GSK Smile Train

GSK is a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company headquartered in London. With big ambitions to unite science and technology, the business is also eager to give back where it can. One way GSK does this is through partnership with charities and non-profits, and that’s where DRPG comes in. 

When we came to this project, GSK was just entering year three of a five-year partnership with Smile Train, a charity that provides corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. In years one and two, the business had done everything you’d expect to spread awareness internally. There had been plenty of fundraising activities, endless individual stories shared and lots of before and after photos. But they couldn’t keep telling the same story. 

We made it our mission to shake things up. GSK asked for a strategy and campaign that would showcase their achievements in partnership with Smile Train and get their people excited about the collaboration again. We knew that could only happen with a bold new visual identity. People needed something different, something exciting, something incredibly eye-catching to draw them back in.  

With the ‘Get Your Smile On’ concept, we turned everything GSK had done to that point on its head. We asked its people to focus on themselves first. We pushed them to find some fun and laughter in the campaign and added humour and playfulness to every graphic. Their smiles became the central motif, and a powerful one. Once they were smiling, wouldn’t they like to help children across the world do the same? ‘Yes’ was the overwhelming answer.  

Building on the global brand’s existing palette, we added real energy with a rainbow drop shadow and a single bold type that was completely new to GSK. Then we stretched the core designs across a full suite of physical and digital assets, flexing with the products and their purpose. We designed logos, emails, t-shirts, lanyards, flash cards, even the obligatory Teams background. 

Together, it broke through the noise (and the usual comms of this global corporate) to make a real and lasting impact. They even took the internal campaign to the outside world in an unplanned CSR push – we couldn’t ask for a better recommendation.