Ed Burgess, Creative Lead at The Wild,&nbsp;thinks that using humour to gently prod your rivals is an underused tactic and that, if you get it right, both kudos and commercial success could be yours.&nbsp;
There hasn&rsquo;t been much messing around in advertising lately, for understandable reasons. Who wants to risk making a joke at a time like this?&nbsp;
But,&nbsp;contrary to what we might think, people need and want humour during tough times. It provides light relief and brings us closer together.&nbsp;But when there&rsquo;s (rightly) so much subject matter that is off the table, who or what is there to laugh at?&nbsp;Your rivals, that&rsquo;s who.&nbsp;
Because, when you&rsquo;re not sure where to aim your jokes, well-known large corporations provide safe targets that broadly sit outside of the realms of public outrage. So, perhaps it&rsquo;s time for the renaissance of a style of advertising that, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-mcdonalds-whopper-deal-results-2019-1?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unless you&rsquo;re Burger King</a>, has been somewhat neglected: the rival poke.&nbsp;
<img title="screenshot-2022-04-26-at-17.05.07.jpg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/s1MfFPfKgEzMtLNaoOSjdL1GloUSSLuQZIjfAq9D.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />
Above: Lidl used John Lewis's Christmas campaign to engineer a targeted campaign of its own.
We&rsquo;re not talking about the brand on brand love-in of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/controversial_breakfast_tweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heinz Beanz and Weetabix</a> variety, we&rsquo;re talking about the call your lawyers and grab your pitchforks fun feuds that get people eagerly awaiting your next move. But, even when you&rsquo;re doing something as crazy as poking the bear, there are still some rules to follow so that you don&rsquo;t get hurt.
<h3>Be relevant</h3>
No one cares what your brand has to say. Perhaps even less so when you&rsquo;re targeting another brand. So, to land the punch, it has got to be relevant. If there&rsquo;s a certain way your target audience views an issue, or a cultural moment that you can have an opinion on, lean into it.
Masters of the art Lidl did it in 2018 when the John Lewis Christmas ad featured Elton John&rsquo;s journey from child to superstar. Shortly after the ad aired,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/lidl-pokes-fun-at-2018-john-lewis-ad-by-trolling-retailer-and-shop-fires-back-a3991631.html">Lidl tweeted</a> &ldquo;Just because you don&rsquo;t have &pound;872 to spend on a piano, doesn&rsquo;t mean you can&rsquo;t be the next Elton. #EltonJohnLewis&rdquo;, accompanied by a picture of its own &pound;89.99 keyboard. The timely and humorous tweet exploded, adding massive value beyond the ads.&nbsp;
On the flip side, the efforts of the aforementioned standard-bearers of bear poking, Burger King, haven&rsquo;t always landed. Their attempt to highlight the size difference between a Big Mac and a Whopper relied on behind the scenes shoot photography. If no one cares about advertising, then you can be sure no one cares about how it&rsquo;s made.
<h3>Be brave and commit</h3>
We&rsquo;ve all witnessed an attempted zinger stumble and fall flat. You&rsquo;ve got to be loud, confident and committed to succeed. More so than any other form of advertising, this is a live performance. So act like it.&nbsp;
And if your rival responds, don&rsquo;t back down. When Aldi took on M&amp;S in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60223220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">famous case of&nbsp;Cuthbert vs Colin</a>&nbsp;you can bet they were nervous, but their preparedness and gumption reaped them serious reward. A campaign which cost them nothing achieved an estimated &pound;5m worth of earned media.
<img title="brew city the wild gary campaign" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/jeQZSMRpn77OhLz7W6FED0VuYyANhIwciMQQDnyY.jpg" alt="brew city the wild gary campaign" width="70%" height="42%" />
Above: The Wild's campaign used outdoor as well and social media in an attempt to lure Gary Lineker from Walkers to Brew City.
<h3>Be reactive&nbsp;</h3>
Invariably, a fun feud takes place on social media. You need the people and systems in place from agency and brand to ensure that you&rsquo;re ready for, and can take advantage of, whatever&rsquo;s thrown at you.&nbsp;
In The Wild&rsquo;s ongoing&nbsp;campaign&nbsp;<a href="https://www.performancemarketingworld.com/article/1751900/wewantgary-brew-city-lures-lineker-cheeky-paid-social-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to lure Gary Lineker&nbsp;from Walkers Crisps to Brew City</a>, we were lucky enough to be Twitter&rsquo;s promoted trend the day after the Oscars. So, we took our chance, turning Will Smith's infamous slap into a meme and tagging Gary in the post. Less than 24 hours after the event, we (slightly unbelievably) had a response from the big man himself.&nbsp;
So, if you&rsquo;re going into the woods in search of a bear make sure you have a plan, go all in, stay quick on your feet and you should come out the other side in one piece. And if you happen to be the goal-bagging, a crisp-flogging bear called Gary that we&rsquo;re after, slide into our DMs and we&rsquo;ll get the contract ready.
---
This article was originally published in <a href="https://shotsmag.slateapp.com/news/view/how-to-poke-the-bear-without-being-eaten-alive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shots Magazine</a>.&nbsp;

