Coca-Cola is bigging up the contribution of independent businesses to their local communities with a new “Royal” portrait series designed to celebrate the people and families behind hospitality and retail businesses.
The “Local Royalty” portraits have been painted by a selection of Britain’s finest portrait artists. Each one has previously painted an official portrait of a member of the Royal Family, with the new work going on display to the public at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
The initiative is part of the long-running Localness platform, which has already featured The Bosses, a documentary and photography series, while Counter Cultures was unveiled earlier this year; Local Royalty shifts into the visual world of formal portraiture.
The campaign tells the story of four businesses from across hospitality and retail; a pub, corner shop café, and fish and chip shop. Each of the owners has been immortalised in a manner historically reserved for royalty, titans of industry and stars of stage and screen. The portraits depict:
– Pindy Kaur, owner of Ocean Fish Bar in Barnsley, painted by Nicky Philipps, two-time portrait painter to the late Queen Elizabeth II
– Simon Dafforn-Jones, landlord of the Ferry Boat Inn in Dittisham, South Devon, painted by Jamie Coreth, who painted the first official portrait of the Prince and Princess of Wales
– Gino Verecchia, proprietor of University Café in Glasgow, painted by Gareth Reid, portrait artist to King Charles III while he was Prince of Wales
– Kaual Patel, owner of Torridon Convenience Store in Catford, South East London, painted by Nick Bashall, portrait painter to Princess Anne
The campaign culminates in a free public exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London from October 28 to November 1. Alongside the finished works, visitors will see exclusive behind-the-scenes content from the sittings, revealing the encounters between artists and owners and the process of translating each sitter’s character, history and connection to their community into a formal portrait.
Devised and delivered by MHP Group across MHP, Mischief and Studio La Plage, Local Royalty aims to tap into a public appetite to see independent businesses celebrated into a deliberately elevated creative treatment.
New research commissioned by Coca-Cola Great Britain found that 79% of people believe independent businesses are underappreciated, while 80% want to see them celebrated more often.
The integrated campaign has been activated across editorial, social and owned media.
Coca-Cola Great Britain senior director of communications Rhona Stephen said: “Independent business owners create the places where local life happens, yet their contribution often goes unrecognised.
“With Local Royalty, we wanted to celebrate them in a way that felt deliberately unexpected and enduring. By borrowing the visual language of official portraiture and placing these owners at its centre, the campaign gives their everyday impact the status it deserves.”
“The campaign has been designed to turn recognition into something tangible and lasting. Each business owner will also receive a donation for a local charity of their choice and the finished portrait, which they can display in their home or business and pass down through their family for generations.”
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