Hey {{first_name}} ,

This week we speak with Fergus Main, creative lead at Living Things, which has just taken over London’s buses, billboards and Tube stations with its first ever ATL campaign. He tells us how they pulled it off, from working out the anatomy of a centaur to launching a neighbourhood first media plan.

Elsewhere, XOXO Soda turns Asda Express forecourts into fuel stations, One Planet Pizza goes from a dad’s kitchen to its first ready meals in Asda, and Third Space and Pip & Nut show why gyms and race days are fast becoming media channels. Plus, Jamie Laing heads into the Den with serious FMCG pedigree.

Big news from our partners at Procuros too, who have just raised a €20M Series A. Their AI-native platform connects brands with retailers, wholesalers and logistics partners so orders and invoices flow automatically. It’s already trusted by challenger brands like Little Moons, Tony’s, XOXO and more.

Let’s get into it 👇

What’s the idea behind “Refresh Your Inner Thing”, what’s the campaign about?

“At its heart, “Refresh Your Inner Thing” is about putting the feeling back into functional soda. The category gets caught up talking about ingredients, benefits and what’s happening on our insides, but we’re still making soda… It should taste great, feel refreshing and bring a light sparkle to our daily rituals.

Living Things is doing something good for your insides physically, but we wanted to explore what refreshing your inner thing could mean emotionally too.

That’s where our creatures come in. They’re essentially manifestations of that inner feeling bursting out… Whether that’s a watermelon-seed-flecked centaur thing heading to work or a raspberry flying thing popping out to pilates. It’s surreal, colourful and deliberately a little ridiculous, because our soda should make you smile.”

As you’ve just joined Living Things as creative lead, what’s it been like jumping straight into a campaign this size?

“It’s been a bit of a baptism of fire in a cosy-warm-the-feet-by-the-fire kind of way. From day one, I’ve been knee-deep in this, helping bring the biggest campaign the brand has ever done out into the world.

I’ve watched it bake from an idea to being plastered across billboards, buses and Tube stations across London, working with the crème de la crème of creative bakers at Lovers to bring it to life.

We’ve definitely had our hands all over it too. , (our head of marketing) and I, alongside the complete LT line-up, have worked our lil’ soda socks off getting this over the line, above the line, through the line… I’m not even sure where the line is anymore.

What I’ve loved most is that it wasn’t spat out at the click of a button. From scratchy sketches to evolving through photo shoots, human performance, VFX, design, art direction and a silly dose of deliberation about creatures, bubbles and centaur anatomy.

Coming into the brand at this moment has been hectic, but super rewarding. There aren’t many better introductions to a creative role than seeing London become the canvas.”

Why now for Living Things first ever ATL campaign, and how did the team approach planning all of it?

“It certainly feels like the right moment to introduce Living Things to a much bigger audience. We needed a campaign to support our expanded distribution but we didn’t want to suddenly whack our can up everywhere just because we could. The planning was really intentional.

The team took a neighbourhood-first approach, concentrating activity around parts of London with strong retail distribution, so someone could see a bus, billboard or Tube poster and then actually find a can nearby.

Creatively, the challenge was making every touchpoint feel unmistakably Living Things. An overlooked but rather challenging piece of the puzzle was ensuring everything from huge billboards to buses and Underground sites showcased the distinctive assets we’d developed in their fullest glory.”

What’s the reaction been like so far, and what’s the goal with this campaign?

“The reaction has been mega, more so as this is the first time Living Things has shown up at this scale. There’s something very different about people encountering the brand in BIG and out in the real world rather than through a screen or on a supermarket shelf.

Internally, we’ve all enjoyed spotting the campaign around London. Seeing strangers, friends and family photograph it, tag us, message us when they spot a bus or talk about the creatures has been super sweet.

But the aim of the game has been the right kind of brand awareness. The campaign has reached millions whilst going about everyday routines, when a little refresh can come in handy.

And “Refresh Your Inner Thing” is bigger than this campaign. It’s a longer-term creative platform for the brand, so this campaign is really the first big expression of a world we can keep building.”

Any advice for other brands doing their first ATL?

“Thinking about media and creative together from the beginning helped us. Where something appears is as important as what’s on it. Taking a neighbourhood-first approach meant focusing on where people could actually find Living Things nearby, rather than chasing reach for reach’s sake.

Enjoy the craft of it. There were a gazillion practicalities involved, but we knew we had to protect the weird idea that got everyone excited in the first place. That meant keeping human hands all over it. From scratchy pencil sketches to photography, VFX and design, rather than letting all that weirdness and craft get lost in some LLM.”

‘Til next week