How To Poke The Bear Without Being Eaten Alive

<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
Snack brand Brew City launches cheeky new ad campaign calling for a certain crisp-loving &lsquo;Gary from Leicester&rsquo; to be its new brand ambassador
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
&nbsp;
London, 29 March 2022: Brew City, the beer snack brand from McCain, today launches a tongue-in-cheek national ad campaign in a bid to woo the king of snacks (a certain Gary from Leicester) from his age-old crisp companion and inaugurate him as its new brand ambassador. Created and delivered by creative agency, The Wild, the &lsquo;Courting Gary from Leicester&rsquo; campaign has been launched to make Brew City famous as the go-to beer snack for drinks with friends.
The three-phase campaign launches its national outreach today with a mischievous recruitment film released on Twitter, calling for Gary as the &lsquo;King of the Snacks&rsquo; to join a proper snack, Brew City. The film features a custom-built office, set up specifically for it&rsquo;s target brand ambassador, with more cheese and beer than he could ever need, 24/7 access to football on TV, and unlimited toilet roll (in case *it* ever happens again).
The national and local campaign consists of punchy OOH billboards, alongside online banners and radio ads. The playful creative features provocative phrases like; 'Crisps are good, Gary, but these are better&rsquo;, &lsquo;Gary, stop flogging crisps. Back a proper snack&rsquo; and &lsquo;Enough about crisps, Gary&rsquo;.
Over the last two weeks the brand has been running a local teaser campaign in the Leicester region, home to Gary and the headquarters of his long-standing crisp companion, to encourage anyone called Gary from Leicester to get in touch with messaging such as 'Anyone got Gary's number?', '#WeWantGary', and 'There's a new snack in Town, Gary'.
Alongside the above the line activity, the campaign&rsquo;s social activity is its beating heart with Brew City spurring reactive conversation among consumers using targeted social media posts. The campaign aims to encourage conversation among its target consumers, engage with influencers, and promote Brew City as the ultimate accompaniment to beer.
Dylan Davenport, Managing Director of The Wild, said: &ldquo;A certain Gary from Leicester has been with a snack brand since 1994. 1994! Surely things are turning stale and he needs a new challenge? And Brew City is here to offer that. As you can imagine it&rsquo;s been a huge amount of fun developing this campaign. First off we blitzed Gary's hometown to gentry persuade him, and now we're taking our proposal with free beer and bog roll? Let's wait and see. Whatever the case, I for one have enjoyed plastering the name Gary up and down the country. Let's hope he has too."
Becky Slater, Brew City Product Manager, commented: "At Brew City we know we have a superior snack that goes brilliantly with beer, and we're not afraid to show up publically and take on the giants of the industry. It's been great working with The Wild on this idea - it goes to the heart of what makes great advertising: humour, story-telling and talkabilty. Let's now see if we can pull off the ultimate coup and lure the king of snacks himself to our HQ."
&nbsp;
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="section">
<div class="column">
<div class="page" title="Page 2">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<div class="page" title="Page 2">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D54eRlZ8tl8?feature=emb_title" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Wild launches its first campaign for the McCain brand, Brew City

