What is Blue Monday?

If you’re feeling a little down today and don’t know why, it could be because it’s ‘Blue Monday’ – the name given to the 3rd Monday in January, when many people feel low or demotivated with the post Christmas return to work, the cold weather and the short days…

Has anything made you smile today? Don’t worry if not, there’s still plenty of time!

In an attempt to counteract the blueness, we at Happy Hour want to tackle it head on and turn those frowns upside down.

What’s so important about smiling anyway?

Well, psychologists have agreed that to feel happy inside, you first need to look happy on the outside. And that’s where the power of the smile comes in.

According to some important people in white coats, when we smile our brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides which can help fight off stress. And that’s just the start of it.

Other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins are also released, which can help to relieve pain and work as an antidepressant. All this from a smile!

And get this, it doesn’t even need to be a real smile. You can apparently trick your brain into releasing all this good stuff by faking it.

So what are we waiting for? Just move the corners of your mouth towards your ears and then lift your cheeks towards your eyes… Hold it… Can you feel the power of the smile yet?

Smiling is infectious

As well as being good for our health and our moods, a smile also has the power to raise the spirits of people around us.

You see someone smiling and even without knowing what made them smile, it can make you smile too. And your smile could then lead to another person smiling, and before you know it that smile could be travelling around the country at over 100 smiles per hour.

Just like the good words of Mr Louis Armstrong, “When you’re smilin’, the whole world smiles with you”.

What’s smiling got to do with advertising?

Advertisers have long been using this technique to make people feel good about brands. If a 30 second ad can put a smile on a viewer’s face, they not only feel good themselves, they start to feel good about that brand too.

Now we’re not saying every advert should make you smile, chuckle or even roll on the floor laughing. Sometimes it’s just not appropriate. But we do need to connect with our audience and using humour is a great way to do this.

So where we can, we should go above and beyond to put more smiles on more faces, to make the world a happier and healthier place.

Want to put some smiles on your customers’ faces?

Then give us a shout. We’re not called Happy Hour for nothing you know

As an award-winning ad agency, we specialise in developing TV commercials and Video marketing that builds brands, drives engagement and delivers results through brilliant ideas and expert production – all under one roof.

Just drop us a line and we’ll look forward to chatting to you soon!

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This year’s 2025 campaign launched, with special permission from the FA, on Sunday 12 January, with Arsenal’s men’s team wearing the all-white No More Red kit, drained of the club’s traditional red, when they faced Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup.

This marks the fourth consecutive season the North London club has worn the No More Red strip. Arsenal’s women’s team were also due to sport the all-white kit at Meadow Park on the same day, against Bristol City in the fourth round of the FA Cup, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to poor weather.

As their Creative Production Partner, Happy Hour was tasked with celebrating the everyday heroes behind the cause, by creating four new films to support this year’s campaign.

No More Red was launched in January 2022, in partnership with adidas, to support the long-standing work undertaken by the Gunners and ‘Arsenal in the Community’ to help keep young people safe from knife crime and youth violence.

Through the programme and its investment from adidas, three pitches have been refurbished on the Harvist, Kings Square and Mayville Estates in Islington, providing not only better-quality pitches, but vital safe spaces, complete with Arsenal community coaches.

Happy Hour created and directed three new films to celebrate the local community heroes at the forefront of this year’s campaign. We also developed a montage of all 3 hero films to create a 90″ launch film.

Each of the 90″ documentary style hero films captures a genuine conversation between an Arsenal star and a special individual, being celebrated for their contributions to the local community:

• Declan Rice meets George, an aspiring coach who’s benefitted from the safe space pitches and who is currently studying for a diploma in sports analysis and coaching at Arsenal College, through the No More Red initiative.

• Alessia Russo meets Amy, an important role model in her local community, who runs football sessions for young girls at her local No More Red pitch – offering not only coaching, but a safe place to meet and talk.

• Myles Lewis-Skelly meets Zak, a long-time advocate of the safe spaces created by No More Red, who goes above and beyond in his local community and has been recognised for his exceptional work in empowering young people.

