# FutureKings > The latest from FutureKings and our thoughts on brand plays a role in the wider scheme of driving growth. --- ## Pages - [Latest](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/): The latest from FutureKings and our thoughts on brand plays a role in the wider scheme of driving growth. - [Home](https://futurekings.co.uk/): FutureKings is a Bristol-based independent creative agency. We partner with founders and SMES and use brand as a tool to drive growth. - [Services](https://futurekings.co.uk/services/): FutureKings is a brand strategy consultancy for ambitious startups and scaleups. Discover how our expert team builds brands that drive business growth. - [Culture](https://futurekings.co.uk/culture/): To do great work, for great people, and enjoy every minute. That's why our team get out of bed in the morning. - [Contact](https://futurekings.co.uk/contact/): We specialise in brand strategy, design & experience. Let's get the ball rolling. Enquiries: team@futurekings.co.uk - [Create](https://futurekings.co.uk/services/create/): Our create programmes build the strategic platform, visual identity and key messaging that will unlock new growth. - [Activate](https://futurekings.co.uk/services/activate/): Our activate programme gives you the brand toolkit, internal engagement and marketing communications to make your brand sing. --- ## Posts - [FutureKings and Aerospace Bristol collaborate on bold new brand campaign](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/futurekings-and-aerospace-bristol-collaborate-on-bold-new-brand-campaign/): We’re thrilled to announce our creative collaboration with Aerospace Bristol on a brand-new heritage marketing campaign: “Where Imagination Takes Off”.... - [We’re not coming back (and we’re thriving)](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/were-not-coming-back-and-were-thriving/): We’ve noticed a wave of companies calling people back into the office, and it all feels a bit backward to us. - [Brand as a business tool - Why branding shouldn’t be an afterthought](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/brand-as-a-business-tool-why-branding-shouldnt-be-an-afterthought/): Our MD and Founder Ben Mott discusses why the tendency to rush branding can have significant consequences. - [Helping Ironbridge Valley of Invention boost visitor numbers](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/helping-ironbridge-valley-of-invention-boost-visitor-numbers/): Creating a flexible campaign platform that boosted awareness, engagement, and visitor numbers across 10 museums. - [From rebrand to revenue growth to a first national brand campaign: FutureKings + Heidi](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/from-rebrand-to-revenue-growth-to-a-first-national-brand-campaign-futurekings-heidi/): How we helped Heidi craft a high-impact brand campaign to deliver immediate sales in the 2025 ski season, as well as build long-term brand value. - [FutureKings appoints Andrew Bing as Chairman and appoints Karen Pennington to the board.](https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/futurekings-appoints-andrew-bing-as-chairman/): Following our successful MBO in December, Andy joins FutureKings as chairman, and Karen Pennington is appointed to the board. --- ## Works - [Aerospace Bristol](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/aerospace-bristol/): Discover how FutureKings reimagined Aerospace Bristol’s brand with a bold multichannel summer campaign, boosting awareness and repositioning the attraction. - [Berkshire Consultancy](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/berkshire-consultancy/): Empowering a consultancy's entry into new markets and services through clear and compelling Brand Messaging, Identity, and Website. - [Ironbridge](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/awareness-campaign-for-ironbridge/): Creating a flexible campaign platform that boosted awareness, engagement, and visitor numbers across 10 museums. - [Heidi Peak Season Campaign](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/heidi-peak-season-campaign/): How FutureKings helped Heidi craft a high-impact brand campaign to deliver immediate sales in the 2025 ski season, as well as build long-term brand value. - [ModaMortgages](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/modamortgages/): Bringing personality to a dry, traditional space by focusing on speed, simplicity and making things smarter to truly speak to their audience. - [Anumana](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/anumana/): A new brand strategy to stand out to visitors, encourage memberships and align the team, ensuring consistent experiences for visitors wherever they were. - [Gretel](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/gretel/): Rename and rebrand to stand out, and to help customers follow the breadcrumbs back to their lost savings and pension accounts in the UK. - [Market Row](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/market-row/): A brand to balance Caribbean roots with urban South London edge: loud and proud, old