Indies in Bristol

Indies in Bristol is our passion project here at Konichiwa – a series of creative campaigns, events and communications that aim to make our home city of Bristol an even better place for startups and independents to thrive.

The spirit of independence is a catalyst for great things. When you support independent-minded entrepreneurs, you pave the way for more progressive business; meaningful jobs; and connected communities. Shopping districts become more vibrant and diverse, and individuals are empowered to build their dream enterprises.

We’ve all got our favourite independents, but how often do we stop and think about the value they bring?

We didn’t feel that independents were celebrated enough. We wanted to give these businesses a voice – to remind people why they’re special, and why they deserve more of our custom.

We also wanted to help Bristolians discover their new favourite indies by promoting the businesses we love.

Highlights of the campaign to date include:

• #ActLocal Bristol documentary – A full-length documentary showcasing some of Bristol’s best-loved and undiscovered independents, who explain in their own words why they deserve our support.
• Indies in Bristol launch event – A one-day event which included a central traders’ market, programme of talks and workshops, and a city-wide trail of independent businesses. We partnered with around 60 independents, including Bristol Pound, Bristol Energy and Ordoo, and attracted over 1000 visitors.
• Indies in Bristol on Instagram – a platform for celebrating Bristol indies and their array of offerings. Any indie or customer can put forward their images by tagging #ActLocalBristol.
• Startup Stories – a series of events in which a featured startup shares their story to inspire like-minded entrepreneurs, and everyone gets to network. Businesses we’ve featured include Thali, Co-LAB, Artspace Lifespace, Society Café and Bearpit Bristol CIC.
• Not Just a Gift – A Christmas-focused campaign run on Facebook and Instagram in 2017, sponsored by Good Sixty. We created a series of short videos, each featuring a Bristol independent explaining why their products made extra-special gifts. Almost half the businesses featured were from the Good Sixty network.

• The campaign hashtag #ActLocalBristol has been used over 8K times
• Indies in Bristol has gained 4.2K followers across Instagram and Twitter
• Not Just A Gift video campaign reached 30,000 views across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with 1,500 likes, shares and comments over 3 weeks