Using a dynamic blend of mixed media to enhance the storytelling, we created an authentic, visually captivating experience – each film following a unique conversational path, with the underlying themes of role models and safe spaces continuing to shape the core messages throughout.

Keen to find out how Happy Hour can help you engage your community, elevate your CSR efforts and build your brand story? Find out more about our video production capabilities and drop us a line – we’d love to hear from you!

It was a joy to collaborate with Arsenal and adidas on this year’s No More Red campaign. The whole team expertly shepherded the process of bringing these stories to life, allowing space for creativity, exploration, and curiosity. However, it’s the community members and players who truly make the film what it is. Because at the heart of the three films is a simple but important conversation. My job, and the job of the team, was to simply capture that connection.”

Matt Cooper, Head of Creative at Happy Hour and director of the 2025 No More Red video campaign

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We’re ranked #32!

One of only a handful of agencies to move up the rankings, we’re up from #34 last year and #37 the year before, and we couldn’t be happier.

We’re also proud to say we’re still in the Top 2 Creative Agencies outside London, from Campaign’s Top 30 Regional Agencies league table. This is a great testament to the size of the media campaigns our creative features in.

As an independent agency in heart of Bristol, it’s an honour to be included on this list alongside some of the top names in the industry and to be recognised by Campaign, the leading press title in the UK Advertising sector.

Of course we’d love the opportunity to put our skills and experience to work by helping new clients. So if you’re after some creative video for TV or online, just get in touch.

The post Happy Hour rises up the agency rankings appeared first on Happy Hour Productions News.

“DarkGame” is a thriller directed by Howard J. Ford, starring Ed Westwick and co-written by Happy Hour Productions’ Founder and CEO, Tom George, who also produces.

Naturally, we interviewed Tom on his inspiration for the movie and the role of Happy Hour – and we can now unveil the trailer too!

What inspired the movie?

DarkGame is a film inspired by lockdown. Whilst we were all contained in our homes, I had this idea of making a contained thriller about a dark web reality game show – this was before Squid Game was a thing.

“I wanted to make something that would tick the genre box, but would also provide some commentary on our fascination with reality TV, even when it features peoples suffering, and how social media helps propagate that fascination.

“I also knew I wanted to develop something I could make if lockdown lasted for years, something primarily studio and interior location based that I could produce here on my own doorstep in Bristol, but that would look and feel international, something that was set in the US. So DarkGame was born.”

What’s the storyline?

Set in Portland, DarkGame centres on the city’s police who discover victims are being kidnapped and forced to play games to survive, for a reality game show on the dark web.

When the show is shared on social media, the number of viewers increases, which brings the public’s eye on every action the police take.

With the criminal underworld outbidding each other to decide how victims are eliminated, detective Ben Jacobs and his cybercrimes team are forced into a race against time…

Can you describe your role as creative producer?

“On a film project like this, where I am the originating creative producer, I am on the project from start to finish. That involves devising the concept, financing the script development and then raising the production finance. It also involves attaching the cast, putting the right team together – from director to all the heads of department – sourcing the right sales or distribution partners, and then managing the film’s creative and production process through to delivery.

“On our previous films, the story has dictated where the filming takes place (for example, a World War Two film set in Poland, but shot in a -20c winter in Belarus). On this occasion, I designed DarkGame so we could make it in our own backyard, and that meant the Happy Hour team could also service the shoot.

How do you marry feature films with TV advertising?

“I’ve always had a passion for film and for storytelling, and it’s part of the reason I founded Happy Hour.

“As a creative agency and production company, Happy Hour spends the majority of its time servicing advertising clients on their TV and video advertising, which in itself requires creativity and production skillsets. But part of the reason for choosing to produce high end short form content was to help enable the production our own IP; films such as DarkGame.

“Designing a genre film isn’t too dissimilar from designing an ad campaign for a client – you have to consider your market, what appeals to the consumers in that market, and put all those elements into the creative. The big difference is, we are our own client and service provider, so the buck stops with us.”