and new, premium and gritty. Brixton market held the key. - [EvolveYou](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/evolveyou/): A new brand to ignite its community’s self-belief, empower women to work towards their true potential and accommodate global expansion. - [PrivateFly](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/privatefly/): A rebrand to boost dwindling market share and achieve a long-term ambition to move into a global space. Delivered 37% annual growth increase. - [Brunel's SS Great Britain](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/ss-great-britain/): FutureKings boosted visitor numbers with a full brand refresh and ongoing campaign support, delivering a 17.5% increase in visitor numbers. - [Huboo](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/huboo/): A creative identity for universal, yet distinctive, brand codes, and to drive growth and consistency. Delivered 130% growth, equivalent to £20m new business. - [1Lux](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/1lux/): A retail brand strategy and identity to rise above competitors in a crowded market and deliver consistency across digital and physical spaces. - [Chetwood](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/chetwood/): Chetwood needed to stand apart, so we created a hybrid brand architecture, whilst allowing flexibility to host a suite of sub-brands. - [We The Curious](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/we-the-curious/): After closure from Covid and a fire, they needed to reopen with impact. We created a campaign that put them back on the map and delivered a soldout summer. - [Heidi](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/heidi/): Giving their brand a new personality that speaks to their love of the mountains, and delivering revenue increase from £8m to £40m in 2 years. - [Carifit](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/carifit/): With business expansion on the horizon, they needed a brand to organise for growth and deliver a seamless experiences both online and in retail. - [Qtac Payroll](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/qtac-payroll/): A flexible financial services brand identity and set of key messages for their next phase of growth and to quickly launch new products and services. - [Kabyn](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/kabyn/): With bold ideas to take on the giants of the no-code software category, we honed their offer to market and built a distinctive brand for launch and growth. - [Hustl](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/hustl/): Organised and optimised market positioning and messaging and refinined brand identity and UI to ensure a standout customer experience. - [Engage](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/engage/): A sports hospitality rebrand to seamlessly launch new products and offers whilst always ensuring customers know what they stand for and what they can expect. - [Altitude Gin](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/altitude-gin/): A rebrand brand infused with provenance and story to position Altitude Gin as the mountain gin market leader and resulting in 82% YoY sales increase. - [VPG](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/vpg/): A B2B brand strategy to unite disparate business elements and a brand identity to stand out in a competitive market and prepare for global growth. - [Qorus](https://futurekings.co.uk/work/qorus/): A financial services rebrand for survival in a rapidly modernising industry, delivering in 730 new members and 200 new finanical institutions joined. --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages --- ## Posts - Published: 2025-07-03 - Modified: 2025-07-03 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/futurekings-and-aerospace-bristol-collaborate-on-bold-new-brand-campaign/ - Categories: News We’re thrilled to announce our creative collaboration with Aerospace Bristol on a brand-new heritage marketing campaign: “Where Imagination Takes Off”. This integrated marketing campaign was developed to ignite curiosity in young minds and position Aerospace Bristol as a leading South West destination for both families and aviation enthusiasts. Telling a bigger story with messaging that soars From the start it was clear: Aerospace Bristol has a powerful story to tell. Visitors can explore the iconic Concorde, witness aircraft restoration in real time, and dive into the rich legacy of British aerospace. We saw an opportunity to go beyond exhibits and build a compelling aerospace brand campaign. Our goal? To market a museum in a way that emotionally connects with new audiences, particularly families and younger generations. Our creative strategy positioned the museum as a place “Where Imagination Takes Off”. This museum marketing campaign combines Bristol’s rich aviation history and groundbreaking technology with the engineering excellence and aspiration that resonate with all ages. The campaign platform was built around the concept of ‘where’; it can be a destination to visit, a city with a rich