Sharing Energy, Ideas, and a Virtual Space

The last few months have involved setting up makeshift desks on dining tables, living room floors, or wherever else we can fit our screens and equipment. At SBW, we met the challenge of remote-working open armed – and it reminded us about how collaborative an industry we work in. It also showed us that, even with the added distance, through effective communication we don’t have to be in the same room to produce fantastic projects.

With the lockdown in the UK gradually lifting in various forms, we’re pleased to announce that we have re-opened the SBW offices (in a safe, and socially distanced manner, of course!). We’re taking all precautions to ensure the safety of the team, and of course following the situation closely as it continues to develop. And speaking of developments, we’ve had much to cheer about in the past over the past month.

Double podium finish – Gold and Bronze

After celebrating the successes of our #HiddenHomelessness campaign earlier this year, we had even more cause to celebrate in May as we were awarded not one, but two Roses from The Drum Awards 2020!

• GOLD – TV/ Cinema Commercial Produced for 20k or Less
• Bronze – Public Sector

Facing some stiff competition from the likes of the BBC and The Leith agency, this is a huge achievement for our agency, and we couldn’t feel prouder to be recognised for a campaign that deals with such an important issue.

With the pandemic situation and the lockdown, the campaign continues to help those in difficult situations – keeping people safe and secure when they’re most in need of support.

Celebrating the volunteers of Royal Voluntary Service

1^st – 7^th June was Volunteers’ Week, and as such, a chance for Royal Voluntary Service to give thanks to the amazing volunteers and NHS responders for all of their hard work, and of course to raise funds to keep supporting the NHS and the wider community. To help, we created a series of films that highlight some of the stories from volunteers at Royal Voluntary Service, and how they’ve coped during these unprecedented times.

This comes at a most challenging and historic time for the organisation, up there with the likes of The Blitz, the Lewisham train disaster, and the Lockerbie bombing – all times at which Royal Voluntary Service volunteers have answered the call to help those in need; particularly the elderly and the vulnerable.

It’s an honour and a privilege to create work that really does help to save lives and keep the elderly and vulnerable in our society safe during this most challenging period in recent history.

Bahamas First Annual Report

We’ve been hard at work recently, designing the annual report for Bahamas First Holdings Limited. Designed around a concept of ‘Strong Together’, the visual element of the report responds to the challenges that have been faced in The Bahamas over the past year, such as Hurricane Dorian, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Strong Together concept naturally informed the imagery throughout the report, which utilises strong textures and native wildlife found throughout The Bahamas.

Taste Magazine

For the past year, alongside their national press campaign, we’ve been working on a content piece for Wiltshire Farm Foods – a quarterly magazine called Taste. The magazine, editorial in style, gathers interesting articles, engaging puzzles and competitions, nostalgia pieces, and celebrity interviews, all tailored to Wiltshire Farm Foods’ customer base of men and women, mostly aged 80-years-old and above.

Maintaining the strong Wiltshire Farm Foods brand, the content relates back to Wiltshire Farm Foods’ identity and ethos wherever possible but serves as a ‘little extra’ to keep customers engaged and entertained.

In the most recent issue, we honoured to be able to include an article about the great Colonel Tom Moore himself! A true hero of our time, raising an incredible amount of money to support the NHS and save lives during these challenging times.

SBW Fundraiser

Later in the year – dependent on the lock down situation – we’ll be embarking on a charity fundraising event as an agency. The goal is the Welsh Three Peaks challenge, and we’ll be fundraising for a number of charities that we work with, and others that are close to our hearts.

Over the coming weeks and months, while we finalise a date for the challenge, the team will be putting in plenty of training and preparation time to make sure we’re up to the challenge – which is no mean feat:

• 3 Mountains in 24 hours or less – Snowdon, Cadair Idris, and Pen Y Fan
• 17 miles and around 2334 metres of ascent in total

Keep an eye on our social channels over the coming weeks and months, as we’ll be counting down to the event and fundraising as we go!

Some of the team have already been challenging themselves for charity with the RUN FOR HEROES fundraising initiative setup during lockdown – all helping towards smashing the target of raising £5,000,000 to support frontline workers.