Updating.
In 2020, the world underwent a turnaround, including a reconfiguration of the labour market. The need for space has been reduced and the awareness of a qualitative place has been refined. The Alcântara neighbourhood symbolised a departure from the usual obligatory centre, but there it is – we’ve listened to the market again and nothing is the same as it used to be. “It’s very rare to find a place where you think ‘everything is in place’,” explains Manuela Furtado about the office in Rua Maria Pia. With the opening of new doors, new projects emerged: the German comfort of Birkenstock, the Swedish simplicity of Fjällräven, the innovative vision of Veja and the Portuguese creative duo Oficina Marques joined (and remain to this day) BIRDSONG Lisboa.
Influence has always existed, even if it doesn’t translate into likes. When Nike’s Air Force One model celebrated its 30th anniversary, we brought together some industry players to blow out the candles. With the The Ones campaign, we brought together high-profile personalities from across the creative spectrum with a medium that speaks the same language as the brand. In December 2012, Magnética magazine published a multimedia article in which Carolina Flores, Quim Albergaria, Pedro Barroso and Kruella D’Enfer (who also painted a mural for the occasion) recounted the memories associated with trainers.
“We have to emphasise the romantic side of the Douro. The wine business is about selling memories,” one of the owners of Quinta da Covela, Tony Smith, told Diário Económico in 2015. We’ve always valued the human factor: in the age of numbers and likes, we communicate ‘the old-fashioned way’, we give creators a voice, we like to give journalists off-screen experiences. This is how, for around three years, we organised press trips to the estate once owned by filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira and now home to Douro wine producer Lima & Smith (which includes the Tecedeiras and Tormes brands). This resulted in first-person experiences and inspiring images of the region.
Riding a dinosaur for the cover of Parq’s December 2018 issue, Joana Barrios is sending out a message that is anything but prehistoric: at the heart of the Absolut Creative Competition, the actress and presenter embodies the liberating principles of the brand’s initiative. Created in 1985, the competition searches 19 countries for the most daring artists to give voice to Absolut and celebrate creativity without ties. A strategy created by Birdsong to communicate the competition in Portugal, anchored in the timeless premise that a brand is more than the products it sells – it’s a universe, an aesthetic, a message.
What is luxury? The answer changes every season, but the fundamental pillars remain, such as time, care and attention. Poking your nose into Louis Vuitton’s Les Fontaines Parfumées perfumery atelier and creating your own fragrance would be enough to stimulate any journalist’s senses, but receiving a guided tour from perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud – who Vogue was able to ask in an interview what Lisbon smelled like in 2017 – is more synonymous with modern pomp and circumstance.
The essentials may seem invisible to the eye, but not to those of communication. Details are often the starting point for telling the best narratives, like those of Hackett London. We don’t beat around the bush and that’s why we made a point of bringing a group of specialised press to the opening of the brand’s first shop at 14 Savile Row in 2019. There, stories were told about the excellence of the tailoring atelier’s workmanship and attention to detail.
The automotive territory soon began to cross the line into lifestyle, not least because there are experiences that need to be lived out. The launch of Seat’s first SUV, the Ateca, was one of them. In 2016, the Spanish brand accelerated into a new segment and we communicated the news with our hands on the wheel. We flew to Barcelona with a diverse group of KOLs – including brand ambassadors Jéssica Athayde and Nuno Baltazar – to test drive the new car and create memories on and off the road.
In the drinks area, we toasted special projects and became experts in the art of mixology. We started talking about food pairing with Schweppes (pictured) when the concept was still foreign, we followed new launches around the world and brought cross-branding to such a competitive industry. One of the highlights of our liquid journey? Diageo’s World Class Competition. One of the most important cocktail competitions in the world, it was with enthusiasm that we implemented it in Portugal in 2016 and communicated about it for years.
The versatility of our projects always makes our days different, piques our curiosity and makes us travel through different worlds. Football has always been one of them: through Nike, we’ve played closely with the main players in the industry. In the run-up to the 2012 European Football Championship, there were several PR initiatives ahead of the event, such as the launch party for the team’s official equipment. We lost the penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals, but nobody stood up to the wardrobe.
Four cities, four locations, four emerging artists. The Singular Music Festival, organised by Pepe Jeans, lived up to its name with unique characteristics serving as a communication motto for a brand that is as urban and indie as the talents it brought to the stage. Lisbon hosted Twin Shadow in 2011 in an intimate session where we were able to talk about the core of the brand almost without having to say a word.
The power of Instagram, the genius of marketing and the democratisation of fashion. The key concepts of what have become the Swedish brand’s collaborations with the world’s most prominent designers are not just social analyses, because it was the clothes that really sold out. As in #Balmaination – for the 11th collaboration, which brought H&M and Balmain together in 2015, we created a sharp communication strategy, getting all the specialised media to turn their attention to the arrival of the collection and simultaneously offer a slice of information about each brand’s DNA.
A brand created in the 19th century, a trunk from 1927, a millennial model and a magazine that is ahead of its time but over 100 years old. You don’t have to do the maths to know that the result will be phenomenal. In this image, we went to the trunk to remember the day we ‘ordered’ one of Louis Vuitton’s most special pieces. Sitting on a unique trunk, model Sara Sampaio poses in this photograph for an editorial for Vogue Portugal in 2015. One of the many shoots in which we proudly took part in the magic, streamlining creativity between the brand and the pages of the national media.
