Celebrating Community Through Creative Storytelling
William Simeone discusses the making-of a creative campaign with Guinness, featuring Alex Webb and Jim Goldberg
How did the collaboration with Guinness come about? What was their vision for the “A Lovely Day” campaign?
The project came out of a shared desire to do something different, to move away from traditional advertising and toward something that felt more human. Guinness wanted to explore storytelling that genuinely reflected people and places, not just a brand message. A Lovely Day ended up becoming a landmark North American campaign, spanning all 50 states, and focusing on community as something lived and experienced, rather than abstract.
For me, it was an opportunity to lead a pretty complex creative production while keeping authenticity front and centre. From the very beginning, the goal was to treat real moments as the creative foundation, making sure the work could live across billboards, broadcast, and social without losing its documentary feel. We worked closely with Uncommon Creative Studio in New York and production company Birth, and a big part of my role was collaborating directly with Magnum photographers Alex Webb and Jim Goldberg, making sure their individual voices stayed intact while still contributing to a cohesive campaign.
Why was community the centrepiece of the campaign?
Community is really at the heart of what Guinness wanted to celebrate, those everyday moments where people come together, whether that’s through music, ritual, or just shared time. The campaign carried by Uncommon Studio resulted in 50 photographic portraits, each rooted in a specific U.S. state and centred on a real moment of connection.
Rather than inventing stories, the aim was to elevate ones that were already happening. Ice fishermen in Minnesota. Jazz musicians in New Orleans. These moments are deeply local, but they’re also universal.
How did Alex Webb approach this assignment, and how did this tie into Guinness’ vision?
Alex focused on the Treme Brass Band, and he approached it exactly as you’d expect , by immersing himself in the environment. His work is known for its layered compositions, movement, and energy, and New Orleans gave him all of that. The result feels alive, full of colour, emotion, and shared energy, which tied perfectly into Guinness’ idea of community as celebration. You can feel the music in the photographs.
How did Jim Goldberg approach this assignment, and how did this tie into Guinness’ vision?
On the other hand Jim spent time with ice fishing communities in Brainerd, Minnesota. What came through was a sense of ritual and camaraderie, people showing up for each other in a harsh, frozen environment. It reinforced something important for the campaign: community doesn’t need noise or spectacle. Sometimes it’s just about presence.
Across both projects, the challenge was making space for stories to unfold naturally. These weren’t actors or staged scenes, they were real people living real lives. That meant adapting our production approach so trying not to force anything into a traditional advertising framework. The goal was always to represent these communities on their own terms.
How is the field of advertising developing, and what is the advantage of using creativity and community in branded campaigns?
Advertising is changing because audiences have changed. People expect brands to be culturally aware, not just visible. For me, the real value of creativity rooted in community is trust. When brands invest in real people and real stories, audiences can feel that difference immediately. A Lovely Day showed that when brands act more like curators than interrupters, the work resonates emotionally and has a much longer life. Ultimately, this campaign reinforced something I strongly believe: the future of advertising isn’t about louder messages, it’s about listening more deeply and creating space for stories that already matter.
