It’s our __30<sup>th</sup>__ birthday. 

When we opened our doors, John Major was Prime Minister, Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ was in the Top 10 - and Freddo bars cost 10p.

Have you ever wondered who shares your birthday?  We did. Some pretty iconic siblings, we discovered:

1. __The Tesco Clubcard.__ Pioneers in loyalty and data-led marketing, the card now has 23 million UK households signed up. Credited with adding £billions to Tesco’s share price and bottom line.
2. __The AIM.__ Now one of the world’s most successful growth markets, it’s helped over 4,000 companies raise more than £136 billion.
3. __Investment Week.__ A trusted, go-to source for fund selectors, wealth managers, and asset managers for 30 years.
4. __Yahoo.__ One of the original search engines and shapers of early web culture. Today, [news.yahoo.com](http://news.yahoo.com) still receives 172.9 million visits monthly
5. __PlayStation.__ Sony’s gaming revolution began in North America in our birthday year
6. __Windows 95.__ One of the world’s first grown-up operating systems, Windows 95 changed personal computing forever.
7. __Starbucks Frappuccino.__ Born in 1995, in 2012 alone it enjoyed sales of over $2 billion.
8. __The Collapse of Barings Bank.__ Perhaps not a birthday to celebrate too hard, its collapse was one of the greatest financial scandals of its time, caused by the unauthorised dealing of Nick Leeson.
9. __Toy Story.__ The world’s first entirely computer-animated feature film, it also brought us Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
10. __The 1995 Pensions Act__ equalised pension age for men and women for the first time, as well as setting up OPRA (who became The Pension Regulator).
11. __Jagged Little Pill.__  Alanis Morissette’s first album to be released worldwide, it won five Grammy Awards and made Alanis the youngest artist ever to win Album of the Year.
12. __Match.com.__ One of the first online dating platforms, Match has facilitated over 500,000 relationships,  90,000 marriages and over 1 million babies.
13. __Clueless.__ Classic teen fashion-first film starring Alicia Silverstone, loosely based on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, Emma.
14. __eBay.__ The original online auction site launched with a broken laser pointer.
15. __The Sims (original concept).__ While the game launched in 2000, its development began in 1995, laying the groundwork for a new genre of life simulation.
16. __Omega x James Bond partnership.__ Began with GoldenEye in 1995, launching three decades of suave wristwear
17. __McFlurry.__ The world was first introduced to the McFlurry in 1995.
18. __Batman Forever__ earned more than $335 million at the box office.
19. __Wonderwall.__ A cultural touchstone in British music and branding, released by Oasis in 1995.
20. __LG.__ South Korean company Goldstar rebranded as LG Electronics.
21. __JavaScript.__ Brendan Eich invented the Javascript engines in just 10 days.
22. __CK One.__ Calvin Klein’s gender-neutral fragrance became super popular in 1995 and became a 90s icon.
23. __Tom Ford’s Gucci Fall 1995 Collection.__ The moment that revived Gucci and reshaped luxury fashion.
24. __WTO.__ The World Trade Organisation was founded which represented a shift in international trade. 

Happy __30<sup>th</sup>__ to all our ‘friends-in-birthday.  

We’ve packed a fair bit into our 30 years. But just look at the films, brands and music we share our big birthday with.

Happy 30th to our friends-in-birthday

We’re delighted to announce the winner of our 2025 For the Better Award! 

Each year, we invite nominations for social enterprises and charities that are truly helping people think differently about money - and after careful consideration, we select one to support with pro bono communications expertise. Whether it’s creative development, strategic planning, or public relations firepower, our team dives in to help deliver meaningful change.

This year’s winner is drum roll please - __Money Ready! __

Formerly known as MyBnk, Money Ready is a financial education charity on a mission to reduce financial inequality and boost financial resilience. It delivers expert-led programmes to people aged 4 to 40, reaching over 50,000 people a year, especially in communities that are most at risk of financial exclusion.

Its work focuses on those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income families, marginalised groups, and individuals living in areas of high deprivation. They also support young people in care, refugees, and those leaving the prison system – helping to break down the barriers that lead to financial instability.

__And 2025 marks a special milestone for both of us.__

As Teamspirit celebrates 30 years in business, we’re commemorating the occasion with a commitment to raise and donate £30,000 to charitable causes over the year. As part of that, we’ve increased our pro bono support to £20,000 for Money Ready, which will span comms strategy, PR, social media and more as needed. The goal? To get its incredible work seen, heard, and celebrated across the UK.

The remaining £10,000 of our £30K commitment will be raised through fundraising and volunteering initiatives carried out by our brilliant team throughout the year.

