Creative agency takes ‘Pride’ in successful first year with landmark Birmingham campaign
A fast-growing city centre creative agency has completed an important ‘reimagining’ of Birmingham Pride 2025.
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Studio 3.5, which was formed 12 months ago by creative and marketing specialists Laura Hanlon and Adam Smith, was brought in to reconnect the two-day festival to its roots and vital protest work.
The experienced team developed ‘No Pride without protest, no protest without Pride’ after a series of deep-dive discovery sessions, giving equal weight to its activist roots, serious advocacy work and the joy of celebration.
A new campaign - ‘Pride Makes It Possible’ - captures the power of the Pride movement to bring people together, celebrate progress, and drive meaningful change and will be seen across social media, transport hubs and some of Birmingham’s most iconic locations, including Bullring Birmingham, the Aston Expressway, Birmingham Lights and Dartmouth Middleway.
This latest high-profile campaign marks a successful first year for Studio 3.5, with revenues exceeding £100,000 and a client portfolio spanning Hippodrome London and Holden Copley to Rewritten and UK College of Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy.
Laura Hanlon, co-founder of Studio 3.5, said: “As a relatively young agency, we were delighted to be given the huge responsibility to rediscover what makes Birmingham Pride so special, a movement that does so much for the Midlands and raises so much money for charity that it rarely shouts about.
“The team has really got to the heart of what the movement stands for and delivered what we believe is a creative campaign and new brand story that brings the organisation’s advocacy and activism to the centre of the celebrations."
She added: “Feedback has been superb from the ‘Pride’ community and the social media activity is already reaping dividends, with cost per click dropping by 16.7 per cent, web conversion rates up 64 per cent and cost per acquisition of ticket sales nearly cut in half.”
Studio 3.5 launched last year, but it had been in the making since 2022 after a group of talented brand strategists, paid media professionals and creatives decided there was an opportunity in the marketplace to offer a true ‘white glove’ service. This means all work completed by the Birmingham agency is completed by experienced experts, with additional specialists brought in to deliver specific project objectives.
The idea is to offer a different level of service to the big players in the marketing world, a service that is more agile, less red tape and comes with the freedom to flex ‘creative muscle’ to deliver measured results.
Laura said: “We’re called Studio 3.5 because it takes 3.5 per cent of the population to stand behind a cause for change to happen - that’s our mantra and our overwhelming philosophy.
“Birmingham Pride is a campaign that captures this spirit perfectly. It’s also a proud moment to contribute to such a powerful and joyful movement in our own city and being able to drive strategic change for an organisation that matters.
“It’s the culmination of a great first year for our business and we’re committed to continuing to grow and hire more fantastic local ‘creative and brand’ talent.”
Birmingham Pride’s David Nash said: “This is exactly what I’ve always wanted Pride to be and to look like.
"Studio 3.5 understood our desire to return to our roots whilst also maximising the celebrations and have come up with a concept that is visually striking, tells the right story and is already delivering results.”
