Turn Key Blog. Things we've done and the things we love.

Last Friday, the Turn Key boys donned their football boots and ventured up to Seacroft for the Lucozade Powerleague five-a-side competition.

After an eventful experience last year (for those who don’t remember, our designer Darren broke his wrist) Sean , Matt , Jac, Oliver, Oli , Scott  and Carl were more determined than ever to save face and put up a good fight. With the regional finals held at the one and only Wembley Stadium, this was a competition we really wanted to win.

Unfortunately though, the tournament didn’t go as planned. After warming up in the first game, we lost out 7-0, cue slightly embarrassed faces all round.

Our confidence wasn’t knocked though and the boys soldiered on through the second game, which was lost with a smaller goal gap of just 5-2 thanks to Matt’s excellent shot stopping and more shape on the field from the whole team.

The final game was the closest yet, Team TK’s determination grew and we missed out on a draw by just a whisker with the full time score 3-2.

Despite the fact we lost all three games, this year’s tournament was a moral victory for the TK boys! Although we lost, we improved every game and left the stadium with no broken bones and some great teamwork under our belt, maybe we just need to start training for next year’s tournament now…

Christmas is finally upon us and as we reach the end of the countdown, it’s time to reflect on the adverts that have defined our Christmas 2012.

As October leads into November, there is always the same sense of anticipation; who will make us cry? Who will make us laugh? And who will make Mr Jones from Norwich ring the ASA to complain? This year certainly didn’t disappoint; from walking snowmen embarking on a quest for love to talking aliens, we’ve seen it all.

However, as everyone’s Twitter and Facebook statuses acknowledge, it just simply isn’t Christmas until we’ve seen the iconic Coca Cola advert, making it the favourite ad not just this year, but every year.

Another company which has felt a great deal of pressure to follow the success of its previous hit is John Lewis. In 2011 we followed a young boy and his countdown to Christmas day taking us back to our childhoods and putting a smile on even the sternest of faces. This year the snowman advert did not let us down, but perhaps this is more to do with the popularity of the song ‘The Power of Love’ rather than the initial sentiment of the commercial itself? Nevertheless, it’s certainly a heart warmer!

Two brands in particular that received a great deal of criticism and complaints for their adverts are Morrisons and Asda, who (arguably) portray Christmas day to be more of an ordeal that mothers must suffer and endure. Asda’s strapline ‘Christmas doesn’t happen by magic’ has been considered sexist and offensive. Although the message may offer up some truth, no one wants to be reminded of that by a Christmas advert!

In comparison, the Morrisons advert tackles a similar subject but with a sense of humour, finding the mum in a boxing ring with a Turkey. Although the undertone emulates the sense of stress and dread that the majority of us face at Christmas, the advert provides a great deal of entertainment and humour; particularly during the cold and dark winter months.

Perhaps the most arguably unique Christmas advert of 2012 is Waitrose’s ‘Giving more this Christmas’. The advert is supposed to dispel feelings of commercialism by providing a reminder of those less fortunate, choosing to donate the money to charity than a big budget production. It’s very simple, but is its charitable simplicity enough to stand up to the competition?

The one viral that particularly struck a chord in the Turn Key office is Warehouse’s ‘Morning After Edition #SOS’ which brings a whole new meaning to the 12 days of Christmas. The viral campaign is witty and relatable, promoting the brand’s sense of humour and getting us in the mood for the party season! We’re certainly very glad our Christmas party is on a Friday this year…

The Christmas countdown has commenced at TK HQ and we’re feeling very festive indeed. The office has been transformed into what can only be described as a grotto, with a great big tree in pride of place and stockings hung up for the whole team.

As our Christmas party looms, we’ve been getting into the yuletide spirit by picking our secret Santa. And who better to deliver the lucky dip than Father Christmas himself?

The boys from studio have finally agreed to play some classic festive tunes on the sound system and we’re all looking forward to a slap-up meal at Brasserie 44 to celebrate the beginning of our December break. Merry Christmas everyone, keep an eye out for our most memorable Christmas card ever, coming to your inbox very soon!

As many marketeers and creatives will know, The Drum recently launched a Pussy Riot campaign in support of freeing the Russian punk band from jail. As part of its continual quest to promote freedom of speech, the publication called out for designers and creative professionals to invent a quirky piece of merchandise to support the appeal.