DarkGame was produced by Happy Hour Productions in association with Principal Film Finance and JCG Bits Productions and will be released on VOD in North America in February 2024. Check out Variety’s article for more info, including soundbites from director Howard J. Ford and protagonist Ed Westwick.

Got a film project?

We’d love to chat!

Find out more about how we can help with your film project, or drop us a line today.

The post An interview with Tom George on Happy Hour’s new feature film ‘DarkGame’ appeared first on Happy Hour Productions News.

Should your first TV campaign focus on response?

If your brand sells direct to consumers, this answer should always be a yes. Response advertising is the way to go for most new entrants to TV advertising. Which is to say that your first TV advert should aim to drive conversions and sales, rather than pure brand awareness.

This may sound obvious, but sometimes new TV advertisers, inspired by the likes of Coca Cola and Apple, want to jump straight to the sort of super-stylish brand advert that generates long-term brand recognition, but doesn’t necessarily lead to a measurable spike in sales in the short term.

Our logic here is simple: if TV is a new advertising channel for your business, it’s important that your first TV campaign demonstrates ROI in the here and now in order to maintain the confidence of senior leaders who control budgets. No short-term ROI = no budget for future campaigns; that’s the reality we sometimes just have to live with as marketers.

Therefore, unless money really is no object, a direct response (focused purely on conversion) or  brand response (50-50 conversion and awareness) campaign is a good choice for first time TV advertisers. You can read more about the difference between the two in this article.

How long should your first TV campaign run for?

We would recommend a minimum of three months, but six is quite common too. If you are planning to run your first TV advertising campaign for longer than that, you should schedule in and budget for a creative refresh at the halfway point so that your audience doesn’t become fatigued from seeing the same TV advert over and over. You may want to review your media strategy, including channel placement and frequency, at this point too.

Does the style of your TV advert matter?

By ‘style’, we mean live action footage vs animation vs a mix of both, plus the different options available within those broad umbrellas – filming on location vs in a studio, for example, or 2D vector graphics vs fully three dimensional character and set models.

The short answer is yes… and no. The creative techniques and concept used in your TV advert need to be the right ones for your brand, your campaign objectives, and your audience. However, there’s no hard and fast rule like “animated ads do better” that we can just follow blindly. It takes a collaborative effort between you and your TV production agency to come up with a creative concept for your TV ad and then put it into practice.

One thing that absolutely does make a difference to the success of your TV campaign is having high production values. Great camera work, soundtrack, edits and colouring will all make your first TV advert more likely to succeed. Which is why we have cracking directors, a highly qualified production team and a feature-film-grade production studio. Just saying.

How long should your TV advert be?

Most TV advertising campaigns are built around a core 30 second advert/script, usually supported by a couple of cut-down edits of 10, 15 or 20 seconds to fit shorter slots that may be available as part of your media package. 60 second ads are also a possibility, but as these are often more expensive to run (due to requiring longer slots) we tend not to recommend them as often to first time advertisers unless you’re working with a substantial media budget for your TV campaign.

How much do you need to budget for a TV advert?

We hate to say “it depends” but… it depends. We could write a whole article on all the variables that go into a TV advertising budget.

Don’t let that put you off though. We’ve seen brands on air with a five-figure budget, all told, but this is really one of those questions where your best bet is to speak to an agency specialising in TV advertising and get a quote tailored to your brand and your marketing goals.

Speaking of which, we’re an agency specialising in TV advertising and we’ve love to provide you a quote tailored to your brand and your marketing goals.

If you would like us to do that (with no pressure and no hard sell) drop us a message via our contact form, or info@hhour.co.uk if you prefer email.

The post Five questions to help you plan your first TV advert appeared first on Happy Hour Productions News.

We just love talking about the weather!

A recent survey found that more than eight in ten of us admit to a love of discussing the ever-changing climate, with the average Brit spending the equivalent of more than six months of their life talking about the weather!

Apparently, a typical weather chat crops up three times a day, with those polled having their first discussion about whether it’s hot or cold by 9:47am, most frequently to colleagues after arriving at work.

