Decades of history in thirty seconds.

The challenge

With no new exhibition launching in 2026, the campaign had to sell the existing offer — and sell it hard. The real pressure wasn’t visibility, it was value. Against a cost-of-living backdrop, every family day out is weighed up carefully and a heritage visit can read as ‘a couple of hours of history’ rather than a proper day. The brief was to change that perception: to show that Bletchley Park is a full day out; exhibitions, the history brought to life, lunch and the grounds when the weather plays along, aimed at two distinct audiences, families with older children and culture-minded over-55s.

The Solution

Thirty seconds. Decades of history. The maths only works one way, so we built the hero film around short, sharp cuts, each one a different reason to visit, stacking up fast enough to make the point on their own: there is far more here than you think.

Casting did the strategic heavy lifting. From children dressing up to older visitors exploring at their own pace, we curated a cast that mirrored both target audiences in a single film and worked closely with the Bletchley Park team throughout to make sure the history was told right. With budgets tight on talent, we leant on the Stratos team, friends and family, and Bletchley Park’s own volunteers to fill the frames (a very on-brand solution to a very real constraint).

We delivered a 30-second hero film with 15-second social cutdowns in 16:9 and 9:16 for YouTube and Meta, handled the Clearcast clearing for Sky AdSmart, and produced a bank of stills for use across print and digital. The summer edit reworked the hero to feature more children, timed to the school holidays. Throughout, this was a partnership; strategy, adaptability and close collaboration from day one.