Unless you&rsquo;ve been buried under a rock or stuck in a 17-mile queue at Dover with no mobile phone reception, you can&rsquo;t have missed the phenomenon that is Wordle.
Not even a snippet of code in its developer&rsquo;s eye a mere five months ago, today it is a morning Twitter ritual (how many lines did you get it in?) and a meme for anything from Burger King to&nbsp;Love Actually. And now the uber-puzzle publisher,&nbsp;The New York Times, has gone and bought it. This, I&rsquo;d argue, is a smart move. Although you&rsquo;d be right to question why something that is widely available for free, carries no ads and allows users only one go a day might be worth the hefty seven-figure sum the newspaper reportedly paid for it. First, Wordle has scaled up users like nothing else. As of the end of January, the platform reportedly had three million devoted users. Not only that, but these users are avidly sharing their scores with other users and the public at large (some of whom it has to be said are already heartily sick of the daily Wordle Twitter tsunami). Second, it has somehow managed to combine two contrasting properties, both of which are catnip to consumers..
<img title="worlde.jpeg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/4VMaAzRqfDuTbvRiXi3WG7cZyuXrjBlgKGol6nWV.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />
First, it's a doddle to get involved with &ndash; widely available, free, no downloads, no tricky interfaces and, crucially, no obvious data demands. Second, it also has cachet. It has rarity value &ndash; one go a day and that&rsquo;s your lot &ndash; as well as bragging rights. Five-letter words are deceptively simple but there&rsquo;s a whole world of obscure ones that could pop up, marking the user out as a bit out of the ordinary. Plus, there&rsquo;s that little hit of dopamine when you get the highly sought-after &ldquo;Impressive!&rdquo;. The New York Times&nbsp;already has a famous puzzle of its own, the crossword. This alone is why many readers subscribe. Wordle is the same, but different. Appealing to a similarly wordy crowd, it nevertheless opens the&nbsp;NYT&nbsp;up to a whole new audience for whom the crossword might be a touch daunting. Entry-level puzzling, if you like, on a par with an easy Sudoku to hook you in. How the publisher ultimately monetises Wordle is not immediately obvious. Having been free to use so far and with its addictively simple interface, it will be challenging for the&nbsp;NYT&nbsp;to mess about with either of these USPs, at least in the near future. But it&rsquo;s not really about flogging a new product. This is about building a bridge between publishers and new audiences. If Wordle proves entry-level wordsmithing to the NYT&nbsp;crossword for readers, then it also provides entry-level multiplatform engagement for the publisher. Publishers have lived in silos for years &ndash; broadcast, newspapers, magazines &ndash; and all stuck to their own wheelhouses. But this hints at the future. They&rsquo;re hiring gaming people, breaking into new audiences and delivering niche content, just like Wordle. It couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time, either. Publishers are struggling with ever-changing ad revenue, readerships and formats.
Futureproofing yourself requires a wealth of revenue streams, and to do that, you diversify your content. Wordle may be free today, but with the three million avid users and awareness that is several multiples more, it brings The New York Times a new opportunity that is worth its weight in gold.&nbsp;
-
Read the original article on <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/last-wordle-building-bridge-publisher-new-audiences/1739201">Campaign</a>.&nbsp;