A party lives for the moment, an event becomes the moment. It was an honour and a challenge to partner with LOEWE to announce its arrival in Portugal at the end of 2021. Even after a paralysing pandemic, the ‘pass the word’ that characterises us continued and the Spanish House that symbolises the new cool knocked on our door. With creative demands and many blank pages, we mapped the city until we reached the Palacio do Grilo, the future venue for the celebration, which until then had been forgotten and idle. The expectations of those who already followed the brand were high, those who didn’t know became curious, the choice of Lisbon was talked about internationally and the repercussions of both the shop opening and the party perpetuate the effects that good memories always bring.
A brand created by two men invested in improving the comfort of women’s underwear would be revolutionary in itself, but what if we add that this feat took place in 1886? With a history of trust, tradition and quality, Triumph has grown with its modernist vision and adapted to today’s needs and aesthetics. Keeping the foundation well-established, we tell it in the most original ways, such as in November 2019 during one of the Birdsong Open Days, where the Moroccan inspiration of the collection and the event brought empowered women to pass on the message in the best possible way: natural.
Communication thrives on contact and every opportunity serves to make a good impression. After many seasons in the Rato area and Largo de Camões, from 2012 to 2020 our office at 31 Rua Rodrigues Sampaio has accumulated many stories to tell. If walls could talk, Birdsong’s seasonal open days would certainly be the most talked about moment, providing meetings between clients, the press, brand ambassadors, influencers and, of course, the team that hides behind an email most days.
All stories are made of firsts and Mango’s debut on the Paris catwalks has become a milestone for the brand. Impeccably organised by fashion event creator and producer Alexandre de Betak, the AW11/12 collection brought together a remarkable audience of onlookers, such as Portuguese fado singer Carminho, who we invited to the front row of the show, along with other influential figures.
The greatness of a project is not related to its structure or turnover, but to the ideals it defends. Founded in 1990, Kolovrat represents the avant-garde vision of its namesake designer. In order to give substance to what was already there, we have worked on this author project on several fronts, both in the launch of collections and in partnerships that increase the potential. In 2007, for example, the Kolovrat Project Store gave way to the Absolut Glam Hotel, a partnership between the designer and the drinks brand to publicise creative projects.
Christmas is all about togetherness, solidarity and, of course, communication. At a time when every message lights up like a Christmas tree, Louis Vuitton creates a special set every year to present its most special products to the press. The sets travelled around the world, travelling more kilometres than Santa’s sleigh and bringing an extra dose of elegance to the city of Lisbon.
A brand’s work doesn’t begin and end on the catwalk. For several seasons, Cia Marítima has presented its beachwear options at Lisbon Fashion Week, a moment always eagerly awaited by the public. Birdsong has been in charge of public relations and communications for more than a decade, such as this summer 2012, during Lisbon Fashion Week. Pictured is model Milena Cardoso.
The beauty industry moves without rules, while at the same time communicating through a language all of its own. We never seem to live without it, but the truth is that the brand of iconic tattoo artist Kat Von D only arrived in Portugal in 2017. With a vegan policy and a very distinctive style, the brand’s debut event at Sephora Portugal brought together the press and influencers for a presentation get-together in the noble hall of the Palácio Foz and even without the founder present, it was 100% in her image.
An open day has the power to set the tone for a brand for the following season. From the location to the catering, every detail is thought through, scrutinised and lives in a back-and-forth – endures a back and forth that ties and unties knots in our heads until we arrive at the ideal solution. And then, when a brand like Nike gives the green light to any creative idea, the sky becomes the limit – with a constant concern for the areas of culture and art, the brand’s presentations have become an event that creates anticipation in itself. The one you see in the picture took place in the changing room at Liceu Pedro Nunes in 2005.
The art of travelling begins with the eyes, as Diana Vreeland used to say, which means that a brand’s physical space should accommodate all its luggage essentials. When, after eight months of remodelling, the Louis Vuitton shop opened its doors in Lisbon in December 2018, everyone wanted to check in and enjoy the Maison’s new location. The reopening announcement featured an intimate moment designed to bridge the gap between the French brand and the Portuguese capital, with fado singer Ana Moura creating the perfect soundtrack for us to embark on this journey.
The year was 2004. What today is an entity in its own right, at the time was a young football prospect. Even so, when Pepe Jeans wanted to find a star for its new campaign, it made a risky but sure bet. In the middle of a rough terrain in Barreiro, a team of dozens of people became champions: Cristiano Ronaldo joined model Jessica Miller and posed for Steven Klein’s famous lenses, led by Giovanni Bianco’s art direction. On this shoot we were worth 11: we organised part of the logistics, providing production support to the creative team and recording the behind-the-scenes content. The campaign put CR on the world’s radar, both on and off the pitch.
Communicating is more than spreading a message – it’s adding layers, history and creativity. When the opportunity arose to photograph Sofia Boutella for the Portuguese edition of Elle magazine in 2005, we teamed up Madonna’s and Rihanna’s favourite dancer with the talent of Luís Buchinho, who mixed his own pieces in a styling based on the Nike collection. A strategic and original way of bringing the American brand closer to the Portuguese market and breaking down style stereotypes between designer fashion and sportswear.
In 2007, with more than two decades on the market, Mango created a unique initiative: the El Botón Fashion Awards turned the Spanish brand’s attention, and especially its efforts, to supporting new creatives. With big names on the list of nominees, such as Felipe Oliveira Baptista (pictured, along with the other finalists), and on the jury, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, the awards, which took place every 18 months, opened a window of opportunity to communicate the one trend that never goes out of fashion – talent.
