t2 business solutions blog

Is the dancing Thunderbird this year's drumming gorilla?

Last year's hit ad was Cadbury's gorilla drumming to Phil Collins. Cadbury's efforts to repeat the trick have not yet worked - an advert about airport baggage lorries racing unluckily coincided with the Heathrow Terminal Five problems. Brains already seems destined to be the memorable advert of 2008.

>See Brains in action

What is wonderful about the advert is the care obviously taken over it. Some of it was done by highly skilled puppeteers following choreography, and some by clever computer work converting a digitally scanned real dancer into the image of Brains. But even there, they have taken the trouble to make Brains dance like a puppet trying to dance like a real dancer.

Does this advert clash with the Specsavers Thunderbirds themed advert? Has the Thunderbirds theme been done?

Even though this advert has cleverly tied up the name of the product and the name of the character in the slogan - "Brains perform best when they're hydrated", this advert could be used to advertise any type of product and I believe may be one of its weakest points.

Gorilla spot for Cadburys

Fallon has triumphed at the D&AD awards with its Gorilla spot for Cadbury's, picking up one of six black pencils.

The ad, which also won a Yellow for best use of music, topped a strong night for Fallon's television ads, which picked up a number of Yellows in other categories.

Sony's Play-Doh won in the both the animation & visual effects (Passion Pictures) and direction (Gorgeous) categories.

Laurence Green, Chairman, Fallon said "Creativity is fast migrating from a 'nice to have' to a 'must have', so awards like this are increasingly precious. To win across so many of our clients is the ultimate accolade."

Lack of training prevents flexible working

An article on the ILM website explains how managers are unable to embrace flexible working environments as they do not have the knowledge and experience on managing employees working from home.

The IT Skills for Flexible Working report, published by BT, shows that 88% of managers of small and medium-sized firms have not received any formal training on how to handle home-based staff. The report also found that 50% of managers struggle to control the performance of home-based workers.

These issues are due to a lack of Management and IT skills. However, with the right training these issues can be overcome, which is important due to the increasing interest in flexible working.

t2 business solutions provides tailored training in both Management and IT, along with one-day open courses. Tailored training can be catered to cover any topics your management team requires. Don't get left behind with flexible working.

Coke and Pepsi to trial fresh pack formats

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are considering the creation of different pack sizes for their iconic drinks brands to revitalise sales following several years of slow growth.

>Pepsi is trialling different-sized bottles for >Pepsi and Diet Pepsi 'aimed at providing consumers with another option.

Paul Brennan, design director at branding agency Fitch, believes there are many advantages to introducing additional pack formats.

'Disrupting a consumer's viewpoint with new designs can make them reconsider a product,' he said. 'It can also encourage new consumer habits, as one-a-day yoghurt shots have done.'

However, Brennan also warned: 'Tonnes of choice can be confusing and consumers may reject the brand.'

This year, >Coca-Cola redesigned its global packaging in a bid to modernise the brand (Marketing 15 January).

£38.6 billion spent on training last year

An article on Training Zone explains how the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has recently conducted a survey which shows that companies spent £38.6 billion on training last year, a 16% increase from 2005.

This all time high figure accounts for an increase of £3.5 billion after inflation. Research also shows that the proportion of vacancies that can’t be filled due to a skills shortage has dropped from 25% in 2005, to 21% in 2007, which affects 5% of employers.

Over 79,000 employers were surveyed and last year, over two thirds (67%) of businesses spent a combined total of 218 million days training their workforces. The average money spent per employee on training increased by 11% from £1,550 in 2005 to £1,750 in 2007.

If you would like to provide further training for your employees, whether it be a tailored training course, vocational training or one-day open courses, contact t2 business solutions to see the variety of options available to you.

For more information on the survey results visit LSC.

MTV new Logo ready for 2008 Music Awards

MTV has unveiled a new logo to represent the 15th annual MTV Europe Music Awards, which will be held at the Liverpool Echo Arena.

The inspiration for the logo was drawn from a number of influences, including Japanese futuristic themes, anime, and heavy industry.

It was also created to be used across multiple platforms including the internet, mobile and television.

Over the course of the next six months the logo will be seen on 21 MTV channels across Europe, as well as all off-air marketing and advertising.

The Gremlins are back!

Remember that famous 1984 film about a few... well alright a lot of mischievous creatures who terrorised a family at christmas and in a sequel terrorised a company building in 1990? The Gremlins.

Well now these mischievous creatures have signed a contract with BT it seems. Yes BT have created a multimillion-pound advertising campaign, featuring these little fellas, as a humorous approach to show how small businesses can solve IT problems.

Gordon Ramsey is now nowhere to be seen, and with 'Dragons' Den' business tycoon Peter Jones as the new face of its BT Business TV advertising.

View this advert and read more