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London indie agency, isobel, has been punching above its weight. Like many indies, it has assets unique to being unchained to a larger entity. All sorts of freedom for one. It also counts strong, trusted relationships. And brave, forward-thinking clients who took a deep breath and pressed the green button before the cold feet kicked in.

Three isobel campaigns in three weeks are demanding attention.

A furniture brand called Loaf gave isobel an opportunity to burst out of the furniture advertising bubble. When it comes to furniture brands there is a well-trodden comms vernacular everyone recognises. So isobel ignored it to create a campaign that made Loaf stand out.

Produced in-house by isobel’s production arm, igor, the hero commercial is a chilled, quirky, rallying ‘cry’ for slow living. And the campaign’s OOH used attention-grabbing headlines that brought the brand’s modern life protest to bus stops across the UK.

Creative partner, Rob Fletcher, explained, “Like all good protests we wrote a manifesto, which became a song, which was sung by a band, that became an ad.”

Fuel brand, JET’s campaign was very different. No attention-grabbing headlines. In fact, no words. The two commercials told their story by visual metaphor. Created entirely in CGI, the two ads feature a retro blue convertible as it glides along a picture-perfect countryside road. Inside the car sit four large yellow balloons, which gradually begin to deflate as the car continues its journey. Then, as the car passes through a JET service station, they immediately re-inflate. In the second film, it is night and the balloons are replaced by light bulbs.

Described as “dreamy” and “Wes-Anderson-esque”, “retro” and “whimsical”, they captured attention with their difference and most importantly captured the essence of a brand that likes to do things differently.

“We have a collaborative and trusted relationship with JET and that is a big part of what enables us to push at the edges and take a different approach,” stated Ben Stump, creative director, isobel. “The ads are gentle but there’s a bold vision backing them up. It’s rare to get something to screen without compromise. This is one of those examples – and it’s reception has been especially gratifying.”

For Travelodge, isobel’s challenge was to bring a brand to the fore that hadn’t done a major campaign in eight years. isobel created a collection of comedic nightmare scenarios that trigger longing for the respite of a Travelodge room. Its power was in both its relatability and humour, tapping into those regret moments when deciding not to book a hotel room turned out to be fifty shades of wrong.

“Better Get a Travelodge personifies the fact that whoever you are, wherever you’re going, you will always find a great-value Travelodge hotel close to where you need to be,” stated Paul Houlding, founder of isobel. “Our campaign has put a smile on people’s faces and continues to build the love for this iconic British brand.”