distillery roundup 2020: Our biggest wins, lessons, insights, and plans for the new year
This is the last time we’ll say it, we promise: 2020 has been a very unusual year. As we welcome the holiday season, and the promise of a brighter 2021, the distillery team have been reflecting on what we’ve achieved despite the challenges. In our first ever ‘distillery annual roundup’, let’s shine a light on some of the wins, lessons, insights, and plans keeping us focused for the new year.
In addition, we have:
Developed a crucial campaign for the World Food Programme in an especially challenging time for impoverished communities. Masks of Hope encouraged people to give the gift of food, using the now commonplace face mask as a strong visual reminder of vulnerable people’s suffering during the pandemic.
Finally, we wrapped up the year with a nice, shiny ribbon - in the form of our brand new showreel, featuring all of the work we’ve delivered this year. Watch it here!
Keeping our team safe (and sane!) in a busy and challenging year
We prioritised the health and safety of our team, quickly moving everyone back home and equipping them with all the gear they needed to get things done, from laptops, racks and mice, to monitors, keyboards and comfortable office chairs.
Together, we shared all kinds of new virtual experiences, bringing in different ways to feel connected while social distancing. Here are just some of the fun and interesting things we took part in:
Yoga and fitness classes
Mindfulness sessions
Virtual escape room game
Motivational workshops
Professional coaching
A distillery day off
Virtual pub quizzes
And of course, early Friday beer o’clock
We even onboarded three new members of the team while working remotely, thanks to our robust onboarding documents and processes. Exec Producer Lou King, Senior Content Creative Gui Libby, and Social Strategist Chris Haplin have never met many of their fellow distillers in person, but have seamlessly woven into the team - and helped us to deliver some amazing work throughout the year.
Working on what’s next, before our clients ask
We’ve been thinking about the likely needs of 2021 even throughout 2020, and as we close the year we’re happy to share some of the plans we have for delighting our clients in 2021.
We’ve learned so much from 2020, but one thing stands out: consumers want brands to step up, speak out, and stand for something. We’ll be kicking off 2021 with exclusive interviews on how brands are connecting with consumers through shared values and social purpose. Be the first to know when this content comes out.
We’re further developing our personalisation engine, voundry, to serve our clients better. voundry already produces 100,000s of unique videos and GIFs in minutes, and in 2021 we’ll be working on new features to take that forward.
It’s time to grow again, and we have plans to build out our in-house talent across EMEA and APAC. In 2021, we’ll be looking for producers, writers, and others to join team distillery. Want to be kept in the loop on opportunities? Click here.
Diversity and inclusion is a big part of our culture, and in the second half of 2020, we explored new ideas for championing diversity in our community. We look forward to sharing a new creative project spearheaded by our team in APAC.
We’re proud of our team for making a fruitful 2020 possible, despite all the challenges, and we’re happy to have helped our clients in a tricky year for marketing. Many thanks to all of our clients, partners, and friends for their support and trust throughout the year.
We look forward to winning new projects - and new fans for brands - in 2021.
P/S: Want to get started early? Get in touch!