history, a neighbourhood with a community, a venue for events, and a place for learning. Aerospace Bristol is where all of these things can happen, and more. Increasing footfall with a cross-channel marketing campaign Launched on 30th June 2025 and running throughout the summer in Bristol, this full-service marketing agency project was rolled out across multiple channels, including digital, outdoor, and print media. The messaging for... --- > We’ve noticed a wave of companies calling people back into the office, and it all feels a bit backward to us. - Published: 2025-06-24 - Modified: 2025-06-24 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/were-not-coming-back-and-were-thriving/ - Categories: Opinion We’ve noticed a wave of companies calling people back into the office, and it all feels a bit backward to us. Lately, we’ve noticed a wave of agencies and companies calling people back into the office. Full-time, part-time, three days a week—whatever the formula, it all feels a bit backward to us. We’ve always been location agnostic. FutureKings was born straddling London and Bristol. But COVID didn’t just change how we worked; it gave us full permission to embrace hybrid working properly. And we haven’t looked back. One of our guiding principles (coined by Ben, our Founder and MD) is simple: we don’t mind where you are or when you work, as long as the work is exceptional, deadlines are met, and meetings aren’t missed. That’s it. We’ve built a way of working that just works. A close-knit team, smart processes, and the right tools all make it possible. But maybe it’s more than that. Is it because of what we do? Is it because we’re a small team? Is it because our culture is built on real connection? Is it because we’ve worked together for so long? Is it simply that we trust each other? Probably all of the above. And here’s what that looks like in practice: Clearer thinking. More focused, sharper, creative work. A better balance between work and life, whether that’s being around for the school run or having the freedom to work from anywhere. So far: Cornwall, Wales, Amsterdam, Cape Town... and counting. And that doesn’t mean we’re forcing everyone to work from home. We want them to do their best work from wherever they feel... --- > Our MD and Founder Ben Mott discusses why the tendency to rush branding can have significant consequences. - Published: 2025-03-28 - Modified: 2025-03-28 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/brand-as-a-business-tool-why-branding-shouldnt-be-an-afterthought/ - Categories: Opinion The tendency to rush branding, treating it as a secondary concern rather than a foundational business tool, can have significant consequences. In our nine years of doing this, and in the years we all spent before FutureKings at agencies large and small, brand as ‘last on the list’ is what we see most. Many businesses, in particular start-ups and scale-ups, treat branding as something to be done after everything else, a decorative flourish added just before launch. This tendency to rush branding, treating it as a secondary concern rather than a foundational business tool, can have significant consequences. But is this issue confined to smaller businesses, or does it extend to larger organisations as well? The Start-Up Mentality: Speed Over Substance For many start-ups, the priority is getting a product or service to market as quickly as possible. Funding rounds, product development, and hiring key talent take centre stage, while branding is often seen as ‘nice to have’ rather than essential. When the moment comes to finally think about branding, it’s often just before launch. And it’s approached as a surface-level exercise: a logo, a colour palette, maybe a tagline. Job done. Except it isn’t. Because all those deeper, strategic elements of brand — positioning, personality, tone of voice, key messaging — get overlooked or rushed. This leads to inconsistency and a weaker foundation for growth. It’s no coincidence that the start-ups that succeed recognise the importance of branding early and invest precious time and budget in the process. Do larger, established companies do it better? It’s easy to assume that established businesses, with greater resources and marketing teams, take branding... --- > Creating a flexible campaign platform that boosted awareness, engagement, and visitor numbers across 10 museums. - Published: 2025-03-18 - Modified: 2025-05-23 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/helping-ironbridge-valley-of-invention-boost-visitor-numbers/ - Categories: News Creating a flexible campaign platform that boosted awareness, engagement, and visitor numbers across 10 museums. The Ironbridge Valley of Invention spans 10 museums and celebrates the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The team needed a fresh approach to reignite interest and attract new audiences. That’s where FutureKings came in. It was exactly the kind of brief we love to get stuck into: build awareness of an incredible destination highlight the wide range of activities on offer create a campaign flexible enough to engage