At Turn Key, we love a challenge and our Junior Designer, Carl , quickly got to work. He came up with the incredible app, Angry Bitches.

The app takes on the legacy of the popular Angry Birds, aimed at the ever-growing demand of the casual gamer. The objective of the game is to wreak havoc for your rights in the name of feminism, using the ’slinky shot’ (cleverly entitled by Emma from PR!) to fire band members and disrupt the opposition. As the game develops you gather more power as you race through levels unleashing accumulated ‘Pussy Power’ in the form of speed, strength and other abilities.

As soon as we submitted the artwork to The Drum, it was uploaded onto the website as their ‘Pick of the Day’ and needless to say Carl was grinning like a Cheshire Cat for the rest of the afternoon!

The winning piece of merchandise will be transformed into an actual product and sold with all proceeds going to the Pussy Riot appeal. Voting opened on The Drum’s website last week and closes this Friday (28 ^th September) so PLEASE support us and vote Turn Key. Tell your friends, tell your family and tweet it to anyone who will listen and let’s bring Angry Bitches to life!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Although Tiger Woods might not be shaking in his boots just yet, the standard of golf on display from the TK team at a recent charity event in Wakefield was more akin to Wentworth than West Yorkshire!

Raising a staggering £14,000 for Wakefield Hospice , the charity extravaganza at Wakefield Golf Club was the setting for Nik ‘Nicklaus’ Entwistle, Mike ‘Mcllroy’ Robinson and Chris ‘Couples’ Hughes to don their dodgy plus fours and swing into action to do TK proud. The trio were joined by Bret Smith from Depuy, making it a formidable foursome, on paper at least.

Despite the wet conditions, the TK team started off strong with Nik and Mike holing some audacious putts and pulling some majestic fairway shots out of the bag to keep the scorecard ticking over. Nik’s stunning tee-shot to within just four feet of the pin on the first par 3 hole was certainly one to remember (as if Nik would let us forget!). Chris was sadly finding every tree and bunker possible on the opening holes, but his moment in the sun (rain) would surely come later in the round.

The heavens really opened on the back nine and the TK team would have found more use out of a snorkel than a sand wedge. Chris finally got in amongst the action and picked up some points for the team as the conditions started to deteriorate badly. ‘Mystic Mike’ as he is now known, finished the round off by putting his psychic powers to the test and attempted to predict the scores for the final hole – before he’d even taken his tee-shot. Sadly the promised birdies – and points – failed to materialise.

A slightly sodden Team TK can only be praised for keeping their spirits high and sense of humour intact as they battled through the elements to complete all 18 holes.

Soaked to the skin, the boys trudged off the final green to make sense of the scorecard, dry off and spruce up ready for the evening presentation. Despite missing out on the first prize, the team achieved a respectable top five position, leaving Nik to claim his ‘nearest the pin’ prize and the raffle for good measure.

A great day was had by all and a big thank you must go out to sponsors Ashleigh Signs for laying on a superb event. No doubt the TK team will be gunning for glory again next year!

Here at Turn Key, we love any excuse for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. On Friday we donned our favourite red, white and blue outfits in honour of the Jubilee and munched on Victoria sponge as vibrant bunting (put up by the lovely Kirsty and Vikki!) decorated the walls.

As we all went our separate ways for the bank holiday weekend, our Senior Account Exec, Gina was lucky enough to be leaving Leeds for London as one of 10,000 guests invited by the Queen to Buckingham Palace. On Monday 5 ^th June, she attended the Diamond Jubilee picnic in Her Majesty’s gardens before taking a seat opposite the Victoria Memorial Fountain to watch some of the world’s biggest entertainment acts (and JLS).

From sipping on Moët and enjoying grub made by Heston Blumenthal to seeing Kate Middleton arrive in the Royal Box with William and Harry, Gina has told us all about her day at the Windsors’. Although right up in the rafters, she waved her Union Jack proudly to performances from Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Madness, culminating in a grand finale by Paul McCartney and an extremely memorable tribute from Prince Charles to his ‘Mummy’.

Here’s a selection of the photos she’s been showing off since her return to TK Towers:

 

At Turn Key we’re all about working together as a team. So when the opportunity arose to take part in a charity Euro 2012 tournament for St Martin’s Hospice we jumped at the chance to show off our team skills.

