Johnnie Walker has launched a new global ‘Keep Walking’ integrated campaign fronted by its latest ‘From the Future’ spot via BBH London.

This week marks the launch of major new brand work for Johnnie Walker globally and the evolution of our iconic “Keep Walking” campaign.

The integrated campaign kicked off with a social content platform, #NextStep, which sees Johnnie Walker filtering the web to provide a globally curated feed of content; a service designed to inspire our communities and help them move forward on a daily basis.

At the centre of the campaign is our new brand film, ‘From the Future’, written by Nick Gill and directed by Fredrik Bond, which marks a step change in the tone, look and feel of the Johnnie Walker brand, in a bold move to refresh and modernise its communications and make it more relevant to progressively minded drinkers around the world.

The campaign is supported by a print and outdoor campaign which celebrates the progress of iconic people and places around the world as well as the change in mentalities in society. The campaign features Jose Mourinho and Jenson Button, alongside executions featuring places including Las Vegas and The Earth.

The campaign centres on the simple statement ‘See you tomorrow’, a phrase that both belittles the doom-mongering about 21st December and galvanizes people around the Keep Walking spirit.

In the days leading up to 21st, anyone who entered the Johnnie Walker Weibo site saw an invitation to participate in the ‘See you tomorrow’ movement by simply uploading a video of themselves speaking these words. Combining UGC from consumers and filmed content of brand fans, the final edit was aired on Johnnie Walker’s Weibo site on the day itself.

The assets were anchored on an impactful illustration that derides end of the world scenarios in a witty, cartoonish way, including phenomena as diverse as giant lizards to alien invasions.

The campaign calls on all of us to retain a sense of humour and perspective as we continue on our journey of progress in the world.

We’re extremely proud that Nigel Bogle, one of the world’s most respected advertising professionals, has been awarded a knighthood by the Queen.

Nigel founded BBH with John Bartle CBE, and Sir John Hegarty in London in 1982.

As a leader, Nigel has chosen to stand apart from assumed behaviours and implement practices that are proof of his commitment to ensuring integrity in everything BBH does. For example, he championed the need for financial transparency throughout the business, a behaviour which is now the industry norm.

Long before CSR became a corporate buzz word, Nigel ensured that 1% of BBH’s profits went to charitable causes. His philanthropic view is deeply engrained in the culture of BBH – “How can we use our creativity for good”. Staff are involved in the distribution of where that money goes. Whether it is industry causes such as NABS, D&AD, the Ideas Foundation or national charities chosen by individual BBHers. The agency also supports the Roundhouse – an initiative to bring students from diverse backgrounds into BBH and help them gain a foothold in advertising whilst developing their combined creative talents. BBH won the Sunday Times Best Companies award for “Giving Back” in 2009 and has been consistently voted one of the UK’s best companies to work for.

Nigel is renowned within the industry and beyond, for understanding the importance of developing the next generation of British advertising talent who will continue to drive the success of this vital UK industry. This is proven in BBH’s unrivalled track record in developing and nurturing its own talent. BBH’s first graduate for example, is now CEO of the company globally. But he has also extended this outside BBH and has advised, in a personal capacity, many of the up and coming stars of the future. Nigel is also a mentor for NABS (National Advertising Benevolent Society) which supports everyone in the world of advertising and media. They offer unbiased professional advice and support, alongside crisis financial support.

C&J Clark International, owner of the world’s number one ‘everyday footwear’ brand, has appointed BBH London as its global creative partner after a robust selection process that included 5 other agencies.

Mel Exon, Managing Partner of BBH London said:

“The Clarks brand is a rare beast: with a great and long history, a brilliant business and a team in place who have big ambitions for the future. At BBH, we’re looking forward to helping the Clarks business with their next step”.

Nick Sanders, Group Director of Brand at C& J Clark International said:

“In BBH we are confident that we have found the right global creative partner to support us on the next stage of our journey to build a powerful global Clarks brand. BBH demonstrated during the selection process that they have the international experience, a passion for the brand and a real desire to work with us.”

BBH has been appointed by Bang & Olufsen as its global advertising partner to develop its global brand communications.

