Fiasco welcomes new Associate Creative Director, Chris Tozer to the team. With ambitions to grow the agency this year, Chris brings a wealth of experience from working at some of London and Bristol’s top agencies.
“We’re really excited to welcome Chris into the Fiasco team. His wealth of experience in the industry, strong focus on ideas and leadership qualities were what convinced us that Chris would be a great fit for the agency.” – Ben Steers, Co-founder and Creative Director.
Chris adds: “Fiasco hasn’t hired at this level before, which is exciting because it means my role can be shaped quite organically. I’m looking forward to surrounding myself with the best talent out there and being part of an inspiring network of creative minds who collaborate to do great things. It’s that simple really. ” – Chris Tozer, Associate Creative Director.
Fiasco is a brand and digital agency that builds modern brands with heart and spirit. The 18-strong team of creative thinkers and doers work out of their Bristol studio, where they partner with businesses of all sizes, around the world. You can read more about Chris and his journey to Fiasco over on their site, here.
It’s hard to think of a brand subject to as much controversy as BrewDog lately. A recent BBC documentary brought a fresh raft of accusations against the company – off the back of which, it has emerged, boss James Watt hired private investigators to scrutinize former employees. Here, AgencyUK’s Sammy Mansourpour digs into what brands can learn – good and bad – from BrewDog’s stratospheric rise and tumultuous second phase.
There’s only one thing that makes a brand brilliant and that is meaningful difference – meeting consumers’ needs while successfully standing out from the crowd.
Kantar and Millward Brown have been testing this out for over a decade and the numbers are in. Brands with a quantifiable meaningful difference can grow 207% faster than the rest.
Never has this been so brilliantly showcased than by BrewDog, the punk beer brand imploding in front of our eyes. But let’s look beyond James Watt, the sometimes-ridiculed book he wrote and all the reasons why BrewDog is in such a pickle. Let’s look first at what made BrewDog so brilliant.
No one can say building BrewDog was just blind luck. Look at BrewDog’s ability to define itself precisely, then talk about it. The core of its image is ‘punk’. You might think building out an anti-establishment vision based on troublemaking would be easy, but the alcoholic drinks market is highly regulated and getting a foot in the door is expensive. To dodge those rules you need to know them – particularly the ones you intend to break.
To build an establishment-challenging brand, you need mass and movement. BrewDog delivered both in spades. It quickly grew a following into a sizable community.
BrewDog seized on every challenge it faced, using them to talk about how industry titans (and regulators) leveraged legislation, introduced red tape and increased cost. This messaging made the small but growing BrewDog community feel duped and enraged. This galvanized them around the BrewDog brand and started to distance them from other beers.
With social media in hand, Watt (and co-founder Martin Dickie) were able to start a revolution, then get their revolutionaries to pay for it. Their crowdfunding investment gathered millions before private equity got involved and these investors are the same folks buying the beer.
If you read Watt’s book, you’d believe this would never end. But for anyone with a grasp of social media and a flair for stunts, this is where the lesson begins.
Harry McCann famously said that advertising is “truth well told”. But did BrewDog always stick to the truth? Some of its social media marketing has been called out as false or misleading. The promotions team pledged to plant trees for every investor and drinker of Planet Pale Ale. The land they bought reportedly remains empty and an application by BrewDog for a Scottish grant to pay for the trees has now been made public.
And with all the attacks on beer brands and the need to fight the good fight – even blowing up cans of rival products on Facebook Live – it turns out Watt invested in Heineken.
Oh, and did anyone mention the reported non-disclosure of banned additives present in BrewDog beer that may have rendered some shipments illegally imported into the US?
Through all of BrewDog’s punk rule-breaking, no one asked why the rules and regulations existed until they came crashing down around them. If they did, the media gave them little airtime.
No one seemed to adequately explain the reasons behind regulating a market and constraining companies from acting so freely. BrewDog stuck with its belief that the consequences were always minor when compared to the commercial advantages of a breach – until it was no longer possible to keep telling that story.
Building a brand that is meaningfully different is the key to success and that success can only be realized for the long term if you’re not lying about it. So perhaps authenticity is what makes a brand brilliant. But who wants an authentic brand that nobody wants?
Sammy Mansourpour is co-founder and managing director of AgencyUK.