The boys (Nik, Mike, Sean, Christian, Derrick, Oliver and Darren) dusted off their football boots and headed on down to the new Lucozade Power League stadium in Seacroft. Representing Croatia we were feeling confident – what did it matter if many of us hadn’t played football for a few years? Or in Christian’s case hardly ever kicked a football!

We arrived in our mix matched old shorts and t-shirts and ready for a nice friendly kick-about – until  we spotted our competition all suited and booted in branded corporate colours.

The first game against the Republic of Ireland kicked off with a promising start with some fancy footwork from Sean, Nik and a free kick from Mike scoring our first goal. We even had a good defence with Darren (aka Safe Hands) in goal and Derrick playing as sweeper, so the confidence started to grow.

Next we were up against Spain. With two goals from Nik and some power shots from Sean and Oliver we were in with a chance. But unfortunately we couldn’t hold them off as Darren went all Gordon Banks on us to save a goal and broke his wrist in the process – real dedication to the cause!

Team Turn Key (aka Croatia) may have been at the bottom of the league but spirits and morale stayed on top, despite the injury – with Mike remaining optimistic at 7–1 down and spurring the team on with “Come on guys we can still win this!” as another goal flied into the goal.

A disallowed goal from Nik – apparently flying headers aren’t allowed in a five-a-side – meant we bowed out of the competition, but we did it with our heads held high. Team Turn Key did Croatia proud by remaining positive and playing well as a team right until the end, and most importantly we all had a great time while raising money for a great cause.

Nerves were at an all-time high this lunchtime, when 6 brave team members made their way to Carpe Diem to take part in the Mega Burger Challenge. Just to recap from an earlier post, the challenge requires each individual to polish off 4 quarter pound burgers, 4 rashers of bacon, 6 onion rings all in a giant garlic and herb focaccia bun accompanied by a large bowl of fries all in just 25 minutes.

Challenger number 1: Rich – Creative Director

Challenger number 2: Paul – Designer

Challenger number 3: Samara – PR Account Manager

Challenger number 4: Tom – Designer

Challenger number 5: Derrick – Digital Account Manager

Challenger number 6: Mike – Head of Marketing

Sure there was banter, a sweepstake and lots of excitement, but not one of the contenders, myself being one of them knew just what we were letting ourselves in for!

Just to put things into perspective, we had to give Carpe Diem a week’s notice to ensure there was enough meat to go around and they had to hire extra staff for the occasion! So, with our challenger table set, we prepared ourselves for the ultimate food challenge.

Ready, set… Go!

15 minutes later….

20 minutes….

Finally at 25 minutes…

It was a close call, with Mike just bites away from entering the wall of fame, but alas, the burger won! The results were…

1st – Mike ‘Sorry, I’m just in the middle of a burger challenge; I’ll have to call you back’

2nd – Rich ‘I might aswell just lick a cow’

3rd – Derrick ’I’ve got a meat migraine’

4th – Samara ‘It tastes like the ground’

5th – Paul ‘Can I order a few sides please?’

6th – Tom ‘I wonder if they do ice cream sundaes’

We all gave it our best shot, but unfortunately the defeat was in the meat!

This Friday, the Turn Key team will be wearing looser clothes than usual as they take on the Carpe Diem burger challenge.

The either very brave, or very foolish, 12 TK staff members think they’re made of stronger stuff and will go where no man or woman have gone before. Their mission – to polish off their plates. The feast will consist of 4 burgers, 4 rashers of bacon, 6 onion rings, lettuce, tomato, relish and cheese…in a giant garlic and herb focaccia bun…Oh and a large bowl of fries…and a drink…oh and did we mention the time limit? All that in 25 minutes. Let the battle commence!

If completed, the £17 meal is complimentary – so the team better be hungry!

Open wide TK…. this great inspiration was found by our very own Creative Director Richard Colvill!

We may be going a couple of years back, but as its social media week we couldn’t resist a shout out to the Old Spice campaign, which may very well go down in history as one of the most popular digital marketing campaigns amongst this generation of man.

Old Spice wasn’t particularly well known for its interesting social media campaigns, until they burst onto the scene with an incredibly funny viral video featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa as ‘Old Spice man’.

This impressive and well-worked rebranding campaign helped give Old Spice a younger image, and we think its a sterling example of digital marketing at its finest.