-provoking campaign that demonstrated the vital role people could play in protecting a helpless child. You could stand and watch or you could come between the child and the danger facing them. Your choice.
Edinburgh
UNION HOUSE
18 INVERLEITH TERRACE
EH3 5NS
T: +44 131 625 6000
1. By submitting an entry to this Promotion, entrants agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
2. Entry instructions form part of these Terms and Conditions. Entries submitted with incomplete information, or found to contain invalid information, shall be deemed invalid entries.
3. Entry is open to residents of the United Kingdom aged 18 and over. Employees of The Union or the companies associated with the promotion are permitted to enter the promotion.
4. To enter, participants must provide their name, email address and chosen campaign to a data capture form through The Union’s promotional website.
5. The promotion period is as follows: The promotion commences 27 September 2017 and closes on 13 October 2017.
6. Participants can only submit one entry per person in the promotion period. No late entries will be accepted.
7. The winner will be selected by means of a random draw.
8. The Winner will be notified of the fact that they have won within 30 days of the draw by email They will then be asked to supply details for delivery of their prize. Prizes shall be delivered within 30 days of the Closing Date.
9. The Promoter will use reasonable endeavours to contact the Winner using the contact details supplied upon entry to the Promotion. If a Winner does not respond within 3 calendar months of the first notification, then that individual forfeits the right to claim the prize and the Promoter is free to nominate another winner.
10. The Promoter reserves the right to cancel, amend, terminate or temporarily suspend this Promotion at any time with no liability to any entrant or any third party.
11. The following prize is available to be won: one bottle of 21-year-old whisky.
12. No cash or alternative prizes are available, with the exception that in the event of circumstances outside of its control, The Union reserves the right to award a similar prize of equal or greater value.
13. If for any reason any aspect of the Promotion does not function correctly, whether by means of infection by computer virus, network failure, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any cause beyond the control of the Promoter that corrupts or affects the administration, integrity or fairness of the Promotion, then the Promoter may at its sole discretion cancel, modify or suspend the Promotion and/or invalidate affected entries.
14. The Promoter and its associated agencies and companies accept no liability for any loss, expense or damage which is suffered or sustained (whether or not arising from any person’s negligence) in connection with the Promotion and/or prizes, other than such liability that cannot be excluded by law including death or personal injury caused by negligence, where liability shall be limited to the minimum permissible by law.
15. There are reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a breach of these Terms and Conditions by an entrant, The Promoter may, at its sole discretion invalidate the relevant entry and disqualify the entrant from the Promotion, irrespective of the stage in the Promotion reached.
16. The Promoter’s decision in all matters relating to the Promotion is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
17. The Union reserve the right to publish the winner’s name in any draw post publicly.
18. Internet access is required for participation.
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21. The Promoter is The Union Advertising Agency Ltd, Union House, 18 Inverleith Terrace, Edinburgh, EH3 5NS.
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