Fiasco Design have partnered with Bristol-based natural wine purveyors Native Vine, to produce a charismatic brand and website that re-imagines the experience of wine selection.
Native Vine champions exciting natural and biodynamic wines, stocking a range of unique, organic and vegan wines from small-scale producers. Specialising in wines from lesser-known regions and independent winemakers, they are passionate about strengthening the connection from vineyard to glass. With ambitious plans, Native Vine approached Fiasco with the challenge to make them more accessible to a wider audience.
The new brand identity builds upon the human stories of the wines, strengthening the connection between winemaker and drinker. It aims to cut through the elitist jargon that traditionally surrounds wine and put the fun back into wine buying.
The wonderful array of colour hues that characterise natural wines is celebrated via a dynamic palette that is broad, vibrant and reflective of a diversity of colours and flavours. The hero font ‘Blazing Sun’ captures the imperfections of organic wines and the hand-crafted feel that carries through the branding. Fiasco customised the font to ensure it fits Native Vine’s international roster by building a full suite of accents. The new logo alongside chunky typography and Matisse-inspired paper-cut graphic shapes, feels characterful, unpretentious and oozing with character.
Through photography, colours of the wine are captured either mid-pour or via reflections of the glass. These images pepper the new site and echo the Native Vine shop interior in terms of light and texture. Including hands in the photography reinforces the real-world experience of enjoying wine and brings the site to life. Online images have a playful hotspot feature, encouraging you to click to reveal more information, akin to Instagram’s shopping functionality; bringing wine buying to a younger, more digitally-minded audience.
An interactive wine finder tool re-imagines the in-store experience for a digital space. The online journey allows the user to discover their ultimate wine match based on colour preference, occasion and food pairing, to create a flavour profile that matches them to 3 bottles with a varying price range.
With most of the wines being from small-scale makers, the titles of the wines have very little weight. So instead, emphasis is placed on customer reviews. These were framed to be like how you might describe a wine to a friend, breaking down any preconceived notions of stuffiness associated with a sommelier.
You can view the project case study here: https://fiasco.design/project/native-vine
Please note: Since publication this crowdfund has closed. £988,776 was raised in 28 days with Yuup reaching 131% of its desired fundraising target.
Yuup, the Bristol-based online local experiences marketplace, has been offering the city’s creative community a platform to generate income through hosting experiences since it was founded in September 2020.
In just a year company has grown from supporting just under 40 experience hosts to now being a community with over 270 people and small businesses and 500+ experiences to enjoy throughout Bristol city.
On Yuup’s platform you will find anything from unicycle lessons to rum tasting, wild winter swimming to hot air balloon rides, and pottery making to fresh pasta making masterclasses. Each one of these unique experiences is hosted by a local person that can’t wait to share their skills and passion with new people.
The platform has seen side-hustlers and hobbyists turn their favourite thing to do into a business and their main source of income. In the past year, Yuup has generated over £450k of income for local people and small independent creative businesses in the Bristol and Bath region.
Maria Fernandez, from Healing Weeds, hosts foraging workshops in Bristol. Her experiences teach guests how to identify seasonal wild produce and how to make balms, medicines, cordials, and elixirs from the foraged harvest. Using Yuup, Maria was able to change her career in order to properly pursue the thing she loves. She said:
“Yuup helped me turn my hobby into a business and Healing Weeds is now my main source of income.”
Since launching in the middle of a pandemic, Yuup has been used by Bristol creatives to help their income streams and businesses bounce back from lockdown and the effects of the pandemic.
The drop in economic activity within the UK in response to the pandemic impacted SMEs and the self-employed significantly in comparison to their larger business counterparts.
Local businesses were forced to adapt in order to survive. For indie businesses that could facilitate experiences, Yuup provided a platform that allowed alternative revenue streams to the local businesses that were struggling to achieve their pre-pandemic footfall.
Alice from Trylla shop on North Street joined Yuup early on in order to use the platform as a kickstart to her business’ post-pandemic recovery. Her pottery making experiences have been so popular that Alice has since hired new staff to help support the demand for her pottery classes on Yuup.
Yuup’s positive social impact extends to platform support, marketing, and a ticketing system for charity events and fundraisers. Yuup’s recent collaboration with Belly Laughs comedy festival 2022 raised over 22k for charity and generated over 10k of revenue for local restaurants and bars. The company have also recently supported grassroots charities such as MAZI Project and KASK’s Ukraine Fundraiser.
