Bicycle | Certified B Corp™️’s Post

The tightening of HFSS rules for advertising unhealthy foods has been in the pipeline since 2022. So the recent announcement from the Government that it will go ahead in October 2025, at least provides clarity over what has been an uncertain situation. We believe that constraints provide opportunity... and this is no exception. HFSS foods will now require smarter and more innovative marketing - they'll need to create work that truly engages the right audience in a meaningful way, using message, context and media - instead of just popping a picture of a burger in front of them. Henry Daglish spoke to Campaign when the news broke last week on what they mean for Adland and the food industry.

WHAT CAN DIGITAL ADVERTISING LEARN FROM JOHNNY CASH'S COVER OF 'HURT'? I was listening to Johnny Cash today. It struck me that alongside being an absolute banger, Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” isn’t just a song—it’s a lesson in how to connect on a fundamental and deeply personal level. It’s raw, it’s real, and it resonates in a way few covers do. The digital advertising industry, which often finds itself caught in a loop of neophilia and data obsession, can learn a lot from how Cash approached this track. This is a man who had lived through addiction, loss, and redemption, and when he sang the words “I hurt myself today"... it just hits differently. The track is a masterpiece in brutal authenticity. It wasn’t just a performance; it was a reflection of his life. It was raw and real. People can tell when something feels real versus when it’s just lip service. In a digital world full of polished lives, shiny veneers and influencers, a brand’s genuine voice cuts through the noise, just like Cash’s cover did. Reality. It’s more powerful than the most perfectly curated campaign. Cash also shows the raw power of emotional storytelling. The music video for “Hurt” is haunting—shots of his life, his old footage, intertwined with moments of vulnerability. It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t overproduced, and it didn’t need to be. It was about evoking emotion. We can often get too caught up in analytics and ROI, sometimes forgetting that, at the end of the day, it’s about making people feel something. Marketing that tell a compelling, emotional story sticks with people long after they’ve seen it. Cash, at this stage of his career, was well into his later years but that didn’t stop him from taking on a contemporary song and making it his own. It’s a story of reinvention. In media, many often get stuck in old habits—the same old plan, year after year. But there’s real power in changing things up. Cash didn’t shy away from taking a classic by Nine Inch Nails, a band with a different vibe from his own, and turned it into something that felt deeply personal and timeless. It’s a perfect metaphor for how brands can embrace change, experiment with newer trends or voices, and make them work for their own story. Collabs, anyone? Reinvention isn’t about abandoning what made you great in the first place—it’s about evolving while staying true to your core values. Cash took a song that seemed like an odd fit on the surface and infused it with his life’s emotion, making it resonate with an entirely different audience. Finding a way to take new ideas, adapt them in ways that still align with your DNA, and deliver something that feels both fresh and authentic - that's where the opportunity is. Advertising, especially in digital, could benefit from a bit of Johnny Cash—more authenticity, more emotional depth, and more willingness to take risks and reinvent. Will it happen? It might Hurt a bit, but's it's gonna have to. https://lnkd.in/ezm9SPQS

We turned three years old a month or two ago, and we thought it was high time that we refreshed our brand look and feel - not least to help house the launch of the new sub-brands under the Bicycle family. After a few months hard work between our in-house creative agency Studio, and the marvellous Jemima Daisy Compton, we're excited to finally roll out our refreshed identity. We have a refined colour palette and typeface, a new brand architecture that has yielded new logos for Blade, Studio & Ripple, and a smart 'spoke' graphic device system that works across all of our visual assets, derived from the world of cycling and deployed to evoke our proposition of 'the power of and' (drawn from the idea of spokes existing to connect effectively and securely). We're really pleased with how it's all come together... and we hope you love it too. Do take a look at our refreshed site (bicyclelondon.com) to see it all in practice.

The UK government yesterday confirmed what we all knew was coming. Starting October 2025, the UK will see a 9pm watershed on TV advertising for junk food, alongside a total ban on paid-for online ads for unhealthy food and drinks. This move, aimed at tackling childhood obesity, was confirmed by Health Minister Andrew Gwynne yesterday: These restrictions are intended to protect children from being exposed to advertising that falls into the High, Fat, Salt or Sugar items, which, as some research shows, can shape lifetime dietary preferences. To date, the HFSS rules have been a blunt implement, with many brands producing food that can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet getting caught in the crossfire, whilst other clearly more unhealthy ones, sidestepping the rules due to 'portion size'. See below for a cracker from KFC that is NOT HFSS, according to the current restrictions from the Mayor of London. Farcical, right? Here at Bicycle, we are looking forward to working with our clients in order to navigate this new world of operating. It will no doubt throw up numerous challenges and opportunities. HFSS brands are going to need to think differently and embrace the power of and - especially bringing media and creative together to work in harmony. One thing is for sure - gone are the days of brands and media owners stretching the limit when it comes to this stuff. The “spirit” of the rules matter as much as the legals.

We believe the bigger the gap, the worse the work. Whether it’s a division between on and offline, AI and humans, brand and performance - as the gap stretches the quality suffers. And perhaps the biggest gap of all is between media and creative. When these two go hand-in-hand the real magic happens. That’s why we’re ecstatic to announce our appointment as full service, media and creative lead agency for Papa John’s. Because when things come together, good things happen. Pizza & Bikes? You Know It Makes Sense. https://lnkd.in/etTJjaki

Thanks, Andrew Tindall. We love working with Dutch Barn Vodka - although some revisions were needed to the original designs to get the posters past Transport for London...

We are proud to be a B corp. It happened overnight last year, but our journey to certification has been a long and transformational one. It challenged us to become a better business today and think deeply about how we continue to improve and make a meaningful impact tomorrow. From our latest Slipstream newsletter, Reema Qureshi Patel FCA, our Finance Director and Partner discusses how incorporating sustainability goals within commercial objectives is no longer optional for media agencies; it is an essential strategy for future-proofing your business.

GO GO GO MOJU's biggest multichannel ATL campaign has just dropped Their newest WAKE SHAKE BOOM campaign is set to reach 85% of UK consumers... that’s 17.5 million more consumers than last year’s campaign 🤯 That's a lot of ginger getting consumed over the next 17 weeks and beyond... The Bicycle team has secured them: 📺 New ’20 and ’10 TV spots across breakfast programming on ITV, Sky and Channel 4 📻 MOJU’s first ad spots firing up Breakfasts and Afternoons on Absolute Radio, Virgin Radio UK and Radio X 🎤 Their first radio sponsorship with “5 Words 5 Grand” hosted by Dave Berry for a powerful dose of morning mojo With this powerful dose of morning mojo, we’re hoping to help more consumers than ever reaching for their daily go-to punchy pick-me-up. Creative creds to Who Wot Why London. We can’t wait to see what this one brings…