2013 Gold Best Design or Art Direction

Client The Guardian

Team Simon Crosbie - Founding Partner, Mark Doyle - Strategy Partner, Tim Hunt - Marketing Director, David Rendle - Digital Partner, Nina Zimmermann - Creative Director and Partner, Verity Mitchell - Media Manager, Jemima Kiss - Head of Technology Editorial

How did the campaign make a difference? #guardiancoffee is a coffee shop like no other: the coffee's served by local artisans, the furniture with integrated iPads was laser-cut by digital furniture makers, and live data is relayed on the media wall. #guardiancoffee trended on Twitter within hours of opening. It's also sold 15,000 coffees and beverages to over 20,000 customers.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The core strategy was to create dialogue between theGuardian and technology leaders, innovators and enthusiasts, bringing the Guardian's philosophy of 'open journalism' to life in a way far beyond traditional advertising and communications. Boxpark was the perfect location: a pop-up mall made entirely of shipping containers. By partnering with local businesses and situating the shop in Tech City, the Guardian put itself at the cultural heart of an area of London that's shaping the future of media and technology, giving its journalists access to those who make the news in technology, and vice versa. It's also introduced a whole new audience to theGuardian and its digital innovations.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? Using a hashtag as the brand name was a bold move that helped spark a trending topic, and fuelled debate aroundthe Guardian's brave new marketing initiative. Customers can interact with the brand on many levels: browse the digital edition over great coffee or take part in journalist-led debates and forums. #guardiancoffee is also used as a venue, from the launch of the Xbox One to live screenings of the Tour de France. Learning about the audience is key to the shop's evolution. Customers are encouraged to engage with the brand on social channels, with the best content displayed on the media wall. A platform to create content - the Tech Sessions series - is filmed there, featuring the great and good of the start-up and technology scene. That content is disseminated via theguardian.com and its many social media channels.

Results The #guardiancoffee tag was used over 4,000 times on its trending day, 29 May 2013. Brands such as Etsy, Eurosport and Xbox have used the space to launch products and run events. EE came on board as technology partner, providing a high-speed connectivity solution and sponsoring the Tech Sessions series. The shop is used to profile the audience and glean insight on their interaction with news brands.