BBH has been tasked with communicating Bang & Olufsen’s superior sound credentials across all of their high end visual and audio products. The agency will also help them to further develop their recently announced partnership with Universal Music.

The first campaign will support the global launch for a number of new products to be rolled out over the next twelve months starting from the autumn of 2013.

At the same time, BBH Shanghai has been appointed to support the roll out of Bang & Olufsen and their brand B&O Play in China.

“We are expanding our focus to markets like China and the US and therefore required an agency with a global footprint and local presence in our key markets,” says Bang & Olufsen Marketing Director Jens Feilberg. “BBH has shown strong expertise in working with global luxury brands. We are very excited about our new partnership and we look forward to working with BBH.”

Jason Gonsalves, Chief Strategy Officer of BBH London said ”The BBH story is built on doing work for amazing brands looking for game-changing ideas. B&O is exactly that, a pioneering company with almost a century of innovation under its belt. We’re really excited to be working with the brand.”

BBH already work with a number of premium and luxury clients including Audi, the UK’s leading prestige car brand. This makes BBH well-suited to work with Bang & Olufsen in the luxury category.

Apollo is a first in many ways. It is the first time an Axe campaign is driven by an epic activation idea, rather than just an epic TV execution. The campaign revolves around an amazing competition: Axe is offering 22 young guys around the world the chance to train at the Axe Apollo Space Academy and go to space. Actual SPACE. Because girls love heroes and of all possible heroes, none can beat an astronaut.

In India there still exists a strong gender bias. When a boy is born into a family, the room is showered with gifts, sweets and visitors. When it’s a daughter, there aren’t as many gifts and even fewer visitors. Very often the mother is blamed for giving birth to a daughter, like it’s some sort of mistake.

We made surprise visits to maternity wards across Mumbai and dropped off baskets full of goodies for moms and their new-born daughters. We hugged the moms and congratulated them for being blessed with a daughter. The idea was to seed dissonance in the minds of the visiting family and friends. What could begin as a surprise is bound to make them introspect. But we didn’t want the celebration to stop at hospitals. Our microsite and Facebook page was updated daily with pictures and messages from our visits. The word spread, and soon we had fans from all over the world.

Calling all school leavers! BBH London is searching for an apprentice to join our interactive production team from September 2013.

The Creative Pioneers Challenge is a nationwide search endorsed by the UK Government to find the next generation of digital natives and creative entrepreneurs. Twelve month apprenticeships are available to school leavers aged 16+, leading to an industry-recognised qualification and the opportunity for permanent employment.

As an Online Advertising Production Assistant at BBH you will follow a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Creative and Digital Media and learn the craft of producing digital content, in particular the online adverts found on websites and mobile applications, while supporting the BBH interactive producers.

For more details and to apply.

Over the Christmas period, things like buying the newspaper get moved even further down people’s list of priorities. So when the festivities die away, a new year and the month of January presents the perfect opportunity to get readers back into the habit of buying a paper at the weekend.

However, the broader category continues to see declining print sales year on year. Alongside a cover-price rise that hits this weekend and not enough ‘new news’ to really hang our hat on, the commercial targets we were presented with for weekend paper sales began to look more than ambitious.

In short, we needed to sell, and sell hard.

But this isn’t a tone or behaviour that fits naturally with a brand like The Guardian. This campaign is our creative solution – or, How to do hard sell, the Guardian way. We’ll let Hugh Grant, who graciously agreed to feature in this film without a fee, take it from there.

The campaign captures the scale of US destinations accessible to passengers flying British Airways from India – en route to the US via London. Award – winning artist Wesley West used over six thousand regular push – pins to create the images, painstakingly choreographing each pin to allow for an arresting 3D effect.

Renowned still life photographer and longtime BBH friend Leon Steele then brought the three six – foot tall images to life – creating movement and depth – to the iconic Statue of Liberty, the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge and a Rodeo moment.