Jungle Creations Co-Ceo Nat Poulter Chats to Campaign about Wordle

<div class="ccm-custom-style-container ccm-custom-style-main-20148">
<div class="section--2">
<div class="container--4">
This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.creativebrief.com/bite/lush-washes-its-hands-social-creative-might-go-down-drain">Creativebrief</a>.
Lush washes its hands of social, but creativity might go down the drain
The Wild's Dylan Davenport warns not to underestimate the power of social
Lush is back in the spotlight with a pledge to come off social media. This isn&rsquo;t the brand&rsquo;s first rodeo when it comes to protesting against the channel. It took a spin around the block in 2019, before quietly returning.&nbsp;
Safety of users is the primary reason cited by the brand, but not the only one - the desire to be &ldquo;more creative&rdquo; was also thrown out.&nbsp;
Yes, we will lose customers, engagement and visibility, but it&rsquo;s exciting &ndash; when you take away the reliance on those platforms, you have to get creative, said Lush&rsquo;s chief digital officer Jack Constantine.&nbsp;
Both safety and creativity are valid reasons to back up a bold decision, but it could be a cover for a less worthy issue.&nbsp;
Social is still being used and viewed by many brands as a performance channel for short term results. Marketers still seem to treat it as a channel on which TV ads can be chucked, regardless of fit, and not as an outlet for brand building activity.
Social is principally the biggest catalyst for creativity. And if you can&rsquo;t get creative in a place where trends are created and culture itself lives, where else can you?
When Simon Peel joined as Director of Global Media at adidas he did an audit of all the channels and found he needed to reset&nbsp;on how digital was paying back for the brand. adidas, amongst many brands, got so micro in their targeting in using digital and social to go after specific audiences - that they saw no real return. Has Lush gone so far down the conversion funnel, and become so targeted with its approach, that social has now become unviable?&nbsp;
A lot of this falls down to a misunderstanding of the media - which Lush is reinforcing via its anti-social rhetoric. Social isn&rsquo;t just a platform to chase clicks and eyeballs. It isn&rsquo;t a murky place where bad things happen. It&rsquo;s a place where meaningful connections are made - if used properly. You&rsquo;re doing your audiences a disservice by cutting them off at the place they most frequent.&nbsp;
Now let&rsquo;s unpick the second part of this walkout: the apparent incompatibility with creative and social.
If Lush is saying that it has to come off the channel to get creative, it implies a lack of understanding of how to use social in a strategic and creative way - or a complete lack of understanding of how to be creative.&nbsp;
And it&rsquo;s all very well saying that you have to get creative when you come off social, but why suddenly get creative now? Creativity should be baked into the DNA and essence of every good brand if they are going to succeed.&nbsp;
This year more than half the world&rsquo;s population are on social media. It&rsquo;s a $100bn market. Social has permanently changed the way people live their lives. Social is principally the biggest catalyst for creativity. And if you can&rsquo;t get creative in a place where trends are created and culture itself lives, where else can you?&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve seen some incredible examples of just how creative brands can be on social the past couple of years: TikTok's Euro 2020 partnership, Reddit at the Superbowl, Spotify's annual wrapped campaign, Burberry's hugely successful social campaigns and Marcus Rashford's charity drive.&nbsp;
And marketers more broadly are recognising the importance of the channel. According to Nielsen 75% of CMOs anticipate increasing their social media budget in the next 12 months.&nbsp;
We hit a snag when we see that 80% of them are not very confident on how to measure ROI - but this simply takes us neatly back to the point about not knowing how to make the most of the channel. Until there is significantly more accountability of what social is paying back we will be stuck in this constant doubt loop, when instead we could be making the most of an incredible channel for brand reach.&nbsp;
Ultimately, growth comes from driving awareness and penetration. And arguably no other channel right now is offering access to such a broad audience as social. Marketers should see it for what it is - a brand-building channel at the top of the funnel and approach it as they do any other brand-building channel. This is the attitudinal change that will give creativity on social media a huge boost.&nbsp;
Social is a brand's MVP. And by that, I mean the most valuable player, not the minimal viable product. It&rsquo;s also the audience MVP now.&nbsp;
If Lush thinks the answer to increased creativity is to turn its back on social then good luck to them.
Read the original article <a style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;" href="https://www.creativebrief.com/bite/lush-washes-its-hands-social-creative-might-go-down-drain">here</a>.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Wild's MD Speaks to Creativebrief on Lush Cosmetics' Decision to Quit Social

