One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to help bring to life a new way of meeting people based on similar interests (based on your own interests!) with @Simterest1 #LetsMakeThingsInteresting

We ran a brief for #Simterest in August soon after Simterest launched, which helped to build initial brand awareness for the app, that has been in development since March this year.

Simterest is BACK to ask for the help of all you amazing OMBLES to help make even more noise for Simterest following improvements to the brand and service. All designed to help you find like-minded people you can really click with.

This time, we want to push the brief further, have more fun and make things more interesting, witty and humorous.

Focusing on what makes Simterest different from anything else! (see below)

So we want to see entries that can include YOUR interests! Whatever your biggest interests or obsessions are!

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Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs @Simterest1 with the hashtag #LetsMakeThingsInteresting

ENTRY DEADLINE 8PM

Remember to follow @Simterest1 and give creator @AndrewG14u a follow too!

Prize: £100 cash prize for the winner.


What makes Simterest different?

  • Meet new people with similar interests

  • Search up to 3 interests at a time

  • Meet locally or anywhere in the world

  • You don’t need to be single to use Simterest

  • Single, in a relationship or married

  • Also search by occupation, star sign, dietary choice, religion, or even what kinds of pets they have! (and many other search options available!)

  • Find People who love the same things as you do – eg Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Films, TV shows, Music, Books, computer games, sport, pets, and more…

  • Share your Bucket List with others – find others who want to do the same things as you eg Swimming with Dolphins, Helicopter ride over New York or the Grand Canyon .. and anything and everything you can think of!

  • Potty about Potter? Or find other Doctor Who fans who also love Dalek Bread!

  • Are you a fan of certain TV celebrities like - Amanda Holden, Lucy Verasamy, Holly Willoughby, Piers Morgan, Phillip Schofield, David Walliams, Ant and Dec etc

  • Do you love TV Programmes like - Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Loose Women, The One Show, Strictly Come Dancing, Coronation Street, Eastenders, Top Gear, Dragons Den? etc

  • Or are you obsessed with Fandoms like: Anime, Avatar, Avengers, Batman, Comic-Con, Cosplay, DC Universe, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Dragon Ball, Fast and the Furious, Fortnite, Friends, Game of Thrones, Ghostbusters, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Iron Man, Lord of the Rings, Mario, Marvel Universe, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pokemon, Sherlock, Spider Man, Superman, Supernatural, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Simpsons, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, Transformers, X-men

  • Whatever you love - find lots of people who love all the same things as you do - just as much as you do - anywhere in the World.. find them on Simterest!

Download Simterest now!

  • Google Play

  • Apple App Store

and use Promo Code: DEC20-N12 (for bonus credits)

https://www.simterest.com/

Twitter: @Simterest1

Find Simterest also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

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About:

MEET LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE WITH SIMTEREST

The latest innovative dating app that pairs people based on their shared interests.

Date nights can go from hit-and-miss to hours of enjoyment by meeting people who can connect with from the start. Rather than solely being a dating app or form of social media, Simterest is the perfect combination of both. Let go of the pressure of appearance and awkward conversations, and find a safe space away from the likes and swipes.

Are you fed up wasting your nights endlessly swiping and engaging in meaningless conversations? How can you get to know a person from a one-line bio or a simple series of photographs?

Simterest is for you.

One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to celebrate the @RECLAIMproject charity, community & values. #WeAreRECLAIM

Today we’ve got a great brief with our next-door neighbours!! They are based in Manchester but making a name for themselves nationally and having huge impact. And, we’re hoping the OMBLES will help spread that word even further and bring to life the great work they do in lots of fun, creative ways!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs, @RECLAIMproject with the hashtag #WeAreRECLAIM

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Brief:

Create posters to celebrates the RECLAIM charity, community & values.

We empower young working-class people to change the country today and lead it tomorrow.

Values:

  • acceptance

  • authenticity

  • approachable

  • fearless

  • inclusivity

  • independence

  • PROUD!!

Prizes:

£100 cash prize for the winner

& the chance to work with RECLAIM to bring to life your idea to be seen on a national and potentially international stage!!


ABOUT:

RECLAIM is a youth leadership and social change organisation.

We are a small but bold charity, using our experience and platform to support and amplify the voices of working-class young people.

We exist to create a society in which being from a working-class background no longer presents barriers to achievement, success, or influence.

Our long term goal is to create a Britain where those from working-class backgrounds are proud of – and not held back by – our roots. We want working-class people to be represented in places where decisions are made about their lives and to be recognised for their talent, strength, and diversity. We want to see working-class young people at the heart of this, in a country that ensures that they are seen, heard, and leading change.