For over twenty years Axe has been all about helping guys get girls. Lots and lots of girls. But what about THE girl?
Every guy has one, the girl that blows him away so completely he’s unable to approach her. We created a label for that girl, and her name was Susan Glenn.
Then we created an integrated, multimedia campaign based on the simple premise that, even though every guy has a Susan Glenn, with the help of Axe, every guy can Fear No Susan Glenn.

Who doesn’t love a cuddly cute teddy bear? Well at least it has never failed to melt the hearts of young females. The use of a teddy bear in the latest Alpenliebe spot is to convey the emotion of one who is always there for you and who cares about and loves you always quietly. They could either be your family, your friends or even your lover. They are exactly like our hero teddy bear who is always around us and dedicates their time without expecting our pay back. When you need help, he is there for you.

The ad is to convey, behind every spoken word and gesture are genuine loving intentions from the people who love you most, just like Alpenliebe Chocolate Filled Toffee candy providing you the real chocolate filling.

Johnnie Walker has launched a supportive tactical campaign to coincide with the London 2012 Paralympics. The campaign comprises a series of digital banners and an online film that demonstrate the power of the progressive spirit, even in the most difficult of situations.

The banner executions appear to be simple, inspirational headlines. On closer inspection however, we realize elements of the Chinese characters are missing, specifically those that denote ‘hand,’ ‘eye’ and ‘foot.’ The film has no visuals, we simply hear the action. It ends with a single super – ‘I can’t see the world, so I will let the world see me.’

The campaign calls on all of us to persevere and explore all the possibilities within our lives. “Everyone’s life has imperfections and hurdles. The Paralympics inspires us to see that we shouldn’t care about what we’re missing, but what we have and what we can still achieve with that. The wholeness of one’s life is determined by the wholeness of one’s inner self. We are very privileged to have this opportunity, using the unique magic of Chinese language, to explain the spirit of Keep Walking.” Said Leo Zhang, Creative Director, BBH China.

“All the ingredients that have enabled the success of BBH and NEOGAMA/BBH will be protected, today, tomorrow and in the long term. BBH’s management will continue to be independent and the network will develop in its own way, in its own style, while benefiting from the support of Publicis Groupe’s resources to accelerate its growth both geographically and via the expansion of its capabilities into more diverse areas. I’m very proud that the founders and teams of BBH and NEOGAMA/BBH have chosen to join us,” declared Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe.

In two separate transactions, Publicis Groupe has acquired:

51% of the shares of the Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) network – in which Publicis Groupe has already held a 49% stake for many years – from its founders Nigel Bogle and Sir John Hegarty, and their partners, bringing the Groupe’s ownership to 100%.

100% of the shares of NEOGAMA/BBH in Brazil (34% from BBH and 66% from its founder, Alexandre Gama and his partners). NEOGAMA/BBH is one of the most creative and innovative Brazilian agencies, with an impressive list of successful achievements making it a top creative agency in the Brazilian market.

BBH is one of the world’s legendary agencies. Founded in London in 1982 by John Bartle, Nigel Bogle and Sir John Hegarty, the agency has produced many highly acclaimed campaigns over the past three decades including “Vorsprung durch Technik” for Audi, “Keep Walking” for Johnnie Walker, “To Fly. To Serve” for British Airways, “The Axe Effect” for Axe and “The Web is what you make of it” for Google, to name a few. This year, BBH won 21 Cannes Lions, including the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix and 4 Gold Lions.

Recognized in the British and international markets as a flagship for modern creativity, BBH London was named by Campaign magazine ‘Agency of the Year’ six times, an absolute record. BBH has developed a micro-network, with offices in London, New York, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai and Los Angeles, and employs some 1,000 professionals worldwide. Revenue for the BBH micro-network (excluding Brazil) reached 112.2 million euros in 2011. Publicis Groupe has held a minority share of 49% of the agency since 2002, when the group acquired Bcom3.