At the start of February 2022, Yuup announced that the business will be opening up investment to the public to allow for the company’s scaling up operations this year. There are a number of ways that you can join the Yuup community. As an investor, as a Yuup host, by introducing a Yuup host, or as a customer.
How to join the Yuup community as an investor: Yuup’s crowdfund is open until March 31st, and the funds raised will go towards reaching hundreds more potential experience hosts in Bristol and Bath, generating income and jobs for locals and the communities that need it most.
Yuup will also be launching in its second city this summer, connecting creatives, makers and dreamers from another UK city to the Yuup community.
You can join the crowdfund from as little as £20. You will own a part of Yuup and participate in the financial rewards of share ownership. Your investment will support local independent businesses whilst helping even more people to discover incredible things to do in their local area. Visit the Yuup crowdfund webpage to watch the investment film and find out more here: https://invest.yuup.co/
How to join Yuup as an experience host: If you are a creative or passionate local person, you could turn that love of something into an experience for others to enjoy. Yuup helps people create, promote, and host experiences.
It’s free to join the platform, and you get simple tools, a host portal, and marketing support and investment. A small commission is taken from each sold experience, so Yuup only makes money when you make money.
The scope for experiences is almost boundless. From food and drink tours to cooking classes, craft workshops to cinema nights, outdoor adventures to indoor wellbeing sessions. If you love it, why not share the experience? Get in touch with the Yuup team about your future experience here: https://www.yuup.co/pages/join
How to introduce an experience host: Do you know a wicked weaver? A crowd-pleasing cook? A passionate painter? A cool climber? Refer your friend to the Yuup team and help them turn their passion into a business. Refer an experience host here: https://www.yuup.co/host_referrals/new
How to join the Yuup community as a customer: Just browse yuup.co and pick something that you would love to do! Alternatively, you can also buy experiences as gifts, purchase gift cards, or use Yuup’s experiences in your employee rewards scheme.
Inequalities in the UK arts and cultural sector have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and lessons must be urgently learnt, a new report has claimed.
In what is described as one of the world’s largest investigations into the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural industries, the Centre for Cultural Value said “the impact of the pandemic has aggravated and accelerated existing inequalities and longer term trends across the arts and cultural sector”.
The report found that the impact on the sector’s workforce was not experienced evenly with individuals already under-represented more likely to leave cultural jobs in 2020. Younger workers, women and people from ethnically diverse backgrounds were among the hardest hit in terms of lost work and income.
Freelancers also suffered significantly, the report found. They constituted 62% of the core-creative workforce before the pandemic and only 52% by the end of 2020.
Researchers acknowledged that the Cultural Recovery Fund was crucial for ensuring the survival of cultural organisations, but they were critical of the funding for not reaching all affected freelancers, despite them making up the majority of the arts and cultural workforce.
“Perhaps the most significant finding from our study is…that we need to better understand the vital role that freelancers play in the cultural industries,” the report said.
“Our research has highlighted the need to identify freelance cultural workers in a much more robust and nuanced way so that we can map the sector more accurately and appreciate its complex infrastructure.”
Such an approach, it said, would ensure freelancers do not fall between the gaps in emergency support during any future crisis.
The pandemic saw a huge increase in digital content as cultural organisations that were forced to close turned to the internet to share performances and art collections.
This made content cheaper and more accessible but the report found it failed to significantly diversify audiences with roughly the same type of people engaging with cultural content as before the pandemic.
A digital approach did transform the experiences of many people with an established interest in the arts though, especially disabled audiences and older people living away from major urban centres.
The pandemic also made organisations rethink the way they engage with local communities by communicating through social media when closed and continuing a hybrid approach after reopening. It paid off for some with increased footfall from the immediate area and more spending per head at certain venues.
The crisis also highlighted the key role culture plays in the UK economy. “The importance of the cultural and creative sectors to animate and stimulate night-time economies and town and city centre high streets was keenly felt, and cultural investment was made a key priority for the first round of ‘Levelling Up’ funds and in many locally led recovery plans,” the report said.