Links:

https://twitter.com/RECLAIMproject

https://www.facebook.com/RECLAIMproject/

https://www.instagram.com/reclaim_project

One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to advertise the new @metoffice #VeryBritishWeather book with @EburyPublishing

We’re excited to launch the first OMB collab with the Met Office of a series that we have planned, which will see us team up on several briefs in 2021! We’re excited to see all of the fun, creative, quick-fire content from the OMBLES today, with the chance to win a great prize!!

BRIEF:

Create a poster that advertises the new Met Office book ‘Very British Weather’. 

Do it in a visually exciting way while making it unique to Met Office… and have fun! 

Tweet your submissions to @OneMinuteBriefs, @metoffice and @EburyPublishing with the hashtag #VeryBritishWeather

PRIZE:

Winner receives £200 CASH!!!

Shortlisted entries could also be featured by the Met Office & Ebury Publishing Channels!

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CONTEXT:

Upgrade your small talk guided by world-leading weather and climate experts!

The Met Office's latest book, 'Very British Weather', takes readers on a journey through weather and climate conditions in the UK, season by season. It explores the wisdom and wonders of weather, with facts on weather and climate and historical gems from our archive featured throughout as well as myth-busting trivia and activities.

Some facts from the book:

  • Weather balloons float up to eight times the height of Mount Everest.

  • The Met Office supercomputer can perform more than fourteen thousand trillion calculations every second.

  • The average typical fair-weather cumulus cloud weighs about the same as an Airbus A380.

  • Pyrocumulus clouds are made by fire.

  • You can work out the air temperature by the frequency of crickets chirps.

  • The longest lasting rainbow in the UK was six hours long in Sheffield in 1994.

  • On average, there are 100 lightning strikes around the world every second.

  • Elves, sprites and blue jets are types of lightning.

  • In 2008, there was a two hour hailstorm in Ottery St Mary.

  • The longest icicle in the UK was 8.2 Metres long.

  • The word blizzard originated from a blast of gunfire.

  • In 1816, there was a year without a summer, following the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.

  • Enough rainfall falls across Scotland in an average year to fill Loch Ness more than 17 times.

As well as inspiring you to take a deeper look at the sky above us and at our changing climate, this book will teach you new facts about weather and climate, and record-breaking statistics to really upgrade your weather small-talk. 

smarturl.it/VeryBritishWeather

www.metoffice.gov.uk

DO’s

  • Use the Met Office book;

  • Use the Met Office colour palette and logo;

  • Keep it simple and impactful;

DONT’s…

  • No referencing political agendas;

  • Do not mock up any National Severe Weather Warning content using the Met Office logo

  • Don’t reference catastrophic weather events

WINNING CRITERIA

  • Best posters will be unique and inspire people to want to read our book! They will clearly position us as weather and climate subject experts

Social Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/metoffice/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@metoffice 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/metoffice 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metoffice/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/metoffice

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/met-office/

Snapchat: metoffice

Feel free to use any of the book images or logos below in your entries. Brand colour codes can be found at the bottom of the page.

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to promote @Fu_Cov hand sanitiser and #AvoidTheLurgy!!

Today we’ve got an exciting brief with our friends Fucov, a brand new, fun, ethical, moisturising hand sanitiser. We can’t wait to see how the OMBLES take on this very different theme and help raise the awareness of the brand and its unique selling points through engaging social media creativity and creation.

This is also a product created by an OMBLE so let’s ALL get involved to show our support and say FuCov to nasty germs and bacteria!!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs & @Fu_Cov with the hashtag #AvoidTheLurgy

Give them a follow too! And… bonus if you can post on instagram too, tagging @fu.cov and using the same hashtag.

Prizes:

  • A years worth of FuCov Sanitiser

  • A triple bundle

  • 5 pouches and stickers

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ABOUT:

Let's fight Covid-19 together.

Now is the time we talk about protecting ourselves and others. The time we allow our newly formed social resilience to stand up and be fully prepared to fight this silent and deadly killer… Let’s fight it together.

FUCOV moisturising sanitiser is made with organic, vegan friendly ingredients, delivered in pouches that consider our planet and the long term effects on it too.

So, stick this bad boy in your pocket, bag or purse, use it religiously on your hands & surfaces and Covid-19 or any other life threatening virus can Fucov!

Who the Fuc?

A man, sat at home, jobless trying to feed and protect his wife and 2 little boys in fear of stepping out doors had a lightbulb moment. To reduce the tension, confusion and doom and gloom of covid-19, he decided to educate his little boys through a project making home made sanitiser.

This quickly developed and became a need. Through further learnings, he realised that their skin types lacked vitamin D and, therefore, moisture. Constant daily use of sanitiser was creating skin irritations and overall poor skin health. His wife had eczema and the little hands were getting sore.

