‘Queer as Folkestone’: Channel 4 marks 50th Pride with national and regional ad push: Alongside a TV and social campaign, the work will include pun-based posters tailored to towns, with activity spanning 80 UK regions. Smaller, regional UK locations are the stars of the show in Channel 4’s ad campaign celebrating this year’s Pride. The “Proud all over” campaign, by in-house team 4Creative, aims to show the range of towns and regions – alongside major cities – that are celebrating LGBT+ communities in the event’s 50th anniversary year. A national TV campaign featuring comedian Tom Allen will run on 25 June, with the performer being transported in a colour-filled animated film to all corners of the country, with his insistence that: “It doesn’t matter how big it is, it’s what you do with it that counts.” There will also be out-of-home elements, with more than 40 local Pride celebrations marked through brightly coloured roadside posters, urban flyposter areas, major railway hubs and ad vans in more rural sites, all with tailored straplines such as "Queer as Folkestone" and "Llanelli – may cause excitement in your wetlands". Meanwhile, social assets have been created for more than 80 locations that are celebrating, even if there is no local Pride event. Channel 4’s Instagram accounts, @channel4 and @thepinkpalace, will be sharing the assets, while on Snapchat, people can use a special lens to reflect their location and augmentation to project images onto local buildings. (Source:CampaignLive 2022)

Time Out bids farewell to print, but embraces new digital led era: The final regular print issue of Time Out London hits the streets this month, but the international media brand remains in bullish mood, announcing a series of digital initiatives and insisting that it has “never been more relevant” than now. The demise of the print issue, founded in 1968 by Tony Elliott, will signal the end of an era of many Londoners of a certain age, many of whom would pore over the listings for arthouse cinemas, niche nightclubs and global cuisine, testament to the capital’s diversity and energy in a pre-digital world. However, the brand is now fully focusing on pushing various initiatives across its extensive network, with the aim of boosting its international audience engagement and outreach through targeted content streams and storytelling.  That currently translates as a global monthly audience of 76.2 million across 333 cities, in 59 countries. New features include various short-form video series on Time Out’s digital and social media channels and a commercial partnership with Free Now on TikTok, which will be sponsoring the Thing to Do This Weekend videos. (Source: CampaignLive 2022)

Bountiful Cow take over as media agency for the international ingredients brand Belazu: Belazu started life as a B2B company solely supplying high-end restaurants and catering businesses with premium quality Mediterranean and North African cooking ingredients. However, in recent years it has moved into the B2C space following increased consumer demand for quality ingredients at home, accelerated by the pandemic when restaurants were closed for long periods of time. Its products from premium nuts, rose harissa paste and extra virgin olive oil , are now stocked by Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, M&S, Amazon and Booths. We are proud to announce that Bountiful Cow has taken over as Belazu new media agency with a new strategy focused on making Belazu “a beacon of taste for foodies”, supercharging retail growth by avoiding category conventions of food print media, high wastage TV ad campaigns and recipe editorials. Bountiful Cow has decided to completely reject these norms in favour of a video and experiential channel mix amplifying the sensorial experience that makes Belazu unique. Watch the space!  (MediaLeader 2022).

 

American Express creates bespoke experiences at Wimbledon: American Express has developed a series of bespoke experiences for Wimbledon visitors this year, the brand’s fourth in partnership with the world famous tennis tournament. The “Fan Experience” will be located in the Southern Village and Sir Andy Murray, American Express ambassador and two-time Wimbledon champion, features in one of two interactive games developed for the experience. First, there is “Find Andy”, in which fans must search for his image among a giant artwork of the LTA grounds. The second interactive game, “Centre Court Challenge”, gets fans to roll physical tennis balls as accurately as possible to hit an on-screen target. Nail artist Michelle Humphrey will also be on hand to paint fans’ nails with Wimbledon-themed designs, while they can also get access to trainer cleaning with Jason Markk products. American Express Cardmembers can take the experience further, with a dedicated members lounge and complimentary in-ear radios. (Source: CampaignLive 2022)