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James Ranson

CREATIVE

  • work
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    • Directing
    • my game
  • about

RUSSELL & BROMLEY

We helped iconic fashion brand Russell & Bromley usher in a new chapter to their story. A more modern, more mischievous, more…dog-filled chapter. 

‘Directed By’ plays into their long association with film, putting them firmly on the map as the brand that makes your every day a little more cinematic.

Photographer: Fra Bonasia

Director: Kelsey Taylor

Dr. Martens

How do you tell the story of one of Britain’s most iconic brands?

You ask their community one, simple question:

What have you done in your DM’s?

A social-first campaign.

Director: Margot Bowman

Pretty Bird

Boots x The Hygiene Bank

Real stories of hygiene poverty, hiding in plain sight, activated by your attention.

In the UK, 4.2 million people suffer from hygiene poverty, yet it often goes unnoticed due to stigma and shame. "Hiding In Plain Sight" was launched to bring this issue to light and inspire action.

As the winner of Ocean Outdoor's 2023 creative competition, the campaign used innovative tech and print ads to engage the public. Bright, cheerful ads subtly shifted to reveal the harsh reality of hygiene poverty, sharing three powerful stories and directing people to donate at Boots stores.

Print ads used a "scratch and sniff" approach, offering not perfume, but first hand accounts of living with hygiene poverty.

Clio nominated - experiential OOH.

Winner in the non-profit category of the 2023 Ocean Outdoor Digital Creative Competition.

Campaign & PR WEEK pick of the week.

Jägermeister #SAVETHENIGHT

We built an online platform like no other.

A global initiative born out of lockdown and continuing still.

#SAVETHENIGHT supported more than 1,500 artists, creatives and bartenders and 1,000 projects in more than 60 countries through pure online.

To date, has raised around £1M for Meisters, generated 180 million social impressions and 100,000 unique website visits.

Meister Drop Ins. A unique talent booking service made to connect Meisters with virtual party-goers, organizing hangouts with their mates.

Meister Class. A content series of over twenty episodes dedicated to delivering nightlife to your night in with ‘5 Hacks to…’.

www.save-the-night.com

Awards

Drum Awards

Winner / Best Branded Content Campaign

Winner / Most innovative or creative use of content

Winner / The Chairman’s Award

The Lovies

Winner / Best Social Media Marketing

Branded Content Marketing Association

Winner / Global Lockdown Content Showcase / Best In Class

The Creative Circle Awards

Bronze / Best Digital Campaign for Positive Change

Spotify

Gen Z don’t like Spotify.

So we lured them back with a full-on ballad across social. Content series, creator-led ‘challenges’ and some weirddd podcast films.

And it worked!

Find Your Feels - gen z icons exploring the music that helped them find their voice.

me rn (Me Right Now) - over 50 creators, over every social platform, for two weeks made us content about how music makes them feel.

+86% OF UK'S GEN-Z POPULATION REACHED

+91K MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS

VICE Voicemails

It's hard to be heard nowadays. But we still wanted to try.

So we set up a voicemail for people to tell us what's on their mind. 

We then brought their words to life.

Gold Winner for Best On-Air campaign at Promax.

Creatives: Lydia Raghavan, Chris Verdicchio, Chelsea White

Mitsubishi

In a year-long campaign, first stage was grabbing people’s attention through banner ads.

Notorious for being dismissed on sight, we knew we needed creative that literally broke through the screen and disrupted people’s attention. So that’s we did. With the help of the England rugby team.

The Second part was telling the competition entrants they’d won a trip to the rugby world cup in Japan. Directed and written by me.

Rethink

Once you experience a psychotic episode, your life is over.

Except it’s not. Not if you catch it early.

We worked with Rethink, and real sufferers, to change the stigma around psychosis.

Last image is the original concept changed two days prior to media going out.

Designer: James Andrews

VICE Channel Launch

To launch VICELAND, Vice’s very own tv channel, we created content, we fly posted, re-fly posted, made branded content with your voicemails and even went to space.

Creatives: Lydia Raghavan, Tom Edwards, Chris Verdicchio, Chelsea White

BEST CHANNEL LAUNCH GOLD WINNER, PROMAX UK 

ITV - Summer of Sport

Eric Cantona. Twice.

Director: Nadiv Kandor (Chelsea Pictures)

Director: Chris Balmond (Outsider)

Parkinson's UK

We used real Parkinson’s sufferers to challenge people’s preconceptions about the condition.

90%+ increase in their Instagram engagement and 40% growth in followers over the campaign period.

Director: Chris Parton

VICE Weed Week

To celebrate 420, VICELAND programmed a week's worth of weed-related content. Which needed promoting in a compliance-friendly way. 

We rolled up with giant spliffs on billboards in Central London, created pre-watershed promos using audio description, and even baked up brownie mix mailers in  a campaign that was both unique and legal.  

Oh yeah, and we sent a joint into space.

Creatives: Lydia Raghavan, Chris Verdicchio, Chelsea White

ITV

Through water-activated paint, screenings and umbrellas, we used the April rain as our biggest ally to promote The Durrells.

We got 8.2 million viewers - the biggest drama launch that year.

Winner -  C21 Best Consumer Marketing Campaign

Hate Thy Neighbour

There’s nothing black and white about racism.

For the launch of VICELAND’s latest show we created an absurdist campaign based around it’s stars: racists.

We made bespoke classified ads for each episode focusing on different aspects of racism, xenophobia and homophobia and released them weekly throughout the show’s run.

VICE Needles & Pins

It’s a show about tattoos and people with tattoos.

For VICELAND's biggest show launch we took over phone lines, train stations and even human skin to tell the world Needles and Pins was coming.  We held curated screenings up and down the country and created bespoke social assets for the duration of the series. 

LBC

In a noisey world of non-stop news, fake news, Brexit , Covid, Trump, LBC provides a platform for all voices.

Spending months going through LBC’s archive we created a mixed media campaign that spanned mediums and minds to present a real-time view of what the hell is going on.

RUSSELL & BROMLEY

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Dr. Martens

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Boots x The Hygiene Bank

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Jägermeister #SAVETHENIGHT

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Spotify

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VICE Voicemails

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Mitsubishi

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Rethink

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VICE Channel Launch

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ITV - Summer of Sport

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Parkinson's UK

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VICE Weed Week

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ITV

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Hate Thy Neighbour

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VICE Needles & Pins

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LBC

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