Cowshed

Reimagining the ‘corporate video’ Our latest creative solution for phs Group Earlier this year, our client phs group came to us with an unusual creative challenge. Could we create a corporate video they could play at their annual sales conference to over 200 salespeople? How could we energise them, and ensure they didn’t leave feeling flat or 🥱? As the creative agency for phs, we saw it as our responsibility to offer a genuinely creative solution to the brief 💡 Creativity is a word everyone bands about these days. But what is it? We think creativity is simple: it’s the ability to look at the world differently; to think of different ways of doing everyday things. In recent years, corporate videos have become ever more boring. Case-study films featuring talking heads and endless slow-motion b-roll have been so overused, they’ve become banal and an inefficient way for companies to communicate. But there is another, more creative way. As our client, we knew that phs group is a company committed to putting people at the heart of their products and services. Through impactful initiatives like their male incontinence and period quality programmes, the impact of phs group’s work is so much more than meets the eye. Unfortunately, most people only know phs group for one thing, 🚽 toilets. Our creative solution was to write a comedy script that played on this idea. We created a fictional phs employee – Steve – and shot a mockumentary in which he debunked the notion that phs simply offered services for, err, toilets. It was a risky pitch 😬 But having already gained phs group’s trust with numerous creative solutions this year, we felt confident in advising this approach ✅ We knew that making yet another corporate video wasn’t what a room full of salespeople would want to watch at a conference ❌ We knew we had to create something that would evoke an emotional response. And so, together, we rolled the dice … and tried to make the audience laugh 😀 The finished film went down so well that phs group is now using it as an external film to inform existing customers and potential customers on the whole spectrum of service they offer - and, the film has become phs’ most shared online video this year. When it comes to talking about a company’s values, it’s often scary to talk in a new way. But when it comes to communications, emotion trumps all concerns. Read more about it here: https://lnkd.in/epm4DC4R #bogstandard #CorporateVideo #phsPurpose #SteveWhatDoYouDo

🎊New Collab and R&D Funding 🎊 We’re beyond proud to share the news that we have been awarded seed funding from Media Cymru to launch Stori Lab. The funding is helping us to set up Stori Lab, a project that will support disabled young people find new ways to create content. 🎥📱🎞️ It’s a partnership between Cowshed and Cerebra (Charity) an incredible UK charity that supports young people with brain conditions. As well as offering support, Cerebra also has a research lab, where they invent new tools to help young people who want to live their lives to the full 👩🔬 💭⚙️ This got us thinking …Could you invent a tool to help young people with brain conditions tell stories? We believe everyone has a story to tell. And by enabling young people, whatever their disability, to more easily tell stories, we all benefit. After working together on an application, Stori Lab was chosen as 1 of 18 development projects from Media Cymru’s Seed Fund for 2024/25. The fund supports research projects in the field of tech, virtual production, and interactive experiences and will lead to new services to bolster the media sector within the Cardiff Capital Region. You can read more about all that in the press release – linked below. For now, we’re excited to get this project started, beginning with deep engagement where we’re learning first-hand what barriers stand in the way of creative expression for young people with brain injuries. A pilot project will then be chosen to look at a specific workaround, which will be tested in a real-world context. We’ll post regular updates about the project here over the next five months so do keep an 👁️ out … This is a meaningful project that has the potential to make production and content creation fairer, more accessible and open to everyone. If you know of anyone who would like to be involved with this project, please do get in touch. https://lnkd.in/eDQ2GjDT Huw Crowley Charlie Simpson Katie Price Charlotte Scarborough Vicki Spencer-Francis kellie beirne Professor Sara Louise Pepper

🎊New Collab and R&D Funding 🎊 We’re beyond proud to share the news that we have been awarded seed funding from Media Cymru to launch Stori Lab. The funding is helping us to set up Stori Lab, a project that will support disabled young people find new ways to create content. 🎥📱🎞️ It’s a partnership between Cowshed and Cerebra (Charity) an incredible UK charity that supports young people with brain conditions. As well as offering support, Cerebra also has a research lab, where they invent new tools to help young people who want to live their lives to the full 👩🔬 💭⚙️ This got us thinking …Could you invent a tool to help young people with brain conditions tell stories? We believe everyone has a story to tell. And by enabling young people, whatever their disability, to more easily tell stories, we all benefit. After working together on an application, Stori Lab was chosen as 1 of 18 development projects from Media Cymru’s Seed Fund for 2024/25. The fund supports research projects in the field of tech, virtual production, and interactive experiences and will lead to new services to bolster the media sector within the Cardiff Capital Region. You can read more about all that in the press release – linked below. For now, we’re excited to get this project started, beginning with deep engagement where we’re learning first-hand what barriers stand in the way of creative expression for young people with brain injuries. A pilot project will then be chosen to look at a specific workaround, which will be tested in a real-world context. We’ll post regular updates about the project here over the next five months so do keep an 👁️ out … This is a meaningful project that has the potential to make production and content creation fairer, more accessible and open to everyone. If you know of anyone who would like to be involved with this project, please do get in touch. https://lnkd.in/eDQ2GjDT Huw Crowley Charlie Simpson Katie Price Charlotte Scarborough Vicki Spencer-Francis kellie beirne Professor Sara Louise Pepper