NEOGAMA/BBH’s story is very close to that of BBH’s, hence their agreement. The campaigns developed by Alexandre Gama’s brilliant creative agency for clients including Banco Bradesco, Johnnie Walker-Diageo, TIM, OMO and Renault are among the most powerful and famous ever produced in Brazil. Headquartered in Sao Paulo, with an office in Rio de Janeiro, NEOGAMA/BBH employs a staff of approximately 270. NEOGAMA/BBH’s 2011 revenue reached 42.2 million euros. NEOGAMA/BBH will retain its name and will continue to be led by its founder and Chief Creative Officer Alexandre Gama. Two of NEOGAMA/BBH’s affiliate agencies, Triacom and Made in Moon, units providing digital and retail consulting services respectively, also become part of Publicis Groupe through this deal.

Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe declared: “My relationship with founders Nigel Bogle, Sir John Hegarty and Alexandre Gama spans a decade – years in which I developed great admiration for the exceptional achievements of these legendary talents and their agencies, the remarkable work they create for their clients, and their magnet to attract talent and clients. These transactions will enable the unification of the BBH network. Publicis Groupe has been a good partner to BBH and NEOGAMA/BBH over the past ten years; we’ve managed to understand the rare and special company ethos of BBH, its symbol (the black sheep) and its community of men and women, who are recognized as some of the best professionals in our industry. Faithful to our motto, “Viva la Difference,” we have decided, together with Nigel, John and Alexandre, to engineer an integration that will preserve and protect their specific culture, their working methods, and the characteristics of the agencies through an approach of “autonomy inside” the Groupe. Thus all the ingredients that have enabled the success of BBH and NEOGAMA/BBH will be protected, today, tomorrow and in the long term. BBH’s management will continue to be independent and the network will develop in its own way, in its own style, while benefiting from the support of Publicis Groupe’s resources to accelerate its growth both geographically and via the expansion of its capabilities into more diverse areas. I’m very proud that the founders and teams of BBH and NEOGAMA/BBH have chosen to join us”.

Nigel Bogle, Founder of BBH, added, “The decision was very clear. We were looking for an opportunity that would ensure that our agency maintained a high degree of autonomy and could continue to abide by the values characterized by the black sheep. The key point for us was the preservation of our operational independence in managing the BBH brand, which has produced almost uninterrupted growth for thirty years. The new ownership not only ensures our autonomy, but brings us considerable advantages through Publicis Groupe’s resources and global infrastructure.”

Alexandre Gama, Chief Creative Officer of NEOGAMA/BBH, added: “This is an exciting development for NEOGAMA/BBH and we are particularly proud to become a 100% BBH agency within Publicis Groupe. The move brings scale, global reach and numerous opportunities, which translates into good news for our clients, our teams and our agency’s future.”

Thirty years after the creation of BBH, Nigel Bogle and Sir John Hegarty have chosen to assure the long-term success of their agency via this transaction – which guarantees its future and autonomous functioning as a micro-network within Publicis Groupe – and have set in place a new management structure capable of carrying out its future promise.

Sir John Hegarty has appointed Alexandre Gama to succeed him as Worldwide Chief Creative Officer (WCCO). Simon Sherwood, previously Group Chief Executive Officer, takes over as Group Chairman. Gwyn Jones, who joined BBH as part of the first graduate intake in 1987, becomes Group Chief Executive Officer and Neil Munn, CEO of BBH’s brand ventures company Zag, takes on the Group Chief Operating Officer role in addition to his current role.

Nigel Bogle, Founding Partner and Sir John Hegarty, Founding Partner – Creative, will remain active on client business but will transfer executive responsibility to this management team. In addition to remaining closely involved with many BBH key accounts, Nigel Bogle will also continue to coach and mentor the new management team. Given his stature as a celebrated global creative leader, Sir John Hegarty will continue to champion creativity and represent BBH on the global stage as well as key client assignments.

Sir John Hegarty said, “Creativity is at the very heart of BBH. The quality of our work and the people who produce it have always been central to our success and will continue to be so into the future.”

The Board of the BBH holding company will consist of three members of the Publicis Groupe Management Board – Maurice Lévy, Jean-Yves Naouri, and Jean-Michel Etienne – as well as Steve King, Global CEO of ZenithOptimedia, Nigel Bogle, Sir John Hegarty and Simon Sherwood. This board will delegate full responsibility and authority for the day-to-day management and operation to a BBH Global Management Team led by Gwyn Jones.