Filming TV ads come rain or shine

The team at Happy Hour can wax lyrical about the weather as good as anyone, particularly when we’re filming. With 20 years’ experience of creating TV ads and videos, it’s one of the key elements we know we need to consider and plan for.

Will the weather affect the look we’re trying to achieve? Can we still film at the location if it rains? How many hours of daylight can we plan for? What if it’s too hot and sunny, will there be cooler areas for the crew and cast?

We’ve certainly been tested by mother nature, most recently when filming for our clients NFU Mutual and Bluebird Care.

Filming TV ads in the freezing cold

Filming in -4 degrees in February, predominantly outdoors in the Cotswold countryside certainly brought its challenges.

Thick fog hung over the location for almost 6 hours that morning, which meant a quick re-think of the shooting schedule until the weather cleared. (It never really warmed up though!)

Make-up and wardrobe worked super quick to get our actors ready to film, and we moved exterior shots to the afternoon (before it started to get dark at around 3.30pm).

Despite the odds, our fantastic crew and production team made the finished NFU Mutual TVC look like it was filmed on a warm summer’s day.

Filming TV ads in the sweltering heat

In contrast, we filmed on the hottest day of 2022 for our client Bluebird Care. We had predicted an extremely hot studio and had hired in some industrial air-conditioning units, which (perhaps due to having to work so hard) broke down mid-morning.

Our fast-acting Production Co-ordinator, Will, organised replacement units to be delivered within the hour – along with boxes of ice lollies for all. And our brilliant make-up team made everyone on camera look cool and fresh.

No two filming days are ever the same and the unpredictable British weather certainly adds plenty of variety to a shoot. But our experienced and agile Happy Hour team will always deliver fantastic results come rain or shine.

Planning your next TV ad?

If you’re planning your next TV ad, don’t forget to factor in how the weather might impact the look and feel you’re trying to achieve. This will help guide you on the best time to brief your advertising agency and schedule your shoot.

At Happy Hour we’re in our 20th year of producing highly effective, award winning TV ads and videos – taking you from creative strategy and script all the way through to post production and distribution, all under one happy roof.

We’d love to help you grow your brand and your business through great advertising. So get in touch today and find out how we can help.

The post Blue skies and sunshine – and planning your next TV ad appeared first on Happy Hour Productions News.

Top talent

Kayleigh brings with her over 10 years of advertising expertise, having worked for several well-known media owners including Trinity Mirror, Reach and Sky, and has a wealth of knowledge on planning and buying for TV, radio and digital across a wide range of brands and sectors.

Agency growth

Now in our 20th year, Happy Hour continues to go from strength to strength, recently moving up the ranks to #35 in Campaign Magazine’s Top 100 Creative Agencies – and #1 outside London for the past 12 months.

With our 20th birthday on the horizon and ambitious plans for future growth, Kayleigh joins at a genuinely exciting time for the agency.

Nicola Tyler, Managing Partner, says:

“At Happy Hour we pride ourselves on world class TV advertising, and we’re always eager to bring in top talent.

I’ve known Kayleigh for years – she’s very well connected, exceptional at building new client relationships and she’ll be a great asset for the agency – so I’m delighted to have Kayleigh on board!

Kayleigh’s appointment comes just 6 months after securing Holly Reoch as our Head of Marketing. Having these two highly experienced women on the senior management team will enable us to take our sales and marketing to the next level – and help even more brands to grow through brilliant and effective advertising.”

Home turf

Kayleigh – originally from Bristol and loves it here so much she’s never left! – passionately believes in the power of advertising, particularly TV and video; saying

“Nothing builds a brand like TV; you need only ask a handful of people to think of their favourite advert – it’s probably a TV ad right?

So I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining an advertising agency who specialise in TV, and being part of the team to take brands from creative strategy through to script and onto screen.”

In her spare time, Kayleigh enjoys finding hidden gems in the independent food scene of Bristol and a particular favourite is Snobby’s in Redland!

Find out more

If you’re thinking of TV, video or radio advertising and would like to know more about how our talented team can help your business, we’d love to hear from you.