In response, he decided to infuse the home made recipe with Argan Oil and Shea butter, ingredients his wife used in her everyday skin care routine, and to add a little fun and “smile” factor, he added a few drops of a scented oil.

At that moment, the first batch of the newly created Fucov was born. 

Quickly this escalated, friends and family were using Fucov and the response was epic, yey!

He decided to now take this a little more seriously and teamed up with his new trusty wingman/brainy scientist called Steve. This allowed him to develop, test and certify Fucov making it commercially legal. They all pulled together, to get Fucov where it is today, driven with passion, protection, families  and ethical decisions in mind.

Why? Because we need to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our families, innocent people around us and help slow the reproduction rate and throttle the life out of Fu.cking Covid-19 and any other horrid lurgies.

Why the Fuc?

Ethical

Our quality hand sanitiser is made with Organic and Vegan ingredients, plus its cruelty free too!

Antibacterial

Made with 70% Alcohol that kills 99.99% of nasty germs and bacteria helping you avoid the lurgy.

“IreSNIFFible”

It smells so amazing and will bring a smile to your face, honestly you will not be able to resist! Take the ”sniff” test and tell us what you think.

Planet Conscious

We started with the bottle and flipped it on its head, trimmed the fat and used far less plastic than other bottles or tubes.

Water Saving

With every splash of Fucov you can save an average of 4.4 litres of water. Thats a whopping 223 litres per 50 ml pouch.

Skin Hydration

Fucov is infused with Argan oil but and Shea butter. Our smooth operators will keep your skin hydrated, elasticated, ninja-like and in tip-top shape.

UK Made

Fucov is designed and made in the United Kingdom. Giving you a legitimate reason to politely say “Fu-cov”.

Go give them a follow on insta and FB and lets fight this together…

More info on our site and social links…

Fucov.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/fu.cov/

https://www.facebook.com/fucovsanitiser/


One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to promote Gladvent Calendar 2020 and show that ‘2020 wasn’t ALL bad’ #Gladvent2020

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Brief:

Create posters to promote Gladvent Calendar 2020 and show that ‘2020 wasn’t ALL bad’

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs & @GladventCal with the hashtag #Gladvent2020 & link to gladvent.co.uk

Prizes:

£250 voucher for Not On The High Street

(to support independent businesses through this testing time)

What is Gladvent?

A brand-new website launched this advent in an attempt to give members of the public a daily dose of joy over Christmas.

Christmas is set to feel a little different this year, with gatherings limited to just three households as the UK sets out its rules to limit the spread of COVID-19 and ease the strain on the NHS.

As December marks the unofficial beginning of the festive season for so many people around the world, the majority of the public will be peeling back days and tucking into chocolates from our advent calendars.

However, a group of colleagues in Leeds, decided to do things a little differently this year. By launching our very own ‘Gladvent Calendar’, people are encouraged to read a good news story from 2020 every day. 

2020 may have been a nightmare - but it hasn’t been all doom and gloom.

The idea behind it

The idea is that people will receive a little boost every day in December, as we continue to live with restrictions on social activities.

Full of heartwarming stories, videos and articles, the calendar will serve as a reminder of the positive things that have happened in a year otherwise dominated by adversity and negative press.

The thought of Christmas is what has kept so many people going this year, and even though it’s looking like sacrifices will still have to be made, we’re hoping that our little doses of good news will help to spread some cheer.

If we can make just one person smile with this calendar, then it’ll be mission accomplished, as far as we’re concerned.

The Gladvent Calendar will run from 1 December until 25 December, and is free to use.

Links:

https://gladvent.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/GladventCal

https://www.instagram.com/gladventcal/

https://www.facebook.com/GladventCal/

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to help promote #TheGoodGiftWrap with @WrapUpLondon & spread as much warmth as possible this Christmas.

Today we’ve got another seasonal brief with a very important cause at it’s heart. We’re hoping as many people as possible will get involved today and, of course, opt for the Good Gift Wrap for their presents this year!

We’re excited that the OMBLES will be able to help us spread the word and warmth. And, of course, we hope they will help us sell as many rolls as we can, so we can help as many people as possible!!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @WrapUpLondon with the hashtags #TheGoodGiftWrap  & #WrapUpLondon as well as the message: ‘Buy/order yours at TheGoodGiftWrap.org’ 

Prizes:

OMB Hoodie in any colour.

Choice of OMBook 1-4.

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Background

Each year, Hands On London, a charity that supports the homeless community run a campaign called Wrap Up London, where they ask commuters to donate coats as they pass through train stations on their way to work – helping thousands of homeless people keep warm during the cold, winter months.