Money Ready recently completed a full rebrand, and they’re now gearing up to launch a bold new campaign that redefines how people see financial education. We’ll be working closely with them to shape that campaign, build visibility, and help amplify the amazing work they’re doing on the ground.

We’ll be sharing updates on the campaign as it develops, so keep an eye out. In the meantime we say __Money Ready, steady, go! __


Money Ready, steady, go!

Since the TV era was born, celebrities have played an integral part in building brand awareness and loyalty. 

Over the years, the financial services sector has also learnt to take advantage of celebrity stardust. Not only can a sprinkling of celebrity help build familiarity and trust, it can also help with cut-through in a noisy media landscape where media consumption habits evolve at speed. 

While some have relied heavily on the ‘national treasure status’ of celebrities, others have been the vehicle to put a celebrity right at the heart of British culture.

Over the last thirty years, these campaigns have typically fallen into four different groups:

__Campaign cut through__
1. [Big Zuu](https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/embed/video/2767205.html) / [Timmy Mallet](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-3020805/Video-Timmy-Malletts-nostalgia-gameshow-promote-pensions.html) / [GC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhefWZx26qs) – ABI/ PLSA ‘Pension Attention’
2. [Myleeen Klass](https://x.com/KlassMyleene/status/1816084462985244830) – Bupa Mental Health
3. [Dame Judi Dench](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTPKlyEKpo) – MoneySuperMarket

__Familiarity through wit__
1. [Ant & Dec](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_aHaq8Eno) – Santander
2. [Rowan Atkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RylTP_5fG0s) – Barclaycard
3. [John Cleese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50wR1KB17s) – Avalon

__Reassurance & expertise__
1. [George Clarke, Scarlette Douglas & Jason Fox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02XMe4xUGN8) – AXA UK
2. [Michael Parkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMm00NaDvw) – Sun Life 
3. [Carol Vorderman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7kezrUGIQ) – First Plus

__Building a national treasure__
1. [Sergei & the meerkat family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_J-MZ6fiY) – Compare the Market
2. [Churchill (the dog)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eCLJglhy4) – Churchill Insurance
3. [Workie the pension monster](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1222999/Meet-pensions-monster-latest-government-ad-campaign.html) – Department of Work & Pensions, Workplace Pension campaign

With financial services providers especially reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the transformative potential of these partnerships for a brand is significant.

But as culture continues to fragment, those brands looking for a ‘one size fits all’ celebrity may well struggle. While larger than life campaigns will still help build brand fame, it is those that are more tactical and bespoke to demographics that will likely bear the most fruit.

*Read our report, ‘[NoticeMe! Why financial services need fame](https://downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/3f5Ii0cJv8Dxd1x76biHyq/8f3217202291e6c5e2a6be8f395d2349/9988_TS_Notice_Me_Report_2025_RGB_UK_AW4_MO.pdf)’, to read our view on why financial services need to unashamedly chase fame; our definition of what we mean by fame; a host of noteworthy examples from within and outside the sector; and how to create it with behavioural science tips aka CHESS.*

With financial services providers reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the role of celebrities to strengthen that bond continues to evolve.

Looking for a celeb in finance

It’s Teamspirit’s big 3-0, and we’re celebrating by compiling the most cringeworthy, overused, just-plain-awful corporate jargon into a bingo card you can sneak into your next meeting.

Synergistic, game-changer, best-in-class, out the box thinking… we’ve all got ones that get our goat. And now we need you to share them with us, for posterity.

So, drop your least favourite marketing buzz words into the box below and when people's responses are in we'll send you a patent Teamspirit buzz word bingo card.

Because let’s be honest, we don’t need another paradigm shift.


Let’s circle back on the worst marketing buzzwords of all time. Time to nominate the worst offenders. BHAG? Disruptor? Hyperlocal? For a bit of fun around our 30th birthday, we’re compiling a marketing buzzword bingo card.  Please give us yours here.

Aagh! What marketing buzz words give you the ick?

Last night Teamspirit and Janus Henderson Investors won the Best PR Campaign at the Annual Association of Investment Companies Awards.  The PR award, which was secured for the second year running, was in recognition of a campaign revealing the state of the UK IPO market.  The judges remarked this campaign was ‘highly impressive and something industry professionals can spend a lifetime trying to achieve’

‘Highly impressive’ award win

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Mon 29 Sep 2025

Happy 30th to our friends-in-birthday

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Tue 29 Jul 2025

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Sun 29 Jun 2025

Aagh! What marketing buzz words give you the ick?