Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is one of the most important naval collections in the world. The museum is home to unique treasures that hold deep significance to the history of some of the most significant seafaring endeavours — from The Mary Rose, a unique Tudor time capsule preserving 500 years of history, to HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Our brief was to bring these incredible attractions to life in new and engaging ways, focussing on six of the most significant moments and exhibits — HMS Warrior, HMS Victory, The Mary Rose, HMS Alliance, The National Museum of the Royal Navy and Dive the Mary Rose 4D.
Our solution was radical for the sector and one that is a careful balance of historic storytelling and modern humour. Using ‘ship’ as the vehicle to deliver big, bold, well-known sayings that tie in to the unique stories of the attractions.
Who knew that HMS Warrior was the biggest, fastest, most heavily armoured ship of her time? Tough ship.
Or the mast of HMS Victory that was struck by a cannonball? Oh ship!
Yes, ship got real with this new campaign — looking to help people re-evaluate one of the biggest visitor attractions in the UK.
The jewel in the crown of Queen Victoria’s navy, built in 1860. Visitors can see how this ground breaking vessel changed naval warfare and hear about life aboard the mighty ship.
Visitors can go back to the 16th century with The Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s treasured Tudor warship that sank into the Solent in 1545. The largest Tudor collection in the world reveals what life was like on board.
The flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Visitors walk the decks, explore the ship’s quarters, and learn the dramatic story of the battle and that of the sailors who served aboard.
While the battle of Trafalgar may have occurred 220 years ago, and the Mary Rose was commissioned in 1510 — the stories of what happened onboard are as visceral and compelling as ever. We saw first-time visitors’ jaws drop — and heard what they said. So we used their language to form a provocative and contemporary new campaign.
Working with SomeOne’s friends, Rokabye, we took historic stories to a new level by integrating key animated visuals into the headlines.
From the cannonball-struck mast of HMS Victory to the periscope of HMS Alliance.
This compelling combination of visual intrigue, humour, history and memorability made the new campaign challenge traditional sector approaches.
HMS Warrior is not shy, the battle of Trafalgar was not polite — and neither is this new work. When people come aboard our ships, they definitely get the wow factor. This is the first campaign I have seen that really conveys this feeling.
Beyond the immediate visual impact of the ships at Portsmouth Historic Dockyards, we discovered a trove of compelling stories beneath the surface. These provided the creative catalyst to create a campaign as bold as the ships themselves. From the visceral impact of battle to world class technology — now was not the time to mince words in headlines.
Each element has been recreated and crafted (with historical accuracy) to work across all mediums, states and formats. Once the initial impact of the unconventional headline lands, people have been swift to praise the obvious levels of detail. This was important — so we could start to reflect the high quality visits people experience.
A visit is so multifaceted, with too much for anyone to really digest in a single day, we looked to create a new way for all assets and formats to serve many storylines.
Using a disruptive colour system — one for each ship — mixed with bold typographic design, we set a new visual operating system for the campaign that can easily adapt and flex across all mediums, from digital, to OOH, to TV.
The new work will be running nationwide across print, press and pixel.
Many visitor attractions communicate in a very predictable way to potential audiences. We loved the way SomeOne bucked this everyday approach strategically — using visitor reactions — they blended these with key reasons to visit. This created a campaign that challenges convention and has gained great positive reactions internally and externally as people re-evaluate the brand.
Thanks to Racheal, Pip, Becca and Cat at PHD.
SomeOne Team.
Simon Manchipp — Founding Partner
Rich Rhodes — ECD
Melvyn Johnson — Senior Designer
Lloyd Wood — Junior Designer
Beth Galea — Head of Account Services
Meg Pepall — Account Manager
Production and animation — Rokabye
TVC Motion — Make Productions