Minimalist movie posters

Leigh

Home sweet home

It's nice to know that tbg is again leading the way in best employer practices. New research out from the TUC today highlights that one in five workers want to work from home, but are being prevented from doing so by their bosses.

As one of the lucky few it seems, I agree that the lack of distractions can boost productivity. And cutting down the commute helps my carbon footprint and morning motivation. Although I must admit, tea breaks without colleagues aren't quite the same. BT's reported saving of £2.2m seems a good enough replacement though for a shared snack.

Now to sort Skype so there's no excuse for missing out on office life.

Michelle

The Real Thing still number one

Brand consultancy Interbrand has just published the top 100 brands for 2010. No prizes for guessing that Coca-Cola is ranked number one for the 11th consecutive year with a value estimated at US$ 70.5 bn.

Top risers are Apple, Google and Blackberry and top fallers Harley-Davidson, Toyota and Nokia.

The UK's top performers are in the financial services industry with HSBC ranked at 32 and Barclays at 74.

JB

OMG its the IMF

Now, I'm not one of the texting generation (I can remember the day in 1990 when everyone in the office got a shiny new PC on their desk and was told that e-mail was going to change our lives forever and make everything a whole lot simpler. Half of that statement was true).

Anyway, predictive texting is as inexplicable to me as The White Company (what do they sell? Candles, towels, toiletries -we deserve to know the truth).

Anyway, I was amused to see my phone change OMG to IMF but I have no idea why or how. How I LOL'd.


JB

Boots make product recall simple

Loyalty schemes vary in quality but I think the Boots Advantage Card is probably amongst one of the best. There is much debate about the effect of loyalty schemes on customer behaviour. This recent article in Marketing Week effectively outlines the arguments but I tend to share the views of some of the posters - the point of loyalty schemes is more about providing transactional information to the retailer allowing them to target communications and pricing offers to their consumers.

Anyway, Boots recently wrote to us with a product recall for Simple Nourishing Body Wash over a quality issue. Thanks to the Advantage Card Boots was able to do this. Result? My wife's approval of Boots is intact and Boots has notified a lot of consumers it knows have purchased the product allowing accurate exchange.


JB

Minimalist movie posters

Here at the creative heart of The Bridge Group, we are often tasked with conveying complex messaging through efficient design. We recently took this a stage further by designing a series of minimalist movie posters.

Watch out for more posters over the next few months.

Leigh Cunningham

Tattoos, hooligans and the gem of all bad quotes

Pim de Lange, Director of Stena Line's North Sea route, has become the latest in a long line of business leaders to prove that communiation skills and leadership are not always linked, saying that UK workers are "quite fat and covered in tattoos". The usual defence of context has been made but surely even if these views are held in private there can't be any context where they can be uttered in public?

I am reminded of a couple of other quotes taken out of context. Gerald Ratner famously called their jewellery "total crap" and David Shepherd (marketing chief of Topman) called their customers "hooligans".

JB

Big Mac and a beer

Marketing Week highlights a campaign about to break for the Football Association (FA) to encourage people to become a grassroots coach or referee.

This is being done in conjunction with co-sponsors McDonalds and Carlsberg. A terrific thing for the FA to promote (I’ve always found the community aspect of football the most compelling) but I always wonder if football attracts the most appropriate sponsors.

As an Aston Villa fan, I was delighted last season (2009/10) when the club gave away their shirt sponsorship for free to Acorns (a Midlands based children’s hospice). I think this highlights that even in the commercial world of football it is possible to work with the local community in a positive way.

JB

My favourite agency joke

With Russell Brand still lamenting the impact of his Sachs joke today, I thought I’d share my more tasteful agency favourite.

An ad exec dies and his soul is met by St Peter who offers him the choice of Heaven or Hell. He asks to see both and first visits Hell. When the lift doors open he is greeted by a huge crowd of friendly people and they eat a fine meal in sumptuous surroundings and party for hours. He then visits Heaven. When the lift doors open he is greeted by a scene of tranquil contemplation, harp playing and poetry recital.

St Peter asks him for his choice. “Well, Heaven was nice but Hell seemed more of a party place so I choose Hell”.

This time when the lift opens he is greeted with a scene of total desolation and the Devil with a whip in his hands. “I don’t understand – yesterday there was a party, feasting and dancing all night”. The Devil just shrugs. “Yesterday we were pitching. Now you’re a client”.

JB

Free lunch

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Well, at The Bridge Group there is.

During my interview I was told that a nice lady called Monica made us lunch every day. Not that I didn’t believe everyone but as a veteran of four weeks I am delighted that everyday I find a lunch in the fridge with my name on it. The basket of crisps and chocolate bars is a step too far though.

JB