In addition, schools and community groups benefitted from the shift by museums, galleries and theatres to local engagement and social media initiatives such as the #CultureInQuarantine and #MuseumAtHome campaigns attracted thousands of people. “In general, audiences were most drawn to content that privileged empathy, intimacy, community, locality and nature,” the study found.
Another positive was the value of culture for wellbeing. The majority of audiences believed digital culture had a positive effect on their mood and managing anxiety, while most people who increased their digital engagement during lockdown intend to continue doing so.
The report said these developments show that digital is worth investing in for cultural organisations. However, to have a positive impact and reach diverse audiences, it advised that online content must be “embedded in a long-term strategy of audience and school engagement”.
The research said networks played a key role in supporting the cultural sector through the crisis. Organisations came together to find solidarity, co-discover new ways of working, find new business models and lobby policymakers for additional support.
Networks can build long-term resilience, the study added, but it warned “there is a real risk that this effective mode of working, which briefly united what is traditionally a fragmented sector, might disappear post-pandemic without targeted support”.
The report warned that the UK’s cultural sector is “at an inflection point and facing imminent burnout alongside significant skills and workforce gaps”. As a result, “regenerative modes of working” need to be “urgently” adopted, it said.
“This approach would carve out time for all of the positive initiatives that we witnessed across the cultural sector during the pandemic: revisioning and restrategising, professional and network development, reflection and evaluation, play and innovation.
“But regenerative models involve sacrifices: less producing and production, less product and income, less hidden labour and overworking, less solipsism and introspection. This vision can only be realised if the cultural sector keeps working together as a joined-up ecosystem and doesn’t rupture at the seams.”
We’re the membership network uniting Bristol and Bath’s creative industries behind a common cause, driven by the belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone. Join as a member and benefit from industry expertise, training, leads, curated news, kudos and more.
The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has unveiled a new document which highlights why the west is the go-to place for investment in the creative industries.
Launched by Metro Mayor Dan Norris, the ‘Cultural Plan‘ showcases the region’s art and cultural businesses alongside details of how WECA intends to support creativity across the West of England.
“The West of England is an incredibly vibrant, diverse and creative region,” the plan says. “It includes the two thriving cities of Bristol and Bath along with divergent towns and communities.
“The region is recognised as a national and international cultural and tourist hot spot, with a vibrant mix of urban, rural and coastal areas providing an exceptionally diverse cultural ecology.
“But the West of England is also one of the country’s economic success stories. It is the most productive city region in England outside London, with a breadth of innovative businesses and a highly skilled workforce.
“With economic links to Wales, the Midlands, London and the South West, ensuring a strong economy recovery in the West of England will help to drive a wider national recovery.”
The plan outlines some of the incredible statistics which highlight the breadth of the creative industries in our region.
The sector has around 7,000 businesses which employ 50,000 people and contribute almost £2bn to the regional economy.
The West of England is home to the UK’s third largest TV sector with 445 production companies including Bristol Creative Industries members Aardman Animations, Troy TV, Woven Films and JonesMillbank.
Many major TV shows have also been filmed in Bristol and Bath. They include Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws and Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Several have been filmed The Bottle Yard studios which recently announced a £12m expansion.
Around 800 million people each month watch digital content produced in Bristol and Bath.
The West of England also has the UK’s most productive technology sector and a fast growing games industry with examples such as the chart topping Game Plague Inc created by Bristol agency Ndemic Creations.
WECA says its vision is to “create a region which is an international exemplar of the power of culture to transform and enrich lives, places and businesses”. That vision has four areas of focus:
“The creativity of every child and young person in the region should be given space to flourish; and that emergent talent should be given every means to succeed,” the plan says.
WECA says it will ensure culture is included across the curriculum and “develop inclusive, ambitious and effective skills pipelines for culture in the region and beyond”.
Proposed initiatives include cultural sector school twinning, cultural curriculum exemplars and targeted cultural and creative careers support.
Bristol Creative Industries is also committed to diversity in the creative industries. When we revealed the new BCI board of directors last January, we said: “The diversity of Bristol’s creative industries is something we are immensely proud of, but we also recognised the need for our board to better reflect that diversity. We need individuals who can bring different perspectives and experiences and help us widen our reach across the city. That will help us to future proof the organisation and better support our members.”
Steps we have taken so far include launching The Talent Network which gives 17 to 21 year-olds the opportunity to network with creative employers in Bristol and Bath.
