Famous Campaigns Live 2026 | In Pictures
This week our first event Famous Campaigns Live brought together some of the most interesting marketers, agencies and creative leaders in the industry for a day dedicated to the stories behind the work: the strategy, craft, tension, judgement and creative courage that sit behind campaigns people actually notice.
Across 11 sessions, we went behind some of the most distinctive brand work of the last few months.
The day opened with Hannah Pain, Marketing Director at McDonald’s, and Andy Long, Executive Creative Director at Leo UK, on the story of how McDonald’s turned decades of fan hacks and internet folklore into the nationwide Secret Menu launch.
Then Filip Kiisk, Global Director of Brand Communications, Content and Partnerships at Absolut Vodka, and Freddy Taylor, Group Creative Director at W+K London, explored re-finding the soul of a brand — showing how Absolut looked back at its history, craft and distinctive tone in order to move forward.
Gary Raucher, Global Head of Marketing at ASICS, took us through how ASICS has turned consistency into a competitive advantage by staying anchored in its founding belief that movement benefits both body and mind.
With Ryan Todd, Head of Social Media and PR at Currys, we looked at why the algorithm hates brands — and how Currys won the internet by putting real store colleagues, native humour and phone-shot content at the heart of its social strategy.
AJ Coyne, VP Marketing and Growth at Monzo, and Will Lion, Chief Strategy Officer at BBH, then pulled back the curtain on Monzo’s hot coral strategy, from a personalised Soho bookstore to a 1p football kit pop-up in Coventry, and how the brand is helping rewrite the rules of financial services marketing.
After lunch, Ben Newbury, Head of Brand Marketing at Yorkshire Tea, and Laurence Horner, Strategy Partner at Lucky Generals, shared ‘the proper honest story’ of the Yorkshire Tea campaign — the real story behind almost 10 years of “Where everything’s done proper”, including the challenges, lessons and Yorkshire wit behind one of the country’s most loved campaigns.
Stacey Bird and Jack Croft, ECDs at Wonderhood Studios, took us behind The art of cinematic storytelling — unpacking how Waitrose turned festive advertising into blockbuster-style entertainment through The Perfect Gift – the ad that won Christmas.
Sol Ghafoor, Global Chief Strategy Officer at LePub Network, explored cultural resonance — showing how Heineken stays globally consistent while feeling locally relevant, and why the real prize is resonance, not just reach.
Then Yasmin O’Neal, Global Brand Senior Director at The Ordinary, and Marco Del Valle, Planning Director at Uncommon Creative Studio, took us inside The Periodic Fable and showed how honesty, critique and conviction can become culturally sharp rather than worthy.
Franki Goodwin, CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi, and Damion Mower, Director of Brand at the British Heart Foundation, gave us — the story of how BHF challenged the charity advertising rulebook and put hope, rather than despair, at the centre of its brand-building.
And the day closed with Gabrielle Taylor, Head of Communications and Rob Godfrey, Head of Brand at Oatly UK&I, with a candid look at how Oatly is evolving from industry provocateur to a brand focused on taste experiences, while holding onto the irreverence, mission and tone that made it famous.
Across the day, the same themes kept coming back.
Famous campaigns rarely happen by accident. They are the product of sharp strategy, creative judgement, internal persuasion, brave clients, strong agency relationships, cultural timing and a huge amount of craft.
A huge thank you to every speaker, moderator, guest and partner who helped make the first Famous Campaigns Live happen — and to OnePoll for supporting the event.
And out moderators Richard Kilgarriff (Bookomi), Claire Bridges (Now Go Create) and Sam Barcroft (SWNS Media Group).
The feedback has been incredible.
But the best part was seeing the conversations continue in the room, over lunch, in the corridors and afterwards online.
That was always the point.
To bring together people who care about great work, and give them a proper look at how it gets made.
See you at the next one.
