LIVE WORK
INTERGRATED PR: PRODUCT + EXPERIENTIAL + INFLUENCER + SOCIAL + STUNT
The Brief:
In mid January 2026, Lloyds came to us with a simple brief.
Make the Year of the Horse unmissable for Chinese Lunar New Year in the February.
We spotted the opportunity quickly. 1 in 5 plush toys in the UK are bought by adults.
With the Jellycat mania in full swing, the appetite was there.
The Idea:
So we fused the Year of the Horse with Lloyds’ iconic Cancara. In doing so, we created our very own cute cancara plushie.
Of course, every toy needs a toy shop. So we built one in Soho Square, London to capture everyone’s attention.
Over a two day launch, we hosted a VIP preview for the Lloyds team and influencers,
then opened to the public on 18th February, the first day of Lunar New Year.
600+ plushies were given away. The shop opened from 11am until 7pm. We had no more horses left by 3pm. People went wild.
Our Cancara plushie even made it into The Museum of Brands in West London as part of a Lloyds exhibition.
Safe to say, the horse made history.
Right in the heart of London, we opened the toy shop to hand out our Cancara plushies.
People of all kinds queued down the street and through the doors. Couples, families, solo visitors, young and old, even a few dogs.
The queue went on for hours — so long that an office complained about us blocking their entrance. Whoops
Those who attended received a horse while pledging their 2026 goals via digital screens.
A personalised zodiac reading, based on their birth year, was then printed and handed to them in iconic Chinese Lunar red envelopes.
This sat inside their bespoke plushie bag alongside the Cancara toy.
The public just kept coming and coming.
The night before the toy shop opened to the public, a selection of guests attended our VIP event.
The Lloyds team and high-profile influencers headed down, including Yinrun, Molly Marsh, and Freddie Fraser from The Traitors.
At the sneak peak, we captured plenty of content with the influencers and Lloyds team to promote the campaign.
We even hired a magical toy shop maker to entertain guests and feature in content across the two-day launch.
Thanks, Chris.
We drove awareness for the campaign and the Year of the Horse across social channels using AI and design.
The content was delivered in a phased rollout spanning teaser, launch, and follow up stages.
Because of this, we drew a bigger crowd than we ever could have anticipated.
With this asset alone racking up over 6 million views and thousands of likes on TikTok.
Of course, those who didn’t make it to the event in time for a horse weren’t impressed. Not sorry.
People couldn’t stop talking about our toy shop. We were flattered.
We were mentioned in Campaign, Creative Salon, 365retail, London For Less and the Little Black Book.
The plushie also sits proudly on my study shelf and in The Museum of Brands, London.