Leo UK

ITV Media are celebrating ITV's 70th Birthday (and therefore 70 years of TV advertising). And this wonderful spot by Leo UK's Gareth Butters has deservedly made the cut... They asked me to wang on about it, so here you go. Sometimes all you see is the spark of an idea, the bare bones, and it takes time for it to become complete and robust enough to present to a client. Rarely, very rarely, you see something so complete, so perfect, that all you need to do is help it get out into the world. ‘Raise Your Arches’ was the latter, perfect from the first script. Some small discussions internally. Do we put product in? No. Do we put a restaurant at the end? No. Music? Perfect, Yello was written into the first script. Director choice? Obviously had to be Edgar Wright, again presented with the first script, we got him too. Our wonderful clients loved it from the get-go too and helped us by buying the track early, Itsu were in for it from memory. The edit process had one nervy moment, but that’s history, there was bound to be something. They say great ideas have many fathers… this one has just one, well done Butters. Marvellous. Massive thanks: Andrew Long James Millers Carly Avener Charlie Rudd David Allen Joe Beveridge Roxy Windisch Sam Houlston Jay Perry Alice Pavey Carys Parry To the brilliant partners: Moxie Framestore 750mph Sam Ashwell And of course to Michelle Graham-Clare and the whole McDonald's UK team who said, “sure, no food, no dialogue, just eyebrows… crack on.” #LivingRoomLegends #McDonalds #RaiseYourArches #itvmedia

ITV Media have gone and done a lovely Living Room Legends series on the best telly ads of the last 70 years and, somehow, they asked me to talk about McDonald's “Raise Your Arches.” Oddly makes me feel ancient. Massive thanks to the absolute beautiful buggers who made it what it was Mark Elwood James Millers Andrew Long Carly Avener Charlie Rudd David Allen Joe Beveridge Roxy Windisch Sam Houlston Jay Perry Alice Pavey. Carys Parry Leo UK and non-agency folk like (if he was on here) Edgar, and the eyebrow choreographer who kept nipping back and forth to the set of Barbie between takes (yes, really). To everyone involved who turned a single eyebrow lift into a cinematic event Moxie Pictures +Doochy :) Framestore 750mph Sam Ashwell And to the mad-as-anything Michelle Graham-Clare and the whole McDonald's UK team who said, “sure, no food, no dialogue, just eyebrows… crack on.” A daft little idea that somehow made it all the way around the world. #LivingRoomLegends #McDonalds #RaiseYourArches #itvmedia

Is there a better marketer alive than Taylor Swift? 🧡 🩵 12 lessons from this weekend’s launch of her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl: 🥰 Feels. “It’s like Christmas Day” said one of our house’s resident Swifties on Friday as it all unfolded. Who doesn’t welcome a bit of blessed relief from global bleakness? 🥖 Breadcrumbs. A buildup full of hints (countdown clocks, profile image change, orange/mint palettes) made fans detectives, building breathless anticipation. 🤝Partnerships. The ultimate collab: Taylor Swift X NFL’s Travis Kelce. Announcing the album weeks back on his New Heights podcast hit not just music but sports fandoms. 📺 Trad media. Yes she’s the ultimate DTC brand, but she still kicked the weekend off with a broadcast blitz of appearances across radio and TV. 🎨 Craft. Amidst a sea of disposable AI slop, Taylor lavished craft on the video for the lead track Fate of Ophelia (below). It properly pops. 👩❤️👨 IRL. The joy of the eras tour was the crowds. This time Swifties congregated at an album launch party movie in cinemas. The 11.40am Sunday showing in Wandsworth wasn’t rammed, but in an atomised world it was lovely to smile at strangers. 🌭 Bangers. The product itself delivers. Tunes that are certified dancing-in-the-kitchen-singing in-the-car-worthy. 🥦 Fresh familiar. The secret to pop success? Balancing freshness and familiarity. The album blends her familiar lyricism, score-settling and tight middle eights with the fresh feel of an engagement and eras tour afterglow. 🥚Easter eggs. Movie is 89 mins long. Opals. “Keep it 100”. Charli XCX. Shaped tracklist. IFYKYK. 😇 Sincerity. In our arch, internet-fuelled society, sincerity isn’t cool. In her watch party intro to track “Elder Sister”, Taylor champions saying what you actually feel. A surprisingly easy way to stand out. 🙏 Thank you. Humility matters. To close a movie that shows her total creative control, Taylor looks straight down the lens and thanks us, without whom none of it would be possible. ☠️ No dead ends. Lyric videos, orange door pop-ups, literary references, exclusive editions, links to past Eras. Depth, richness and loops build a world you need never leave... The results speak for themselves: - Lead track “The Fate of Ophelia" became the most-streamed song in Spotify history, with over 30 million streams on release day. - The album secured the record for the most-streamed album in a single day for 2025. - The release party movie was #1 at the global box office. 🎤drop #taylorswift #advertising #marketing #populistcreativity #marketingswifty

Happy National Working Parents Day! Yep it’s a national day, one that we are celebrating both as Parentland, our working parent initiative within Leo UK, and at a broader level by launching 'Publicis Parents' today from Publicis Groupe. We brought together a panel of open, honest, inspiring Publicis parents with some of our partners Deborah B. Williams of The Women's Association and Sophie Maunder of MATRI. With a turnout of well over 125 highly engaged parents, it was a great success! Why? We are the first generation where more than ever in the UK, both parents are working, sharing the load and wanting to be working role models to our kids. But let’s face it, as a result we’ve had to deal with the juggle, the eye rolls from others when we need to leave at 4pm (sometimes 3pm eek) and the extreme parent guilt. So it’s unbelievably important that we continue paving the way for ourselves and the next generation of working parents. By training line managers, ensuring our returning parents are supported, that we have the right flexible working policies in place, creating a culture of care, where we parent out loud. And in doing so, it enables us to be there for what’s most important in all our lives, our kids. To show up for them, attend their sports days, their teachers meetings. To collect them at the end of the day and see their little faces light up ❤️ Being a working parent is a tiring but wonderful thing. I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s a privilege to have played a role in bringing National Working Parents day to life in Leo UK and Publicis Groupe today. Thank you to our panelists Carly Avener Lee Moran Ben Hooper Kate Anthony Deborah B. Williams And the EAG crew Caroline Moffat Tania Allen MCIPD Martina Buoni Rajat Gupta Milly Stannard Natasha Rungassamy Tim Waddington Alex Waters Alexander Waters Drinks later to celebrate US (yes my husband is doing bedtime, it’s a juggle after all). Let's go!