BAT
B United Pride 2023
Building A Better Tomorrow™ for people and planet
BAT is on its own transformation journey, to build a Better Tomorrow™ via its ambitious corporate venture capital company, Btomorrow Ventures and its employee-led advocacy group B United.
Challenge: To create a brand experience for BAT that communicated its authentic commitment to diversity and inclusion
As a specialist in brand experiences – including events like London Vet Show, Nor-Shipping, World Travel Expo and VMX, amongst others – Bray St. was well-equipped to bring to life BAT’s D&I brand values for its first-ever presence at London Pride 2023.
Our task was to create a concept that supported BAT’s LGBTQI+ employee resource group, B United, while complementing the theme of the 2023 event: Never March Alone – Championing Trans Allyship. The solution needed to maximise engagement, minimise logistics and costs, while supporting and celebrating our colleagues and the wider community.
Create brand recognition and develop stand-out creative - at an event overcrowded with messaging - while delivering authenticity and distinctiveness
Aligned on BAT’s mission to build A Better Tomorrow™, Bray St. was perfectly positioned to partner with the business and its CVC unit on the initiative, using the ‘B’ of ‘B United’ as a creative springboard for the idea.
We developed seven key messages, all beginning with the letter ‘B’, to empower and unify the team on the day while engaging the crowd – from ‘B Brave’ and ‘B Proud’ to ‘B Bold’ and ‘B Yourself’. The messaging was used in conjunction with a vibrant colour palette that placed the pride colours front-and-centre to wave the flag for togetherness and representation.
B United
Together with the B United logo, messaging and visuals ‘wrapped’ around the float to create a vehicle – literally and figuratively – that drove our commitment to D&I through the streets of London while carrying through onto t-shirts for the team on the day. Adding to the fun, Envy the Queen, self-proclaimed ‘drag rockstar’, performed from atop the float, while those who marched alongside donned bubble guns as they sashayed through the capital.
A social media campaign was also created to support the activation that included awareness posts for LinkedIn and Instagram, together with a video that captured everything on the day – including the energy!
A positive result for a positive initiative
Received positively internally, and by the crowd on the day, the Bray St. activation for BAT elevated the status of the B United program and its D&I initiatives while raising the profile of Pride. As a genuine shared value between our brands, it was the perfect example of an authentic partnership coming together with a commitment to the same vision and output. Keep your eyes peeled for even bigger and better things from B United for Pride 2024.
The creative was authentic and impactful while being versatile enough to be rolled-out across touchpoints on the day, from the float to the t-shirts.
Better still, everything Bray St. created was rooted in our strategic vision of building A Better Tomorrow™’, helping us once again to create positive change. Proof, if ever there was any, that love really does conquer all!”
Damien De Conno
BAT Global Enterprise Strategy Lead and President, B United