The Company

Oxford Innovation (OI) has over 15 years’ experience helping innovative businesses to achieve their full potential. Unlike business centres and offices with managed workspace, OI’s centres provide an instructive and supportive environment for small companies, with the aim of maximising their potential for growth.

The Brief

Portsmouth Technopole is a landmark building at the entrance to Portsmouth, and one of OI’s flagship centres. The Studio is an impressive space for new business start-ups, providing a lively and open-plan office environment which encourages networking, support and collaboration. OI approached Ledgard Jepson to develop a through-the-line campaign to market the building and The Studio in particular.

Our Solution

It’s rare for a client to give us carte blanche when it comes to marketing their product or service, but OI clearly trusted us to come up with something special and memorable. There are also few occasions when the creative concept hits us immediately, but this was one such time!

The concept used the now-kitsch 1970s space hopper. This bright orange, bouncy blow-up toy was to be used to sell office space to the Portsmouth business community. We sourced regular-sized hoppers which were sent out to a targeted database in ‘retro’ boxes carrying the headline, ‘An incredible space offer’. Smaller direct-mail pieces were also sent out to further contacts, with the promise of a free space hopper. The campaign was supported by extensive outdoor media coverage.

A bespoke 8ft space hopper was also commissioned for use as a guerrilla marketing tactic at high-footfall locations in the Portsmouth area. A small car was purchased and crushed, then the giant hopper placed on top to give the illusion that it had fallen from space and squashed the car. Passers-by were astonished… and the local press soon heard about it, and picked up the story, resulting in plenty of free publicity.