It’s our __30th__ 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 __30th__ 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

With CMOs under pressure to deliver both brand building ‘fame’ or productivity gains from performance and conversion, this morning’s breakfast panel focused on how to untangle the messy middle and reduce the gap between trigger and purchase.

‘Messy middle’ is a term first termed by Google to describe the chaotic, non-linear journey from trigger to sale, a journey especially tangled in B2B and financial services.

The invited panel represented a broad mix of FS sectors - and maturity across the martech stack:
- Jane Parry, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Canaccord.
- Kathryn Lewis, Head of Asset Management Brand & Digital Marketing, M&G Investments.
- Ailsa Graham, Head of Brand and Channels, Tesco IMS.
- Marko Katavic, Director of AI and Decision Intelligence, Moneybox.

Setting the scene, the panel gave an overview of their current situation and challenges. 

With 2025 data from Gartner revealing that only 22% of marketers report a high customer data platform utilisation (despite high expectations for personalised experiences due to the likes of Amazon, Netflix and Spotify), the panel discussed key stumbling blocks involved - and how to unblock them1. 

For some, getting tech stacks to talk to each other and getting changes through compliance remain evergreen, often insurmountable challenges. For others, being clear about different data sets helped hugely operationally, with existing customer data kept distinct from prospect data.

### Is friction a positive or negative influence?

The conversation then moved on to friction. Despite a friction-free business being the holy grail for many marketers, the panel discussed how a certain amount of friction can have a positive effect on customers at the right time. Acknowledging that the FCA’s guided advice requirement is intended to be a catalyst for reducing friction, it was discussed how too smooth and fast a journey can lead to user distrust. 

With only 14% of banking customers describing their banks as being ‘extremely effective’ at delivering contextually relevant experiences, we moved to discussing the importance of humanity in influencing an ‘in market’ audience2.The panel discussed the importance of finding data analysts that could keep the experience human-centric, and deliver insights in a timely fashion that added value. Another panelist reminded us that as only 5% are ever in the market to purchase, there is a meaningful role for ‘always on’ content and thought leadership.

This neatly led into discussion around AI changing the rules of the game, especially around search. For most marketers on the panel AI was being explored to take away some of their business’s more mechanical tasks, enabling employees to fulfil more value-added activities.

Final thoughts turned to taking an approach to AI that can help the business strategy. All agreed that the need for well-branded assets and thought leadership, from trusted sources was even more vital than ever. 

With thanks as always to our brilliant panel for their candour and insight; to Ruffer for hosting in their fabulous new offices and to the Financial Services Forum for convening best practice.

If you would like to discuss your messy middle please get in touch at hello@teamspirit.co.uk.

### Sources
1. Gartner’s 2025 [Magic Quadrant for Customer Data Platforms survey.](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/6296015)
2. [https://blend.com/blog/thought-leadership/personalization-in-banking/](https://blend.com/blog/thought-leadership/personalization-in-banking/)

An expert panel explores how to deliver productivity gains for performance and conversion.  From reducing speed bumps to harnessing 'useful mediocrity', and always embracing humanity.

Industry experts untangle the messy middle

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!

### __This year, Teamspirit turns the big three-oh. 30! Putting aside our party hats and cake, we took some time to gather 30 memorable slogans or phrases used by financial brands over the last 30 years.__

Honestly, it was a lot of fun and there are some on the list that really stand the test of time - bravo to the clever souls who came up with them. And some we can even picture in our minds, they left that much of an impression. Clearly there’s something beneficial about having a catchy phrase that sticks in people’s minds.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s our 30 Series: 30 Slogans. Take a look and see how many you remember:

## 2010s - now
1. Money feels different on Monzo (Monzo)

2. Smoooth payments (Klarna)

## 2000s
3. Who gives you extra? (Halifax)

4. Life flows better with Visa (Visa)

5. Fluent in finance (Barclays)

6. The unexpected bank (First Direct)

7. You only have to AXA (AXA)

8. Get the Aviva deal (Aviva)

9. Don’t get mad, get esure (Esure)

10. A good deal better (Direct Line)

11. Tax doesn’t have to be taxing (Inland Revenue)

12. Don’t be confused. Be confused.com (Confused.com)

13. Simples (Compare the Market)

14. Experience has its rewards (Saga)

15. Shrewd. Shrewder. Schroders (Schroders)

16. Insurance from A-Z (Allianz)

17. The world’s local bank (HSBC)

18. Because change happenz (Zurich)

19. What’s in your wallet? (Capital One)

20. New fashioned banking (M&S Bank)

21. We hate to be beaten (Travelex)

22. Let us quote you happy (Norwich Union Direct)

23. Don’t accept less than More Than (More Than)

24. On your side (Nationwide)

25. Citi never sleeps (Citibank)

## 1990s
26. Because life’s complicated enough (Abbey National)

27. We’re run to make you richer (Cheltenham & Gloucester)

28. Give the dog a phone (Churchill)

29. Don’t leave home without it (Amex)

30. For everything else, there’s Mastercard (Mastercard)

![TS30 Timeline Carousel Posts Slogans V1.2 2](//images.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/1GFkuUvYDPAwbLP9amdJaX/d754ecb41ae79b9d0402ce00dfdef497/TS30_Timeline_Carousel_Posts_Slogans_V1.2_2.jpg)

This year, Teamspirit turns the big three-oh. 30! Putting aside our party hats and cake, we took some time to gather 30 memorable slogans or phrases used by financial brands over the last 30 years.

30 Series - 30 Slogans: how many do you remember?

There may not have been the glitz of the Guildhall this year, but winning five awards at the Financial Services Forum for our clients was every bit as significant.

Unlike other awards, the FSF Forum’s accolades are handed out for marketing effectiveness. For achieving industry-high level results for clients - at both marketing and business level. Against the biggest names in the industry, and spanning all financial services sectors.

We were awarded The Judges’ Award for Marketing Excellence (Fidelity Multi-Asset), Most Effective Sponsorship (Standard Life), Most Effective Relationship Marketing Activity (Fidelity Workplace Investing), Most Effective B2B Marketing Campaign and a Highly Commended for Most Effective Integrated Communications Campaign.

The recognition also brings us joy as it embodies the strong partnerships between our specialists and our clients’ marketing departments... as well as our breadth and depth in creative, strategic planning, PR, data and digital.  

And in our 25th year, it also means we have now passed 100 wins over this time... and a further 50 highly commendeds.  

A massive day for us... and our clients.

There may not have been the glitz of the Guildhall this year, but winning five awards at the Financial Services Forum for our clients was every bit as significant.

We take home five awards at the FSF Marketing Effectiveness Awards

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Mon 29 Sep 2025

Happy 30th to our friends-in-birthday

Thu 25 Sep 2025

Industry experts untangle the messy middle

Mon 1 Sep 2025

Money Ready, steady, go!

Thu 29 May 2025

30 Series - 30 Slogans: how many do you remember?