These are the five pieces of work that
live rent-free in my head.
# 1
2021 Sound Support FBD Insurance x Team Ireland
When the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were delayed a year, FBD Insurance, as title sponsor of Team Ireland wanted to demonstrate their support to Irish Olympians. When Tokyo banned foreign spectators we came up with a unique way to give our athletes a competitive advantage.
Sound Support consisted of bespoke music tracks for 3 Irish athletes. Each track was made in their favourite music genre, at a tempo that increased their working heart rates, featuring lyrical messages of support from their friends, family and coaches, and covertly recorded sounds from their workouts.
Agency: The Public House
CD: Colin Hart
Copy: Mikey Curran | Art: Sam Caren
Music: Richie Egan | Film Director: P.O.B., Event Junkies
Photo: Christopher Lindhorst | Retouch: Floss Creatives
Impact
Two of the featured athletes won their first ever Olympic Gold medals. We cleaned up at award shows, with over 18 ICAD bells, a One Show Merit, a Cannes Lions shortlist (marked down from Silver) and two golds at the inaugural Irish Audio Awards.
# 2
2023 What Does FBD Stand For? FBD Insurance
FBD Insurance has been a household name in Ireland for 60+ years, but before this campaign, nobody knew what the letters stood for. That proposition was so compelling in focus groups, everyone Googled the answer out of frustration. The potential to drive traffic during renewal season was huge.
The memorable device we created for FBD Insurance placed them in the top 3 insurance brands for consideration in Ireland for the first time ever. We never told the audience the real meaning behind the initials, but had a hell of a lot of fun with wrong answers only.
Agency: The Public House
CD, Copy: Mikey Curran | Art: Danny Cullen
Director (2023): Lorcan Hynes, Abstraction Pictures
Director (2025): Chris Cottam, Bodacious Films
Sound Design (Both): Dean Jones, Scimitar Sound
Impact
This campaign helped FBD gain enough memorability that for the first time they were able to crack the 3 A’s of Irish Insurance (Aviva, Axa & Allianz). This work stopped people from seeing the brand as purely for farmers and supportive of everyone. That gained them a Bronze Effie at the 2024 Irish Advertising Effectiveness Awards.
#3
2022 Innocence Is In The Firing Line Unicef Ireland, Ukraine Appeal
As the war in Ukraine escalated, Unicef needed to raise rapid funds for humanitarian aid. We pulled together a provocative and confronting campaign that juxtaposed the innocence of young children ‘playing toy soldiers’, with the reality of them now being in the crosshairs of real soldiers scopes.
Our OOH campaign featured toy soldiers putting a child in their crosshairs, while our radio turned fun games into visceral war zones. These ads, in particular the radio, were inescapable, like the subject matter itself.
Agency: The Public House
CD: Colin Hart
Copy: Mikey Curran | Art: Danny Cullen
Photo: Liam Murphy | Retouch: Floss Creatives
Sound Design: Will Farrell, Blast Audio
Impact
Within 24 hours of receiving donations, Unicef were able to turn them into humanitarian aid given out at blue dot centres across many border communities. That’s the only result that matters here.
#4
2018 Living Wine Labels Treasury Wine Estates
Wine is a $63bn (aud) industry. Our research showed that 64% of customers choose their wine based on label alone, and that every year, 4000 new brands get added to stores. So how do wine brands stand out on cluttered shelves?
Living Wine Labels was our tech solution. A world first Augemented Reality mobile app that brought wine labels to life for Treasury Wine Estates portfolio. I concepted 3 experiences and provided copy support on 5 others.
Agency: J. Walter Thompson San Francisco & Melbourne
Creatives: Thom Lawrence, Ander Hernando, Kell Bendle, Craig Holes, Nick Sellars, Mikey Curran, Blake Arthur, Brett Edwards, Jack Elliot, Lachlan Newham
Production: FGMT.tech, Tactic.studio
Impact
An estimated 8 million + app downloads during its lifespan, with 25 experiences created across 11 brands, translated into 10 languages. Early reports from the first experience indicated a 40% increase in volume of cases sold. The work picked up 2x Silver Effies in the USA, along with Caples and American Advertising Awards. Our real aim was to try and take out a Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Innovation but the work was never entered due to agency politics.
#5
2023 Give Animals A Break V-Face, Vegan Burger Bar
V-Face, Dublin’s first vegan burger bar aren’t the kind of vegans who scream ‘meat is murder’ in your face. In their first ever ad campaign, we distanced typical vegan shock tactics, and took a more light-hearted, humorous approach.
This work may not have been as high profile as the others above but what I love about indie agencies is the chance to help small businesses with some rogue thinking. This is a prime example of the power of a funny, off the cuff, idea.
Agency: The Public House
CD: Colin Hart
Copy: Mikey Curran | Art: Paul Kinsella
Retouch: Paul Lang, The Orange Apple
Impact
The work saw a spike in the number of people embracing a flexitarian diet giving them a go, especially during and following the work launch period. However due, to other business issues, it has since stopped trading.