Or read on to find out how we can take you from creative strategy all the way through to screen and airwaves with our TV commercials, video content and radio ads.

The post Announcement: Kayleigh Cooper Joins Happy Hour As Head of Business Development appeared first on Happy Hour Productions News.

So, it’s the first week in February. And it’s often around this time that our New Year’s resolutions to drink less, eat healthily and promise ourselves that we will actually use our gym memberships, start to gradually disappear.

We all know that regular exercise is hugely beneficial for both our physical and mental health, giving our energy levels a boost and helping with concentration. But the seemingly endless dark winter mornings and the cold and rain, make it a battle to put one foot outside the door, unless deemed absolutely necessary.

People who know me, including my colleagues at work, know that I’m an advocate of running. Some might say that I can even be a running bore. (I didn’t run the London Marathon without dragging the entire Happy Hour office into my detailed 6 month training plan).

Now, I appreciate that people lose interest when I mention the idea of “going for a run”, but I would argue that if you want to stick to that New Year’s resolution, it’s a great form of exercise that’s not only free (every little helps with the current cost of living crisis) but has the flexibility to fit into everyone’s lifestyle.

As a Producer I regularly attend shoots. Filming days are long and I’m on my feet for most of them. So during the weeks when I’m not filming, I frequently run in my lunch hour to help stay strong, and give me stamina.

The Happy Hour office is located in the centre of Bristol, so interesting running routes are plentiful. My regular route involves running along the harbourside to Brunel’s famous Suspension Bridge. Then back past his boat, the SS Great Britain, through Millennium Square and past the Bristol Hippodrome theatre, before the steep hill (my “finisher”) where Happy Hour HQ sits at the top.

“That sounds like hell” I hear some of you say. Don’t get me wrong, I often have to dig deep and summon up the enthusiasm to go out and pound the pavements, but the saying “you never regret a run” is so true. I always feel infinitely better afterwards.

I also find that during a run, ideas just “pop” into my head and I can go back to work, armed with renewed creativity and problem-solving strategies.

So, my top tip to getting past the voice in your head which shouts, “no, I just want to stay in and eat left over Christmas chocolates”, is to not over think things. Just put your trainers on and open the door. In fact, have your running gear ready under your desk, so all you need to do is step into it and go. Job done.

In the infamous words of that well-known sports brand – Just do it!

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Here, Will shares the importance of keeping the crew fuelled…

Napoleon once famously stated that an army marches on its stomach; well, the very same can be said about the crew on a TV commercial. It is quite a simple formula, in that sustenance equals productivity. A well-fed crew are generally more content and can deal with whatever the day throws at them.

It starts with breakfast.

Working on a shoot for a TV commercial usually requires getting up earlier than usual, with only the birds to keep you company. Everyone arrives at location, usually cold or dark or both. Jobs to be done and people to meet, stands to go up and scripts to hand out. Amidst the morning rush, somebody hands you a warm bap and a hot cup of tea. All is going to be fine.

The day ticks over, stomachs start rumbling. There are whispers of when lunch will be called. Rumours float around about what will be eaten that day, interesting and comforting smells start floating their way to set. Finally, it’s time for lunch. Within seconds a queue has formed. There is nothing more powerful than collective hunger – all eyes on the first plate being served. Is it hot? What does it smell like? Is there enough for seconds?

There is something about sitting around having lunch together. The morning has passed and it’s time to relax. It’s not just the eating that’s an important part, but the conversations had around the table. Unlike breakfast, jokes are told, people have settled into their roles. There’s a change in atmosphere. The morning’s work is talked about, and the afternoon will be planned. A moment of quiet pause, of reflection.

“A sausage is an image of rest, peace and tranquillity in stark contrast to the destruction and chaos of everyday life.” Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction

Traditionally, using large corporate catering companies means choosing from a long list of generic meals which can get tedious. I like to work with local, independent caterers, like Kate’s Kitchen, who specialise in sustainable and seasonal food. It’s as important to use local food suppliers as it is to use local crew and kit houses. Not only does it mean that we’re playing our part in the local economy but we’re also trying to cut carbon emissions. Working with smaller caterers also means we can tweak and tailor the menu to our tastes and needs, whilst keeping an eye on costs at the same time.

