The Kindred blog

The curse of the Christmas party…

Post by Account Manager Shona Mathew...

The day after the Christmas party is always an ‘interesting’ day in any office. Watching people trickle in and stretch the boundries of the 9am start, spending the first half hour gossiping about the night before…’who did this’, ‘who said that’, or worse! There’s always a few characters who fell asleep on the tube home or arrive in the same clothes as the previous evening.

Obviously, there was no such scandal at yesterday’s Kindred party.

We should be well-prepared. Every paper and magazine I read in the run-up to the festive season includes features on, ‘How to survive the office party’ or ‘Top tips for avoiding those embarrassing situations with the boss’. All this packaged with statistics telling us there’s an 80% likelihood that we will embarrass ourselves in front of colleagues, say something out of line to a senior member of staff or, worst of all, have a romantic ‘liaison’ with someone at work.

Do we take note of all these warnings or do we go it alone and hope for the best?

In this age of austerity, it has been reported that the Christmas party may be dying a death. Seen by some as extravagant and frivolous at a time when businesses across the country are tightening their belts. But surely there is nothing better for morale-building in the workplace than shaking it on the dance floor with your directors to ‘Relight my fire’?

However embarrassing, cringe-worthy and slightly awkward the office ‘do’, long may it continue. But be sure to read the numerous articles of advice to keep you on the straight and narrow.

So until next year then… I’ll leave you with a couple of Kindred titbits.  Last night we shared secrets and found out that one colleague got a little too tipsy at Buckingham Palace Garden party and unsuccessfully tried to chat up a Beefeater…another once worked in a strip club…and someone else was born in a lift – who knew!
No, we are NOT telling you who. 

Enjoy your Christmas parties all.

Kindred has been appointed to support the Royal Institution of Great Britain (Ri), with its 2010 Christmas Lecture series

The historic lectures, which have been educating and entertaining young people since 1825 are returning to the BBC and will be aired on BBC Four during the Christmas season. Kindred will support the Ri in promoting this year’s lectures to an audience of young people and families via online and offline PR.

This year’s lectures are entitled ‘Size Matters’ and will explore the science of Size and Scale in the world around us, from zooming out to determine if man could ever build a tower to the moon to zooming in to look at the world beneath people’s fingertips.

Kristen Dodd, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, said: “The Christmas Lectures provide the original and the best science communications for young people. This year the lectures will not only be bigger and better than ever before, but will be returning to the BBC. We were extremely impressed with what Kindred put on the table, and look forward to working with them.”

We’ve got the look

By Kindred's Creative Director, Ben Friend...

We’ve got a new agency.

We bought the agency because we know we have something unique here and believe that we can give clients something they can’t get anywhere else.

We know who we are. Kindred is an agency that refuses to be bound by convention.

There you go, one simple statement that sums up our desire to find the answers to our client’s problems in the best way possible. Unencumbered by convention in the way we think or the way we are.

Now all we have to do is come up with a neat simple visual device that encapsulates this positioning.

At this point people normally start shifting uncomfortably in their seat because we are talking about embarking on a process that is usually about as relaxing a root canal treatment.

Yes dear reader I’m talking about the dreaded agency identity.

This is usually the cue for a ton of pain. In my experience there is nothing that will turn an agency inside out in spasms of crippling self-analysis and horrendous navel gazing than ‘The New Look.’

When I’ve been involved in this type of thing before I have hated it and I mean properly hated it.

The strength of my feeling has been generated by a frustration on behalf of those around me and in myself at an inability to actually say who or what the agency I was working for at the time was about.

This inability to express it ourselves would mean we would have to look outside for help and this in turn would mean the dreaded Awayday in Soho House or some equally pointlessly expensive venue. The day would be hosted by a planner/stategist/team builder and would be called ‘Finding Our Essence or The Way To Truth'. We’ve all been there.

All this process would result in would be a room full of really confused people staring at a wall full of post-it-notes with words like ‘direction’, ‘honesty’ and ‘trust’ written on them.

In other words, slap bang in the middle of a town called confusion.