We’ve loved working with Books Council of Wales over the last two years. 📚 From promoting the joy of reading to young people with the #CaruDarllen campaign to showcasing the impact their New Audiences Grant has in strengthening and diversifying the publishing industry in Wales. We just wrapped up some promotional videos for the Summer Reading Challenge, helping to encourage more children to read for pleasure across the summer. You can watch all the videos and read more about our work with them here: https://lnkd.in/e78fjx5i There’s still a couple more weeks left to go of the Summer Reading Challenge, click here to get involved: https://lnkd.in/e3MAzs3h

Our latest campaign for phs and Prostate Cancer UK is HERE 🎊 Introducing the BOG STANDARD … and the story of how it came to life 🚽 📖     The Bog Standard is a creative initiative we developed for phs Group and Prostate Cancer UK to support men with incontinence, empowering them to feel confident using toilets in public.    The BOG STANDARD is a new sign for organisations to show to men that their washrooms are up to scratch 🚾 🚽✅   It’s our creative solution to a unique brief: to empower men with incontinence so they don’t miss out on crucial life moments 🕺   Sadly, incontinence affects millions of men across the UK and 80% of men with incontinence are anxious to leave the house 😰🏠   Most male washrooms don’t have facilities for binning incontinence products or waste - for many, this leads to embarrassment, shame and anxiety 🚾 🚽❌   Prostate Cancer UK found that men with incontinence miss out on key life moments EACH DAY.    Worried about a woeful lack of facilities and exhausted by having to plan around accessing washrooms and incontinence bins, many men reluctantly miss out on day-to-day life, events and crucial moments with family and friends.   Last year, Prostate Cancer UK partnered with phs Group - the UK’s leading provider of washroom services - to raise awareness about male incontinence.    Their campaign - ‘Dispose with Dignity’ - lobbied the government for men to have similar treatment as women when it comes to washroom access.    Here at Cowshed, that campaign caught our eye 👁️ …    With prostate cancer affecting 1/8 men across the UK, we knew this was a cause that mattered …    In fact, members of our team have lived experience of the subject … we had skin in the game.   We began thinking of creative ideas to develop the campaign into something even BIGGER 💡   We successfully pitched to phs Group to be their new creative agency, offering them the BOG STANDARD concept as part of our pitch.    As a creative idea, we knew the BOG STANDARD was a powerful idea. It offered real world solutions for men 🌎👨✅   Today, we are beyond thrilled to see how that original idea has blossomed into a full, integrated campaign that’s launching into the world 🚀   As phs Group’s new creative agency, we: 1️⃣ Developed the creative concept🖊️ ✅ 2️⃣ Designed the brand and all deliverables 🎨 ✅ 3️⃣ Created this launch film that we’re sharing today 🎥 ✅   In fact, this is the first film we’ve edited in house with our rapidly expanding creative team - another exciting achievement for us 🙂   We are so proud to have poured our hearts into this campaign with the brilliant wider team at phs and we can’t wait to see it roll out all across the UK.    There’s a link in the comments if you want to read about the campaign in more detail.    Do please share the video and join us in demanding the BOG STANDARD.    We call it work with meaning.

Well that was some night at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Excellence awards in London. We came away with six wins, four of them gold and two marks of excellence, one for UK Consultancy of the year! It marks the end of an incredible week as last week we were also named PRCA large consultancy of the year for Wales! Over the past 10 years we have built an exceptional team who work hard, know their stuff and are passionate about working with meaning. We couldn’t be more proud of the whole team’s work and the support of our incredible clients Maethu Cymru | Foster Wales Welsh Government And we had a blast 💥 Thank you to Sarah Waddington CBE CDir ChartPR for joining us for what was quite the night. And to our best pal Jason Mohammad for welcoming us onto the stage so many times! Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/egjNZSUF

Today sees the launch of a campaign to save The Aloud Charity Over 6,500 young people have been supported since they launched in 2010, and now they need to raise £150k to save both the charity and its famous Only Boys Aloud choir. We worked closely with the Aloud team and their valued members - both past and present - to put together this film to help raise the awareness of the vital funds needed. Please, if you can, donate now to keep boys in Wales singing:  https://lnkd.in/eKqUgawG

If you want to design work that makes a difference, our latest role is for you. As a creative designer in a growing team, you’ll make a positive difference to issues like domestic violence, adoption, fostering, literacy, free school meals and sustainable energy plus lots of other work with meaning. Apply today: https://lnkd.in/e9rr_Gf6

If you want to design work that makes a difference, our latest role is for you. As a creative designer in a growing team, you’ll make a positive difference to issues like domestic violence, adoption, fostering, literacy, free school meals and sustainable energy plus lots of other work with meaning. Apply today: https://lnkd.in/e9rr_Gf6

If you want to design work that makes a difference, our latest role is for you. As a creative designer in a growing team, you’ll make a positive difference to issues like domestic violence, adoption, fostering, literacy, free school meals and sustainable energy plus lots of other work with meaning. Apply today: https://lnkd.in/e9rr_Gf6