From experience, a film crew remembers good food. One of my favourite questions to ask during the lunch break to new crew is “What has been your most memorable food experience on set?”. This usually brings the good and the bad. It’s a great way to learn how to do things better, or things to be avoided completely.

One of my favourite food experiences was when I was working on a prime-time TV show at Pinewood, where the only caterers we could book was a Turkish food truck. For 3 weeks we ate some of the most delicious and authentic Turkish food; from menemen for breakfast, platters of meze for elevenses and beautifully spiced dishes for lunch – not to mention the hand-made baclava.

I would like to think the shoots I put together can be remembered for the food and eating experience. I like to drum up excitement around mealtimes, hearing people’s joy at a colourful and well-prepared plate of food. Food is not just sustenance; it brings us together above all else.

Want to know more about TV advertising?

At Happy Hour we specialise in producing feature film quality TV commercials for brands that want to drive response and stand out in their market.

If that’s you and you’d like a no-pressure chat about working together on your TV advertising, please get in touch using our contact form or email us at info@hhour.co.uk

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Here Aisha shares her latest experience on one of the lesser-known parts of the job…

For 2 years, thanks to the virus formerly known as Corona, I’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse trying to get booked onto a first aid training course.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “surely it’s not that hard” and you’re right, a quick Google search will harvest a throng of options, all labelled ‘first aid at work’.

As much as I love the idea of sitting in a low-ceilinged beige office with mismatched chairs and flickering fluorescent tubes, doing an acronym quiz while eating custard creams, I knew as a kinaesthetic learner, this sort of training wasn’t going to stay in my brain.

I also knew, as a Production Manager, that the most useful first aid skills I could acquire were ones that can be utilised whilst on a shooting location, not a low-risk office.

So, after some research, I found Lazarus, who offer media-specific training and use live, hands-on simulations to teach their students. I knew this was going to not only be the most beneficial course for myself and my Production Coordinator Will, but also the most fun!

Lazarus do most of their training in London and Essex but do occasionally offer regional courses. So each month I would check in with my contact to see if a Southwest option was available and eventually, one popped up in the Mendips. An hour’s drive for us but still can’t complain about a Bristol postcode. So, after 2x postponements and an out of the blue funeral bank holiday, we were booked on.

Joining us on the course were various TV Production crew, who all worked in natural history and/or wildlife filmmaking and were about to visit some far-flung, hostile environments for their productions. Places where there would be no roads, no telephone or internet signal and definitely no medical care. A few sighs of relief were shared between Will and I when we realised that the most remote shooting location Happy Hour had coming up was a National Trust property in Somerset.

The 2 days of training were intense and dare I say, emotional. Our trainers were ex-military and fire-service (plus an actor), and the time was punctuated with real videos of people having accidents and dying or almost dying, actual squirting [fake] arterial blood spraying from catastrophic wounds, and, perhaps most horrifically, sausage rolls with undressed salad for lunch.

By actually attending to a ‘real’ person [actor] screaming in pain and writhing around, or unconscious with ‘vomit’ in their mouth, or with their intestines hanging out, the learning parts of our brains were forced to wake up. So much so that we both dreamt about the course after we did it.

So, as much as we hope we don’t have to employ any of our newly acquired skills, we feel enriched with valuable knowledge, confident that we’ll know what to do in the unlikely event anything untoward should happen.

And I can sleep easy at night knowing I’m the fastest tourniquet-er in the Southwest.

Thank you Lazarus Training and Charterhouse Outdoor Centre.

Want to know more about TV advertising?

At Happy Hour we specialise in producing feature film quality TV commercials for brands that want to drive response and stand out in their market.

If that’s you and you’d like a no-pressure chat about working together on your TV advertising, please get in touch using our contact form or email us at info@hhour.co.uk

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