Tom McGirr, Head of Strategy at The Wild, reflects on the England football team's recent Euros defeat, the racism that followed it, and what advertising can do to counteract such behaviour.
-
Football, it transpired earlier this year, was not coming home. Not until next year, anyway.&nbsp;
The Euro 2020 tournament was a celebration, an end-of-covid coming together, where rivalries and differences were put aside while we cheered on the boys. And then it wasn&rsquo;t.&nbsp;&nbsp;
England players went from heroes to the target of racist abuse quicker than you can say &lsquo;this is why we&rsquo;re taking the knee&rsquo;. So-called fans decided the players they had supported for weeks on end were nothing more than the colour of their skin. We went from England at its best to England at its very worst. This is, of course, nothing new. Racism is a scourge that we each have a moral responsibility to face head on, in any way we can. That extends to brands, agencies, and any other individual or organisation that wants to see real change.
<img title="bsengland.jpg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/F7FMWmfPSHUKDLZkfRJRK7pboz9v5HSIrMNK0vza.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />
Above: 19-year-old Bukayo Saka is consoled by team mates after his penalty miss. He and fellow players were subjected to vile racist abuse after the match.
<div class="post-body">
<div class="post-body__content">
Ahead of the tournament <a href="https://www.instagram.com/we.are.england/?hl=en-gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our small part was We Are England</a>,&nbsp;a campaign platform aiming to try to better understand the perceptions English people with multicultural backgrounds have of English football fandom and all its connotations. After the hatred we witnessed, the results feel like a sad prophecy.
We found, for example, that English people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic families were more likely than the population at large to support the Euro 2020 team by a margin of 47% to 65%. A generation of kids look up to the likes of Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling &ndash; role models forged in the heat of the tournament who offer aspiration and belonging &ndash; only to then see them abused by bigots.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Is it any wonder, then, that English people from multicultural backgrounds, despite supporting the team overwhelmingly, would not feel pride in wearing the England shirt? Or that they would think twice about wearing it in public? Even prior to the events following the final, stereotypes of England fans as &lsquo;racists', &lsquo;thugs', and &lsquo;drunks&rsquo; were prevalent in our research. These impressions impede fans from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds from wanting to associate with the shirt and team. I imagine if we re-ran the survey today, the figures would be even starker.&nbsp;
<img title="SEI_87384610 (1).jpeg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/ANImZChGfajcTk1Q8ujBVpRhRckwjlvtWUgGFTXP.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />
Above: A mural of Marcus Rashford, who missed one of England's Euro final penalties, was defaced with racist abuse before that abuse was then covered in tributes and positive messages.&nbsp;&nbsp;
After the shameful response to England's loss, it was refreshing to see the solidarity on display from England fans who stood up for what it truly means to be English; to celebrate our melting pot country and the myriad of cultures that make it what it is. Fans are a community. Some may argue that it is just a minority of malicious actors causing trouble, but that is to miss the point.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Next year&rsquo;s World Cup in Qatar is an opportunity to show what we really stand for. To put ourselves on display at home and abroad as a country that is deeply anti-racist. While some brands, notably BT and ITV, were laudable in their message of solidarity, many more firms with big platforms were deafeningly quiet.&nbsp;We can joke about brands being moral arbiters of the 21st century, that where once we looked to the state or to religion for guidance we now turn to brands, but it&rsquo;s true: if you have a platform, you need to use it. We need to drown out the hatred with a torrent of love. To marginalise and ostracise those whose views are motivated by irrational hatred.
There&rsquo;s a huge appetite for an abrupt change of pace, of a campaigning, protesting mindset, especially from younger, more progressive fans. Like those from multicultural backgrounds, Gen Z&rsquo;s views on the matter are hugely divergent to those of older generations. They were least likely of all to feel pride in wearing an England shirt. They do not feel the England shirt is representative of English society.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
</div>
</div>
<img title="itv.jpg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/AhdCm3PPq3mxkjGY6UXHtpjYUOfjAmDjsqaDnmTP.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />
Above: ITV's full page advert in support of the England team after some members of the squad received racist abuse online.&nbsp;
We all want a country we can be proud of, and that means taking action, wearing your heart on your sleeve, making your brand&rsquo;s views known, joining the majority who oppose bigotry in all forms. Everything a brand does, from inclusive hiring policies, to promoting diverse voices, to offering a platform to messages of support, makes a small but positive difference.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The World Cup in 2022 is an opportunity to right the wrongs of the Euros, for people and companies to create an unclimbable wall of support around our heroes, to unite around and celebrate our differences.&nbsp;Asked whether they thought &lsquo;more needs to be done&rsquo; to make all people living in England feel welcome to support the England football team, a majority of the population at large answered 'no'. When we put the same question to our diverse panel, the answer was overwhelmingly yes.&nbsp;
So, whose side are you on?&nbsp;
-
This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.shots.net/news/view/the-world-cup-will-be-a-chance-to-right-englands-racist-wrongs">Shots</a>.&nbsp;

'The World Cup will be a chance to right England’s racist wrongs'

What better to add to the Euro 2020 excitement than to host a knockout competition alongside it?&nbsp;
Over the course of the last month, we have been running several polls to find out the very best two adverts that have aired during the Euro 2020 matches.
From Sports Direct's high-octane film starring Jack Grealish and Eric Catona, to Deliveroo's celebration of world flavours with their 'England 'Till We Dine' campaign - discovering the best ad that's aired during the Euros has been tough.
Nearly 300 votes later, Neverland Creative and Dark Horses came out top for their brilliant work for Ladbrokes and TikTok respectively.&nbsp;
Not seen the work? Take a look below.
<a href="https://bit.ly/3zf6Pmi">Tiktok 'Where Fans Play'</a> by Dark Horses.&nbsp;
<a href="https://bit.ly/3eIEInE">Ladbrokes 'This Time We Play Together'</a> by Neverland Creative.