About the new management:

Simon Sherwood, Group Chairman, has risen through the ranks of BBH having joined as the first account manager in 1982. He ran BBH London then moved to Singapore to launch BBH’s first overseas office in 1996 and since 1998 has lead the expansion of the business globally. He will now chair the new BBH Board as well as the Global Management Team, in addition to overseeing important client relationships.

Gwyn Jones has run both BBH London and BBH New York. He helped lead the London agency through a period of strong growth and industry recognition with BBH winning ten Agency of the Year awards in four years and a record three consecutive Campaign Magazine Agency of the Year awards. In 2004, Gwyn transferred to New York to take on the position of CEO. Again, he oversaw a period of both business and creative growth before returning to London in 2008 to take up the Group Chief Operating Officer role.

Gwyn will be supported by Neil Munn who steps into the role of Group Chief Operating Officer. Neil has been at BBH since 2006 when he was hired to set up BBH’s Brand Ventures business, Zag. He also brings a wealth of commercial experience from his former position as a BBH client when Global Marketing Director on Axe at Unilever. Neil will divide his time between his new role and his leadership of Zag.

ABOUT PUBLICIS GROUPE

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, part of the CAC 40 index] is the third largest communications group in the world, offering the full range of services and skills: digital and traditional advertising, public affairs and events, media buying and specialized communication. Its major networks are Leo Burnett, MSLGROUP, PHCG (Publicis Healthcare Communications Group), Publicis Worldwide, Rosetta and Saatchi & Saatchi. VivaKi, the Groupe’s media and digital accelerator, includes Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia. Present in 104 countries, the Groupe employs 54,000 professionals.

www.publicisgroupe.com

Twitter:@PublicisGroupe

Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe

ABOUT BBH

Bartle Bogle Hegarty is one of the world’s most famous creative advertising agencies. Founded in 1982 by British ad men John Bartle, Nigel Bogle and John Hegarty, the agency has produced campaigns for many of the world’s most illustrious brands. BBH’s distinctive micro-network has offices in London, New York, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai and Los Angeles and employs 1,000 staff worldwide. The agency continues to work with its founding client, Audi, and still uses the original “Vorsprung durch Technik” line in its campaigns. The agency produces work for clients such as Diageo, Unilever, British Airways, Google and Audi, that spans all media and types of content. The agency also builds its own brands through its brand ventures company – Zag. The agency’s 28 year relationship with Levi’s produced some of the most iconic advertising in history including “Launderette” and “Flat Eric”. BBH campaigns have produced 9 number one hit singles. BBH was given the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1996 and 1997 in recognition of its global expansion success. John Hegarty was knighted in 2007 for his services to the advertising industry and awarded the first “Lion of St Mark” by the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2011. BBH’s success has been founded on its belief in creativity and making its clients brands famous. In the first quarter of 2012 BBH has won Agency of the Year at the Webby Awards for its digital work on Google and ASOS Menswear. The London office is currently Agency of the Year as voted by Campaign magazine, Creative Review magazine and the ARROWS (the British Television Advertising Awards).

ABOUT NEOGAMA/BBH

NEOGAMA/BBH is the eighth largest advertising agency in the Brazilian market, according to IBOPE/MONITOR’s 2011 ranking. Founded in 1999 by Alexandre Gama, NEOGAMA partnered with UK’s BBH Network in 2002 and established itself as one of the most creative in the country, being the first Brazilian agency to be awarded Gold Lions simultaneously in the Press and Film categories in the same year in Cannes, in 2003. NEOGAMA was also the only Brazilian agency to win a Lion in Cannes still in its first year of operation. A renowned brand manager, NEOGAMA/BBH is behind some of the most successful communication cases in the advertising market, for brands such as TIM, Banco Bradesco, OMO, Renault and Johnnie Walker.
www.neogamabbh.com.br

BBH has been named Agency of the Year at The Webbys.

Established in 1996 The Webby Awards is the leading international digital awards scheme. Its aim is to champion creative excellence and innovation on the internet around the globe.

