Spring is around the corner, we’ve got a lovely long weekend ahead of us AND the clocks are going forward meaning more daylight (finally) – there’s a lot of things to be grateful for as we sign off from March.

A few people have even more reasons to feel grateful as we leave the first quarter of the year, and that is of course the big winners of awards season.

It’d be remiss to not mention the brilliant Raye as she made history at the Brit Awards, the singer-songwriter won an incredible six of the seven prizes she was nominated for – beating Adele, Blur and Harry Styles’ record four wins at a single ceremony.

‘Oppenheimer’ continued its silver screen domination at the Oscars winning seven awards including Best Picture, whilst ‘Poor Things’ and Emma Stone took home four, hey, even Barbie and Billie Eilish got a win (deservedly) for Best Original Song, and Ryan Gosling’s epic surprise rendition of ‘I’m Just Ken’ featuring Mark Ronson and Slash of all people, provided another memorable Oscar moment.

But amidst the star-studded celebrations, one unexpected champion emerged – none other than everyone’s favourite sandal brand, Birkenstock. How, you ask? Picture this: a butt-naked John Cena gracing the stage, presenting the award for Best Costume Design, clad in nothing but a pair of, you guessed it, Birkenstocks. Whilst most people were looking at well, the rest of him, a fair few clocked onto to the new sandals, cue a plethora of articles around where to shop the new Birkenstocks (google it), a myriad of social chatter on the brand and potentially even an uplift in sales.

This doesn’t seem to be a brand campaign or #ad, so it’s unlikely the head honchos at Birkenstock would have been fretting about ROI on what would have been a costly piece of work – they’ve just relied on making and having the best product in the category. In a world where brand campaigns and advertisements flood our feeds, Birkenstock’s unassuming victory serves as a reminder that sometimes, excellence speaks for itself. By focusing on crafting top-tier products with unwavering quality, success naturally follows. Here’s to you, Birkenstock – perhaps it’s time to consider John Cena as a brand ambassador?

P.S. We really wanted to use this newsletter to talk about the now infamous Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow however unfortunately, it technically happened at the end of February.

Anyway, a great month for Raye, a great month for Birkenstock and a great month for Mischief campaigns, here’s a taster of what we’ve been up to…

This Month at Mischief

Girls got game – Lego makes play unstoppable for all

This month LEGO’s global study uncovered how girls’ confidence is affecting their creative spark.

With expert insights from Lexicographer or “word wizard”, Susie Dent, we shone a light on how words shape girls’ creative play. A simple switch in vocab—from ‘cute’ to ‘cool’, ‘sweet’ to ‘brave’—could give girls’ creativity and confidence a well-needed boost. The data also reveals over half of children believe adults listen more to boys’ creative ideas than those of girls, a narrative we’re on a mission to flip.

These linguistic barriers didn’t stop us from smashing our Lego Unstoppable campaign by securing 44 pieces of coverage. Alongside our powerhouse team of Unstoppable influencers, including Anna Lapwood, Jamie Chadwick, and Kadeena Cox, we really got the media chatting about the lasting impact of our words. The campaign generated a flurry of top tier coverage including BBC News, Sky News, Mail Online, Daily Mirror, Express, iNews to name just a few.

Read more about the campaign here.

Pimms-urance guarentees the taste of British Summer come rain or shine…

What’s every bridge and groom’s nightmare? Perhaps it’s rain on their wedding day- and while we can’t guarantee sunshine and blue skies  – Pimms are serving up the next best thing.

Our research revealed that over three quarters (85%) of Brits scrapped their Spring and Summer plans (up to three times) last year due to bad weather. The data also shows BBQs (39%) and walks with friends (34%) were the top washed out events amongst Brits last year. In light of this, to inspire Brits to make the most out of Summer, we came up with an initiative to bring sunshine back to those dreary days.

Brits can now ‘Pimm’sure’ their events against bad weather and secure Pimm’s for their outdoor party – come rain, hail or shine.

Whilst this campaign is just heating up, we’ve had a brilliant launch and already secured coverage in Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Metro and many other top tier titles.

Scroll and stitch – Nick Grimshaw x Three say life needs a big knitwork

Ahead of the launch of Gogglebox’s latest series, we looked into the latest popular hobbies for Gen Zs. We know they love to scroll, and on average check their phones eight times during a 30 minute show, but they’re also on the hunt for something else to keep their hands entertained.

Whilst we are a nation of TV lovers, we found that 69% of Brits are itching to pick up a new hobby this year, and nearly half of Gen Z are already pros at crochet. In light of this, we hooked up Three UK with Nick Grimshaw to launch ‘Mobile Crochet’ kits, and produced a fool-proof guide to crochet your own phone holder. With Crochet now being the trendiest way to keep your hands busy while binge-watching.

The campaign secured a wave of coverage in key national titles such as the Daily Mirror and Daily Star.

Read here to get hooked.