A tale of 2023 cities
It’s been a big year at Third City, packed fuller than Santa’s sack with purposeful work, prestigious awards, and, of course, fantastic clients. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane though 2023…
In January we moved into our new Farringdon office, and we’re loving our new home now as much as we did when we first moved in all those months ago. If you’ve not been, come and see us!
Kicking on
February saw the launch of our Kick on with Starling campaign for Starling Bank, giving away more than £200,000 worth of kit, equipment and coaching time to women’s grassroots football teams, hot on the heels of the bank’s highly successful sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. Thanks to Jill Scott for kicking it all off.
ESG Agency of the Year
Pancake Day in March was even sweeter than usual this year, as it was our first charity fundraiser for our new charity partner Young Lives vs Cancer – a cause that means a lot to our staff.
Delivering meaningful work is one of our core pillars and, as a B Corp, we were proud to support B Corp Month and share examples of how we use our business as a force for good. As such, in April, we were honoured to be named ESG Agency of the Year at the PRmoment Awards.
Award-winning summer
And awards didn’t stop there. We scooped Best Fintech Campaign at the PRCA City and Financial Awards for our ‘Make Women’s Football Equal’ fantasy football game for Starling Bank, which also went on to win Best Finance Campaign at the Drum Awards, Financial Services Campaign of the Year at the PR Moment Awards, and the Consumer Technology Campaign Award at the PRCA UK Awards.
Clients and campaigns
Over the summer we announced a slew of client wins: Kia UK (as reported in PR Week), sustainable energy company GRIDSERVE, home assistance provider HomeServe, National Fostering Group, and fintech Bitpanda.
Notable summer campaigns included launching family history site Findmypast’s new podcast series “Step into the Past” with TV historian Suzannah Lipscomb, announcing Bitpanda’s partnership with Coinbase, hosting the first panel discussion for apprenticeship experts Tiro, and encouraging ‘Mindful Spending’ for Vanquis by creating a formula to avoid buyer’s regret.
We also transformed former England footballer Anita Asante into an actual Lioness ahead of the Women’s World Cup for the AHDB to encourage young women to ‘Eat Like a Lioness’ with healthier, more balanced diets. Check out our ‘Behind the Campaign’ on PR Week.
Our work in ESG
In July we launched our Electric Futures campaign for Kia UK, promoting their new electric SUV, the EV9, by electrocuting Jodie Kidd with more than a million volts. Not only did stunt generate extensive coverage but has helped move the needle when it comes to public opinion on EVs and has already scooped an ESG Award for Best Environmental Product campaign. See a full write-up on Creative Moment.
Come Autumn, and we announced that we’d been appointed by Nespressso to handle their sustainability communications (PR Week), and shortly after implemented a Recycle Week takeover of the coffee brand’s social channels, focusing on creative ways to recycle and reduce waste, including how to bake with used coffee grounds featuring Ravneet Gill.
Autumn activity
And ahead of the relaunch of Big Brother, featuring the most famous house in the country, we enlisted the show’s very first winner (and trained builder) Craig Phillips to highlight the biggest ‘bothers’ facing homes this winter and how to fix them, for HomeServe.
We also launched National Fostering Group’s latest recruitment drive with Fatima Whitbread, who shared her powerful story on Sky News, the Independent and a host of regionals.
Our fundraising continued with spooky pumpkin carving for Young Lives vs Cancer, and we had a fun and productive trip to Brighton as part of our company away day.
Rounding off the year
And as we round of the year in December, we’ve revealed the UK’s most polluted high streets for sustainable energy provider GRIDSERVE, and we’ve uncovered Santa’s rather large BMI for online doctor ZAVA – calling on Father Christmas to make some healthier choices with a Nutritional Naughty and Nice List. Using AI, we even mocked up a few fun images of what a healthy BMI Santa could look like!
With lots of great campaigns already in the works, we can’t wait to get cracking in the New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone, see you in 2024!
