Client: The Social Hub
The Social Hub, a hospitality brand built around community, inclusion, and connection, wanted an activation as official festival partner that would go beyond sponsorship badging, generate significant earned media, and play a meaningful role in Glasgow’s cultural conversation. Conceived on a budget of less than £10k , Story Shop’s answer was to pitch and create an original concept: a dedicated stand-up comedy course for older Glaswegians facing isolation. To deliver this, we built a four-phase, earned-first programme. We launched the search for "Glasgow's funniest pensioner" , took finalists through a four-week course led by comedian Viv Gee , and brought media directly into rehearsals before culminating in a sold-out public showcase where 100% of ticket proceeds went to Age Scotland. We chose this participation-led execution because effective social purpose relies on action, not awareness alone. Putting older people on stage actively challenged age bias by moving them from a passive audience to centre stage as creative talent. This ensured the partnership felt inherently credible: The Social Hub was not borrowing a cause, but using its space to respond to a real local need. Through an efficient partnership design, Age Scotland brought audience access, the Festival brought cultural legitimacy, and The Social Hub provided the physical home for learning and connection. The campaign achieved massive commercial and cultural impact, driving blanket regional features and high-profile national broadcast coverage that elevated a local activation into a UK-wide conversation , proving the undeniable power of an original, human-first narrative.