Neverland Creative and Dark Horses win Euro 2020 Knockout Competition

We are excited to announce our work for OnePlus has been shortlisted for 'Best Use of Brand Experience' at the Independent Agency Awards 2021.
For the campaign, we&nbsp;teamed up with OnePlus to reinforce its brand positioning and raise post-launch awareness of its 7T Pro smartphone&rsquo;s high-speed display. 
We wanted to innovate. So we created a one-of-a-kind digital piano made from 17 7T Pro smartphones for a tour across Europe which aimed to demonstrate OnePlus&rsquo; fastest and smoothest smartphone yet, while bringing people together at Christmas through music and encouraging them to connect with each other using phones in a different way.
Visiting iconic locations across Europe, including Paris&rsquo; Eiffel Tower and London&rsquo;s Tate Modern, pianist Karim Kamar drew crowds in each city by playing his composition &lsquo;Winter&rsquo; on the unique piano. People (and one dog!) were invited to play the piano to experience the impressive display speed first-hand.
The tour was covered by 122 news outlets worldwide and sparked a conversation on social media with over 3.6 million impressions and 500,000 engagements. We documented the tour in a video that was published by OnePlus across their social media channels on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, and the OnePlus Piano was showcased by OnePlus at CES 2020 in Las Vegas.
Take a look at <a href="https://allindependentagencies.org/awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Independent Agency Awards</a>.&nbsp;
<img title="phone-piano-render-2-1280x720.jpeg" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/r7fi55ub90tg5gZlxeloSwOlmZt7zBIgl2BLxsfl.jpg" alt="" width="70%" height="42%" />

The Wild Shortlisted for 'Best Use of Brand Experience' at The Independent Agency Awards