Why do agencies whose sole purpose it is to create communication campaigns find it so difficult when the spotlight is turned on them?

Self-analysis I guess. We all find it a bit difficult.

Or maybe at the core of their being they have no idea why they exist.

Imagine my relief then when none of this happened this time round.

Having written a simple single minded statement about who we are, (see above), we sat down with our very talented Design Director Matt Comboy and our smart brand specialist called Clare Sheppard and we had some ideas that summed this thought up.

One idea leaped out at us, literally, and we went to see Nick Mustoe, Managing Director and he liked it as did the rest of the agency so that’s what we went with.

And here it is. We wanted something that created intrigue was a little bit weird and forced people to ask why.

So, why a flying fish?

Well I’m glad you asked. A flying fish refuses to be bound by convention. At Kindred it’s an attitude we aspire to.

And it is a creature that has evolved to thrive in new places.

Just like us.

And if we come up with an eloquent piece of creative work for us, as effortlessly as this then, dear prospective client, we can certainly do it for you.

Normal service has been resumed.

By Kindred's MD, Nick Mustoe...

At long last we are masters of our own destiny. After a protracted but obviously extremely enjoyable series of negotiations Kindred is an independent agency.

Hallelujah is all I can say.

Kindred was formed two years ago from Mustoes and Geronimo, two very strong independent agencies. This return to what could be described as our natural state just feels right.

I believe that a truly independent agency is much better suited to offer the flexibility and freedom to innovate and that in turn gives our clients considerable benefits.

And when you consider this desire to innovate exists in Advertising, PR, Branding, Design, Social Media and Digital, we have plenty to offer.

The buyout has re-energised the agency and we are raring to go.

So that we make the most of this enthusiasm and energy we have decided to make the ownership of the agency very broad.

Everyone at Account Director level and above, some 24 people, will have shares and as a flourishing agency we’re looking forward to collectively growing the business with our team.

This is a great way to reward people who have worked hard to get to where they are and also to encourage the enthusiasm and energy that will make Kindred a success.

It’s our agency, owned by us.

Happy Independence Day Kindred.

P.S. ...and as our first act as an independent agency, we've just gone and won our first PR Week Award! Working with the National Apprenticeship Service, we picked up the award for our work on National Apprenticeship Week 2010 – congratulations team! 

Lorna is loving Wenlock and Mandeville...are you?

It might be the sunshine or the general end-of-the week glow, but new Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville have attracted some fans within the office – especially Lorna, who as Kindred’s only Stratford resident has a keen interest in all things Olympic. “There’s something quite sweet about the video that introduces them – the voice over and music get you a little bit emotional. And they are cheery little things on Facebook,” she says. In contrast, Paul describes them as looking “like fugly Wii remotes” and (by no means the worst) media descriptions include “odd-looking”, “like two little steel aliens” and “hideous creatures”.
 
According to Seb Coe “We’ve created our mascots for children. They will connect young people with sport and tell the story of our proud Olympic and Paralympic history. By linking young people to the values of sport, Wenlock and Mandeville will help inspire kids to strive to be the best they can be.” London 2012 also emphasise the selection process for the mascots, which included UK wide focus groups of young people, families and industry experts. So maybe some of the grown-up commentators are missing the point and we should all wish them the best of luck. It’s also good to see they’ve invested in a significant online presence for the mascots – and that you can already buy T-shirts and pin badges.
 
Bring on the cuddly Wenlock and Mandeville toys! 

What's YOUR take?  Do you love/hate the two...things?

Ali gets her moonwalk on with Playtex.

Kindred’s Ali McInerney took part in last weekend’s Playtex Moonwalk, a 26.2 mile walk that see’s 15,000 men and women walk the street of London at night, in bras decorated to look like everything from farmyard animals to fancy tea-cups! Armed with plenty of pink fluff, a (temporary) foot-print tattoo, her pink cap and some well-worn trainers, Ali set off from ‘Playtex City’ in Hyde Park at 11pm and arrived 5 hours and 41 minutes later to claim her medal, beating her target by a whole hour and 19 minutes. There’s some serious hobbling around the office today!
It's not too late to donate! 
The start line….