The Webbys is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a seriously impressive body of leading web experts, business figures, visionaries and creative celebrities that includes Internet inventor Vint Cerf, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Simpsons creator Matt Groening and David Bowie.

We picked up nine awards in total for work including ASOS ‘Urban Tour’, our ‘Dear Sophie’ film for Google, and the Google Music project.

This week BBH has been named Creative Review’s Agency of the Year.

Creative Review is a highly respected industry magazine that once a year produces an annual showcasing the best work from around the globe. The prestigious ‘Agency of the Year’ title is awarded to the agency which has the most work featured.

Today is BBH’s 30th birthday and, to mark the moment, Nigel Bogle wrote to everyone who works here. It’s a personal perspective on the story of BBH, sure, but in reading it, it struck us this might be something of value beyond these four walls. A celebration of – and provocation to – our industry, not just this agency.

Please visit the BBH Labs blog to read more

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has appointed BBH as its global advertising agency for its devices business unit. Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, with products and services deployed in more than 140 countries around the world, Huawei Device will work with BBH to establish a consumer brand platform and integrated campaign across its handsets, mobile broadband devices and home solutions product range.

Simon Sherwood, Group CEO of BBH said: “Huawei is that rare thing; a global business with real expertise and reputation in its sector, and with little profile in the consumer market. That is about to change. Our job is to help it fulfil its ambition to establish an iconic new global consumer brand in smartphones and tablets. It is a brilliant opportunity, and we are genuinely excited to be part of that journey.”

Amy Lou, Director of Global Brand Management at Huawei said: “This is an important time for Huawei to build a strong global consumer brand. BBH is a well-respected advertising agency with extraordinary creativity. With our shared passion and ‘make it happen’ spirit, we look forward to embarking on this journey together.”

BBH London and BBH NY are listed in Creativity’s 10 Most Creative Shops in 2011. Read more here.

BBH London has been named Campaign magazine’s Agency of the Year for 2011.

The judges praised our sheer volume of first-rate work , impressive new business wins , fistful of awards , and our array of extra-curricular activities including Rosie Arnold becoming the new president of D&AD, Sir John Hegarty launching Hegarty on Advertising and being honoured at Cannes, and our fundraising efforts for those affected by the London riots and the victims of the earthquake in Japan.

“An extraordinary year for an extraordinary agency. BBH has managed to pack more into 2011 than some agencies achieve in a decade. A deserving winner of Campaign s Agency of the Year.” Campaign magazine.

BBH has been appointed by Heineken as the global advertising agency of record for the Sol brand*. BBH London will be responsible for the creative development of the global brand positioning.

Alexis Nassard, Heineken Chief Commercial Officer commented: “The Heineken company places significant importance in the creative capabilities of its agencies as well as the fit of the creative team with the brand to deliver award-winning work such as the current Heineken Brand Campaign “The Entrance” . BBH demonstrated strong creative capabilities and great passion for the Sol brand. We’re confident that they will help us raise the profile of Sol.”

BBH CEO Ben Fennell said: “We are very proud of this win. Sol has a brilliant story to tell and we are greatly looking forward to telling it.”

*BBH will be the advertising agency of record for the Sol brand outside of Mexico while DDB Argentina is the ad agency responsible for Sol in Mexico.

AkzoNobel has appointed BBH to develop a global communications platform for the Dulux brand. BBH will work closely with the Dulux global brand management team to build a powerful brand property. Beyond the Global activities of the brand, BBH will also work directly with Dulux in a number of markets around the world.

Sucheta Govil, Global head of Marketing for Decorative Paints at AkzoNobel said of the appointment: “Dulux represents a great opportunity to Add Colour to People’s Lives. I’m hugely excited that with our new partnership with BBH, we can make Dulux a powerful global brand that will inspire people to change their surroundings. Dulux will create meaningful partnerships with consumers, professionals and communities in order to effect positive change all around us, in our homes and across the world.”

Nigel Bogle, BBH Group Chairman commented: ” Dulux is a great brand and there are ambitious plans for its future development. Creatively there is a very exciting opportunity to make a real difference and we are thrilled to be working on this global assignment.”