“We will prioritise recovery from the impact of Covid-19, but also focus on the need to thrive and prosper in the period ahead,” the plan says.
WECA’s proposed initiatives include a freelancer transition, an industry leading accelerator programme and a targeted inward investment campaign.
Bristol Creative Industries’ member directory is a brilliant showcase of the creative industries innovation in the region.
“Investment in culture drives productivity and employment and contributes to the regeneration of areas and revitalisation of our high streets. It helps to bring communities together – opening up new perspectives, encouraging participation in civic life,” the plan says.
WECA says it will “place culture at the centre of placemaking, community-making and regeneration strategies with proposed initiatives including a Cultural Infrastructure Toolkit and Charter, an immersive digital experience, working with partners to create a coherent and compelling narrative for the West of England and a “regional mega-event”.
“Culture is an essential part of a life well lived. Arts and culturebased interventions offer new and surprising ways to promote the health and wellbeing of communities and to help them flourish and grow. Participation in culture is a fundamental human right, as outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the plan says.
WECA says it will “ensure that all residents and visitors can access culture and cultural activities for their own wellbeing, development, and enrichment” with proposed initiatives including an arts and homelessness civic plan, widening access to culture including targeting specific barriers for groups and communities, disabled access support and supporting libraries to deliver cultural experiences.
“In the coming years I am determined we do much more than just survive, but to go on and really thrive – to build back even better and progress far further. I want to ensure more local people than ever before have the opportunities to achieve their full potential and make sure as many people as possible know about the amazing things we do here. Above all, I want to put our truly great West of England region even more firmly on the map for national and international success.”
We’re the membership network uniting Bristol and Bath’s creative industries behind a common cause, driven by the belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone. Join as a member and benefit from industry expertise, training, leads, curated news, kudos and more.
Cultural Plan cover image credit: Artist Luke Jerram’s temporary installation, In Memoriam, on Weston-super-Mare beach, September 2021 © Mark Gray
The year-long exhibition of Mexican-American artist Octavio Medellin features a variety of works dotted across multiple sites in and around the city that inspired them.
To celebrate his life’s work Fiasco created a tactile, interactive map of Dallas, which allows visitors to explore and discover the key locations, landmarks and public artworks associated with Medellin’s career.
“We wanted to create a map of Dallas with a curious sensibility that avoids cliches of rodeos and cowboys, in favour of a playful, celebratory take on the artist’s life and legacy.” – Mike Frost, Digital Designer, Fiasco Design.
Illustrator Nicolas Burrows helped to bring the vision of Medellin’s Dallas to life by developing an abstract and figurative style of imperfect collage illustration. Playing with exaggerated mark-making techniques, the illustrations reflect the craftsmanship and philosophies that underpin Medellin’s work. The colour palette champions his use of raw materials – using pops of brighter hues to create a dream-like, more positive vision of Dallas. The overall feel echoes Medellin’s spirited, childlike love for craft.
A prominent figure in the Texan art scene, Medellin was passionate about sharing his wisdom and championing the next generation of artists. Adopting Medellin’s ethos, the website is designed to land with a broad demographic: an inclusive space for people from all walks of life to learn and be inspired.
The site is joyous for all to explore; a tactile digital experience that connects with the sculptural qualities of Medellin’s work through Burrows’ playful interpretive illustrations.
The navigation around the site helps to break up six decades of work in a digestible way for all to enjoy. Whilst the playful user interactions and bold colour palette connect this artist of huge cultural significance with a new, younger audience; keeping his work relevant to this day.
“It was a real joy to work with Dallas Museum of Art on the site for this unique exhibition of Medellin’s work. They were a fantastic partner, seeing our vision for the microsite and really getting behind it. We’re excited to see how the map is received.” – Ben Steers, Creative Director, Fiasco Design.
“Fiasco were amazing to collaborate with, and were truly innovative in their approach to our interactive map creation. They came up with amazing creative solutions, as well as providing real time brainstorming and troubleshooting along the way. We’re thrilled with the result— and the interactive museum engagement with both our members and the public!” – Lizz DeLera, Creative Director, Dallas Museum of Art.
You can view the full case study here.
Cerba Research, one of the world’s leading central, specialty and diagnostic laboratory services companies, have appointed AgencyUK to support their marketing communications effort from 2022. The appointment follows a competitive pitch that involved a number of agencies from around the world.