A view from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nduonthecurb/?hl=en">Ndubuisi Uchea</a>, co-founder of <a href="https://www.wordonthecurb.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Word on the Curb</a>.&nbsp;
Ahead of the Euro 2020 tournament, creative agency The Wild set out to celebrate the rich diversity of England supporters from a multiplicity of backgrounds, to unite all who make this country what it is today.&nbsp;
Putting multiculturalism at the heart of England&rsquo;s national identity, The Wild collaborated with my agency, Word on the Curb &ndash; which specialises in ethnic minority insights &ndash; to highlight the need for greater inclusivity in football and to reimagine the national shirt that so many felt disconnected from.&nbsp;
As part of the "We are England" campaign The Wild has produced custom England shirts that have been redesigned to feel more representative of their owners' diverse backgrounds&nbsp;(pictured above).&nbsp;
A "First XI" of influencers, including Jemel One Five, Joelah Noble, Robbie Lyle, Ms Paigey Cakey, Obayed Hussain and Denz &amp; Renz, has joined the campaign. Each has received a one-off shirt painted by artist Mark Johnson, who used DNA testing to glean an understanding of who the wearers are, and to celebrate that heritage alongside their support for England &ndash; to give them a shirt that represents all of who they are, that they can feel proud to wear.
The campaign is also giving the public the chance to have a custom England shirt of their own, reflecting their individual heritage. A competition is being run on the campaign's<a href="https://www.instagram.com/we.are.england/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&nbsp;Instagram page</a>, whereby 11 winners will be offered DNA tests to explore their own heritage, which will then be incorporated into custom shirts by artist Mark Johnson.&nbsp;
The recent racial abuse targeting members of the England squad demonstrates just how much further there is to go to make society more inclusive.
&ldquo;If I score I&rsquo;m French, if I don&rsquo;t I&rsquo;m Arab.&rdquo;&nbsp;Karim Benzema, footballer for Real Madrid and France
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a German when we win but an immigrant when we lose.&rdquo;&nbsp;Mesut &Ouml;zil, footballer for&nbsp;Fenerbah&ccedil;e and Germany
I&rsquo;ve often found that a celebration of multinationalism/culturalism strictly goes hand-in-hand with achievement, and England&rsquo;s devastating penalty shootout loss to Italy has unfortunately demonstrated this.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re an English boy, until you mess up. Then you become the English-born Nigerian,&rdquo; my mum always used to warn me.&nbsp;
Up until the 2018 World Cup, this harsh truth was a big factor in why I refused to support England at major tournaments, and I wasn&rsquo;t alone. Even in the run-up to this year&rsquo;s European Championships, I found myself debating with friends, in the numerous football-dedicated&nbsp; WhatsApp groups I find myself, about the divisive conversation of "Are you going to support England?"
&ldquo;Look at the way the media treats Sterling, and you expect me to get behind that?&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;This is the same country that boos making a stand against racism. No chance.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to see the team get booed all the way to the final, Rashford to score the winner and take a knee in front of the racists.&rdquo;&nbsp;
As a 10-year-old going to watch QPR with my brother, I remember queuing up for a burger at half time and hearing a man in front of me describe centre back powerhouse Danny Shittu, as a &ldquo;lazy, black, c***&rdquo;, simply because he had conceded a penalty.&nbsp;
His friend interrupted the tirade to point to me and my brother. Rather than take issue with the remark, he took issue with the fact that we were in the vicinity of the conversation, so at an early age, it made me question whether going to football games was something I wanted to do with frequency.&nbsp;
Heading into the Euros, reminiscing about these experiences and those of my friends, is what, as co-founder of Word on the Curb, I wanted to explore in more detail.&nbsp;
In collaboration with creative agency The Wild, we wanted to understand the nation's sentiment behind supporting the side, pride in the shirt and what needed to be done to make football feel comfortable for all to watch. We did this via a dual research study with YouGov and Curbsights, the ethnic minority specific sample community we have at Word on the Curb, and launched the "We are England" campaign.
As per my experience at age 10, issues often start with feeling unwelcome. Sixty-five per cent of the Curbsights community felt more needed to be done to make all people living in England feel welcomed to support the England football team. This compared with 54% responding with "yes" in the YouGov study.&nbsp;
A similar difference in result came from an exploration of pride in the shirt, with 64% of the Curbsights panel strongly agreeing with the statement: &ldquo;I would not feel a sense of pride while wearing the England football shirt.&rdquo; This was in comparison with only 35% of the YouGov poll strongly agreeing with the statement.&nbsp;
"They are still deporting our grandparents for them to die on the streets of islands they ain't been to in decades."
&ldquo;Pride for what... they probably don&rsquo;t want me here"
The imperial history of Britain is one that has made ethnic minority communities struggle to feel proud of the fact they live or were born here.&nbsp;
That being said, the most interesting &ndash; and perhaps surprising &ndash; finding was in the fact that 60% of the Curbsights panel said they would be following and supporting the England national team during Euro 2020 in comparison with 47% of YouGov&rsquo;s panel.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need to be white to support your country. I&rsquo;m black but I was born here, so I&rsquo;m supporting my country.&nbsp; Also there are many black English players.&rdquo;&nbsp;
While in the end football didn&rsquo;t come home, for the past five weeks this England team has ushered in a new age of the fan; supportive of the team&rsquo;s fearlessness in taking a stand against racism despite a public backlash. Supportive of a team that isn&rsquo;t made up of egos, but young men who are willing to embrace and act upon the role-model persona that comes with being a professional footballer. And supportive of how the team represents modern-day England, and Britain, better than previous sides in terms of diversity.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Much has been said about the fact that seven of England&rsquo;s starting 11 in the final had parents or grandparents born overseas, the idea that this England team doesn&rsquo;t exist without immigration is a truthful one.
Multinationalism is the fabric of this country. We can&rsquo;t call ourselves a multicultural society when we only celebrate multiculturalism when we&rsquo;re winning. We need to emulate the spirit and unapologetic inclusivity of our national football team in all areas of society.
Read the full article on Campaign <a title="We Are England The Wild Creative Agency Social " href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/england-shirt-back-used-reveal-fans-diversity/1722161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.&nbsp;

