Case Study: Face It Together – A Collective Response to Crisis in the Drinks Industry
Overview
In 2024, The Drinks Trust launched Face It Together, an urgent £1 million fundraising campaign designed to support drinks and hospitality workers facing financial hardship amid rising living costs, post-pandemic pressures, and industry-wide instability . With 1 in 5 colleagues projected to experience poverty this year, the campaign served as a rallying cry for unity, compassion, and action.
Purpose
The campaign's mission was to raise awareness of the financial vulnerabilities within the industry and to foster a sense of unity and collective responsibility. By bringing together individuals, businesses, and key stakeholders, Face It Together aimed to provide immediate financial assistance, emotional well-being support, and inspire learning opportunities to help colleagues stay and thrive in the industry.
Hero visual for Face It Together
Virtue Studio’s Role: Creative Lead
As the creative lead, I was entrusted with shaping the campaign's visual identity, tone of voice, and core messaging. My contributions included:
Persona Identity: I helped shape the identities and stories of the five colleagues featured in the campaign — each representing a different area of the drinks and hospitality world. These 5 people then created the main ‘mosaic’ campaign asset.
Strapline Development: Crafted the unifying message, “Together, we can make the difference”, encapsulating the campaign's emphasis on collective action and mutual support.
Visual Identity: Directed a design approach that was honest and human-centric, utilising candid imagery and a bold colour palette to reflect the campaign's urgent nature.
Brand Tone: Established a tone that was compassionate yet empowering, ensuring all communications resonated with authenticity and solidarity.
Website Collaboration: While not directly designing the website, I collaborated closely with the digital team to ensure consistency in visual and verbal elements across all platforms.
Impact: Award-winning Campaign
The campaign is successfully raising awareness about the financial challenges faced by industry professionals and mobilised support across the sector by raising cash resources that will play a major part in helping. By fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility, Face It Together highlighted the strength of collective action in times of crisis.
In 2025, the campaign was recognised by The Drinks Business at their annual awards ceremony for Trade Campaign of the Year. An incredible achievement of recognition and hard-work for this empowering and important campaign.
Campaign strapline for Face It Together
Reflection
Being part of Face It Together was a profound experience. It underscored the power of thoughtful design and messaging in driving social impact. While my role was centered on creative direction, the campaign's success was a testament to the collective effort of all involved. It's a reminder that in unity, we find strength—and together, we truly can make the difference.
“We’re so incredibly grateful for your passion, creativity, and dedication in transforming a bold brief into such an outstanding campaign. We truly couldn’t have done it without you 💛”