Cerba Research is owned by Cerba HealthCare,a €630m company and France’s national health service laboratory provider. The French group has grown on the five continents and draws on 50 years of expertise in clinical pathology to better assess the risk of diseases development, detect and diagnose diseases earlier and optimize the effectiveness of personalized medicine. Cerba Research plays a key role in this ambition to scale further as they become one of the world’s leading laboratory services companies as the industry moves ever closer to the human designer medicine model for drug discovery and development programmes.
Cerba Research has been operating for 35 years, with a global network of 450 clinical laboratories anchored in seven centres across the globe including in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.
Cerba Research’s expertise and track record them an attractive partner for government agencies and non-government organizations as well as pharma and biotech companies thriving to change the shape of their clinical development.
“We are delighted to be working with Cerba Research during an exciting period of growth. As they continue to scale we will help them with their brand strategy, the rollout of their marketing communications, their employer brand as well as their digital capabilities, through web, mobile app and CRM platforms. We have unique experience in the healthcare sector that has led to us doubling our pharmaceutical portfolio since 2020, and Cerba Research is another significant addition” says Sammy Mansourpour, MD AgencyUK.
“We were looking for an experienced partner that brought both creativity and technical capability and we found this in AgencyUK. They have a good reputation in the healthcare sector and have previously delivered many of the vital components needed when a company like Cerba Research is in fast growth. Their insight and guidance so far haves already started to help us shape our future strategy and we’re excited for this to continue” says Sofie Vandevyver,, Head of Business Operations and Marketing, Cerba Research.
AgencyUK has already appointed Amy Boundy as Head of Strategy previously of VML London to help lead the account. Amy joins the team bringing her experience of working with pharmaceutical and biotech organizations as well as managing clinical trial programmes for the NHS.
Amy works closely with the NIHR team to increase the numbers of research projects taking place in Primary Care.. Studies include those focused on treatments for Covid-19 in the Community, such as the Principle and Panoramic platform trials and chronic conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes.
“I’m fascinated by the work many biotech companies do in their search for the next therapeutic drug discovery, and this has been my passion when working for agencies and pharmaceutical companies directly. AgencyUK has a unique proposition, with a fast growing healthcare portfolio and an enviable list of global brands. I’m looking forward to joining the team and embarking on the next chapter with Cerba Research” Amy Boundy, Head of Healthcare Strategy, AgencyUK.
Specialist CRM agency Flourish has strengthened its commitment to putting the customer experience at the heart of everything it does with the appointment of former TSB and Bank of Ireland marketing head Emma Stacey as a non-executive director.
The move follows a recent management restructure at Flourish that has seen Ian Reeves appointed Managing Director. The new senior management team will maintain Flourish’s pragmatic approach to CRM, whilst expanding the use of data available through search and social to continually improve the relevance of customer led journeys.
Stacey will advise Flourish as the team look to consolidate their position and move into the next stage of their growth plan. Flourish will draw on Stacey’s vast experience, gained in the financial sector, of putting customers at the centre of every marketing experience, whilst achieving financial objectives.
Managing Director Ian Reeves said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Emma to the Flourish family. Our whole team and our clients will benefit from Emma’s wealth of knowledge. The ‘money confidence’ TSB campaign demonstrated the importance of data driven communications, something Flourish champion with all of our clients and I’m looking forward to Emma helping us as we onboard new clients in the future.”
To promote and celebrate Single Awareness Day Hart & Jones have designed a range of scented candles. With tongue-in-cheek titles Stupid Cupid, Love Yo Self & Single AF SAD candles are the perfect accompaniment to your singleton self-care. A solid reminder that you don’t need a relationship to celebrate love.
If you have had enough of love-sick couples parading their relationships at Valentine’s then you are not alone. The expectation to be in love has led to 40% of our population associating the holiday with negative emotions, with many being left feeling lonely, insecure, depressed or unwanted.
From these feelings of isolation Single Awareness Day was born, a day to enjoy your singleness rather than drowning in your sorrows. In protest to the commercial monster that is Valentine’s Day, SAD is celebrated on February 15th , a day to enjoy singleness, empowerment and self-love. Honour the joy and freedom of being single and give love to the person most deserving of it, you.