The England Shirt on Your Back and How We Used it to Reveal Fans' Diversity

'We are England' is a campaign for the Euro 2020 tournament which aims to celebrate the rich diversity of England supporters who make this country what it is today.
Two surveys, each of 2,000 people, carried out by YouGov and Word On The Curb, have established a disconnect between how the population at large, ethnic minority groups, and different generations, perceive their support of the England football team.
This landmark finding is at odds with the pride felt by those from minority backgrounds in wearing the England shirt. When asked whether or not one might wear the England shirt in public, 59% of the Curbsights panel likewise said they would not. The YouGov poll of the nation at large was fairly evenly split in this regard (except for Gen Z, who overwhelmingly rejected its wearing by a margin of 59% to 41%).
This disconnect between supporting the England team, yet not feeling comfortable wearing the shirt with pride, is an issue that The Wild, the creative agency behind the We Are England campaign, is hoping to highlight.
As part of the We Are England campaign The Wild has produced custom England shirts that have been redesigned to feel more representative of their owner&rsquo;s diverse backgrounds.
Follow the We Are England campaign <a href="https://www.instagram.com/we.are.england/">here</a>.&nbsp;
<img title="We Are England The Wild Social Content Award Winning Agency" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/UdwyPJFULjge6mNj7SZ3TxB7Oy4qsr8GpuwOAEkO.jpg" alt="We Are England The Wild Social Content Award Winning Agency" width="70%" height="42%" />
<img title="We Are England The Wild Social Content Award Winning Agency" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vt/zeB3514MiURVfpwmOGdo0uxCdoGwE1Bg8D4udiNu.jpg" alt="We Are England The Wild Social Content Award Winning Agency" width="70%" height="42%" />
Read the full article on <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/the-wild-we-are-england">The Drum</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The Wild Launches 'We Are England' Campaign

What are the biggest challenges facing young women today and how can brands effectively connect with them? As the most viewed and engaged women&rsquo;s interest publisher on social &mdash; with over 14 million followers (and over 50% Gen Z) &mdash; Jungle Creations' media brand&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/FourNine">Four Nine</a>&nbsp;has partnered with Campaign Magazine UK&nbsp;for an in-depth look at &ldquo;Individuality and Inclusivity&rdquo; in a white paper full of insights about Gen Z women, from what it means to be a young woman today, through to thoughts on politics, technology, beauty, and of course this strange time we&rsquo;ve been living through.
<img title="Gen Z Campaign The Wild Four Nine" src="https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thewild/5JiqidV0VBZJws0LuHLx7unHfs47CzKhNbUuKKZx.png" alt="Gen Z Campaign The Wild Four Nine" width="70%" height="42%" />
Take a look at the full report&nbsp;<a href="https://insight.campaignlive.co.uk/expert-reports/individuality-and-inclusivity-how-to-connect-with-gen-z-women">here</a>.&nbsp;

Insights From the Most Viewed Women's Publisher on Social

Electronics brand&nbsp;<a href="https://www.braun-audio.com/en-GB/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Braun Audio</a>&nbsp;has enlisted our support to launch its new LE speaker range and enhance Braun's brand reputation through social.
We have been tasked with re-launching Braun Audio, which is being licensed by Pure, and the LE speaker range to market, emphasising its timeless performance, design credentials and acoustic excellence to a new, modern audience.
Taking control of all social platforms including Instagram and Facebook for six months, we will be working to drive awareness at scale of the products and re-educate consumers on the brand&rsquo;s rich history of audio innovation through a combination of influencer, paid social and creative work.
The campaign will centre around a hero film featuring synaesthetic artist Jake-Andrew Nason creating a visual representation of Tokio Myers&rsquo; music, made possible through the immersive experience the Braun Audio LE speakers deliver.
The Wild will also partner with designers to run takeovers of the social channels and promote the experience of the speaker range, and each will focus on one of Dieter Rams&rsquo; design principles.
The partnership follows a string of new business wins for The Wild, including Silver Spoon and Decathlon. The agency forecasts a fivefold revenue increase year on year from 2019 to 2020.
Jade Beard, Head of Social Media Management at The Wild, said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a privilege to be selected as the agency to bring back Braun Audio to market after its hiatus and deliver awareness of its iconic speaker range and acoustic excellence, to a new group of modern consumers. Through a strategic combination of content, our work will celebrate the coming together of considered design and pure audio performance, while reinforcing Braun Audio as an authority in this category.&rdquo;
Pete Ogley, CEO at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pure.com/en-GB/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pure</a>&nbsp;said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re re-launching the iconic LE speaker range and looking to target a very distinct audience. Social is going to be central to reaching these consumers and we&rsquo;re partnering with The Wild to raise awareness of the product while communicating the brand heritage of Braun Audio in a creative way.

BRAUN AUDIO ENLISTS THE WILD TO LAUNCH NEW LE SPEAKER RANGE

Home

Work

About

Newsroom

title

https://portal-spa.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thewild/wn7wd7k37kmfvZKcCmJIvgwZgSk4Xj9XE6u6ZzoR.png

icon

description

og:site_name

The Wild - Creative agency born from Jungle Creations

og:title

London social-first creative agency. Advertising, social, influencer, design and marketing content to helps brands turn heads and make it matter.