diverse audience segments An effective and simple solution Working closely with the Ironbridge team, we used our wide-ranging brand strategy, design and experience skills to create a bold, flexible campaign. We developed a campaign platform built on the existing brand strategy, and crafted a set of key messages for each target segment and each different part of the attraction. Ensuring the marketing campaign could work across both high-level, brand building and performance or seasonal objectives was another key consideration for the copywriting team. Our design team used the existing brand guidelines to develop a clear set of creative principles for the campaign. They needed to maximise the distinctive brand assets whilst ensuring effectiveness across a mix of traditional and digital media: out-of-home, social media and display ads. The resulting campaign focused on bringing the history and excitement of Ironbridge to life by showcasing the experiences on offer. The results? A campaign designed to drive engagement and boost visitor numbers, encouraging more people to experience this informative and fun slice of history. View the case study. Work with us As well as working... --- > How we helped Heidi craft a high-impact brand campaign to deliver immediate sales in the 2025 ski season, as well as build long-term brand value. - Published: 2025-03-06 - Modified: 2025-03-06 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/from-rebrand-to-revenue-growth-to-a-first-national-brand-campaign-futurekings-heidi/ - Categories: News How we crafted a high-impact brand campaign to deliver immediate sales in the 2025 ski season, as well as build long-term brand value. Since 2021, we’ve been the brand and creative partner for Heidi, guiding them through a successful rebrand from SkiZoom Ltd, to Heidi, to achieve an impressive revenue leap — from £8. 8M in 2022 to £37M in 2024. So, when Heidi secured funding to help fuel their ambitious growth, they again turned to us. This time, our challenge was all about crafting a high-impact brand campaign to deliver immediate sales in the 2025 ski season as well as building long-term brand value. Our approach? We used the deep customer insight the Heidi team had been building to revisit and refine the original brand strategy. Then, we developed an emotive, multi-channel campaign platform to help drive engagement, using customer testing to help refine the creative. We also ensured the creative execution had real brand-building potential, linking back to the core brand associations we’d developed as part of the strategy. We are monitoring the impact of the campaign, working with our media agency partner, The Nest, and will share the highlights as soon as we can, once the current winter season finishes and the final results are in. Sarah Cramer, Heidi’s Brand Marketing Director, said: 'Through extensive research we learnt that what skiers really want from a ski holiday, is freedom. It was an emotional benefit our customers already valued from Heidi, even though we’d never talked about it in that way before. FutureKings have helped us unlock that and bring it to life, through an animated winter wonderland. ’ Ben Mott,... --- > Following our successful MBO in December, Andy joins FutureKings as chairman, and Karen Pennington is appointed to the board. - Published: 2025-02-26 - Modified: 2025-02-26 - URL: https://futurekings.co.uk/latest/futurekings-appoints-andrew-bing-as-chairman/ - Categories: News Following our successful MBO in December, Andy joins FutureKings as chairman, and Karen Pennington is appointed to the board. We're thrilled to announce that Andrew Bing has joined us as Chairman. Following our successful MBO in December, Andy has joined as Chairman to bring his extensive experience to our newly formed management team. We’re also delighted to share that Karen Pennington, our Head of Operations, joins the board after 9 years of exceptional service and commitment to the agency. Andy was a co-founder of Loch Duart in 1999, which he grew from scratch and sold in 2021. His experience in brand-building, both in the UK and internationally, is perfect for the ambition of FutureKings as we look to grow our team and build on our exciting portfolio of clients, such as Heidi, M&G, CariFit, Chetwood Bank, The Wave, FlexJet and Engage Hospitality. When I approached Andy last year to discuss this opportunity, the timing was clearly perfect. Andy wants to spend his time working with young, ambitious and fast-growing companies using his sales, marketing and growth strategy experience to help them prosper, which is exactly the sort of client profile we aim to work with. As we’ve demonstrated over the years, our programme-led approach to helping founder-led companies and SMEs grow using brand as a business tool, produces results. We can now offer even more with the benefit of Andy’s experience at board level, as well as having his expertise on hand to share with our clients. The appointment has additional meaning to me, as Andy was a long-term client of my late father, Tim Mott, who sadly passed... --- --- ## Works ---