Problem

A recent study has found that the number of people sleeping rough on the streets throughout London has increased by 33% (Combined Homelessness and Information Network, 2020) in the last year alone. But, whilst the demand for coats is at its highest, train stations have never been emptier because of COVID-19.

With more people sleeping rough and coat collections becoming much trickier due to lockdown restrictions, the charity needed to take action to ensure that they could still help keep homeless people stay safe and warm during these difficult times. To cover the extra costs for this year's collection and deliveries, they needed a fundraising idea.

Idea

Introducing the Good Gift Wrap, cosy Christmas wrapping paper that does good and looks good too. The warm knit design wrapping paper helps the homeless wrap up warm this Christmas, with money raised helping volunteers deliver more coats safely.

The creative challenge

The fundraiser campaign is running until 15th December, and the charity is relying on organic sharing and word of mouth to hit their fundraising targets.

Can you help us spread the word so we can spread more warmth? We need to sell as many rolls as we can, so we can help as many people as possible. 

Key messages we could talk about

  • The warm and cosy designs remind you of the warmth every purchase brings – you’re wrapping up homeless people as well as your Christmas gifts.

  • 1 roll of The Good Gift Wrap helps the charity’s volunteers deliver coats to 3 homeless people

  • The paper can be bought online, so there’s no need to go to the shops (COVID safe)

  • The Good Gift Wrap is good in more ways than 1 (looks good, does good, sustainably sourced and FSC certified, recyclable)

Feel free to use any of the assets below within your submissions:




One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to help put a smile on the face of the world by transforming the five days, between the Christmas and New Year holidays. #TwixtmasKindness

What a year 2020 has been. A year we are all ready to end. Can we end 2020, the worst year in living memory, on a high by celebrating kindness?

For today’s brief let’s help put a smile on the face of the world at the end of one of the worst years in living memory, by transforming the five days, between the Christmas and New Year holidays, known as Twixtmas, into a five day celebration of kindness and the best things in life.

Together, let’s do our bit to help make the world a kinder place.

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BRIEF:

Create posters to help put a smile on the face of the world at the end of one of the worst years in living memory, by transforming the five days, between the Christmas and New Year holidays, known as Twixtmas.

Tweet your submissions to @OneMinuteBriefs and @Twixtmas2020 with the hashtag #TwixtmasKindness

PRIZES:

£50 cash prize

Your work featured on various social channels over Twixtmas time!

Free online ‘Social Purpose’ course for the winner & shortlisted entries. Worth £500!!

CONTEXT:

Using the #TwixtmasKindness banner, the campaign will encourage everyone to do their bit, by doing five easy-to-do-and-share things, taking tiny step practical actions to make their world better in some way including:

  • Do something to celebrate the unsung heroes or friends in your life

  • Do something for yourself - reflect and respect upon the good things you discovered about yourself in 2020

  • Do something for the environment

  • Do something for your community

  • Do something to make you fitter, healthier, more purposeful

  

About Twixtmas: 

An audacious goal - to put a smile on the face of the world at the end of one of the worst years in living memory, by transforming the five days, between the Christmas and New Year holidays, known as Twixtmas, into a five day celebration of kindness and the best things in life.

Can we transform what are traditionally regarded as a low points in the festive calendar and turn them instead into a high point for marking the good things that have emerged in the past year - recognising unsung heroes, relationships, community spirit and unexpected acts of kindness.

We need to turn the Twixtmas break as a special period in-between the traditional festivities to celebrate the best things in life that are free - our families, friends and community, shared interests, supporting each other and living a kinder, more purposeful life.

Our non-commercial campaign is creating a platform and programme to celebrate the things that 2020 has been good for - greater kindness with unsung heroes and communities coming together to help and support each other -as well as preparing people for a tough year ahead in 2021, coping with Covid-fatigue and more.

The five- day Twixtmas break is seen as a prime opportunity to help people live a bigger life. The holiday break is usually where people are ‘time rich’ instead of ‘time poor’.

The campaign web site www.twixtmas.com offers practical advice and inspiration to encourage everyone to make the most of this under-used, overlooked opportunity.

The campaign idea was originally conceived by social enterprise Grow Social Capital, as a simple way of creating social good and investing in the bonds that tie communities together, by thinking differently about the five day period between the two public holidays of Christmas and New Year, and make use of untapped resource, energy, and opportunities.

The pain and grief caused by the pandemic will probably mean 2020 will be remembered as one of the worst in living memory. Yet 2020 was also a year of kindness, unsung heroes, selflessness on the part of the majority, and untold acts of kindness and compassion.  We have the choice to finish the year on a high, celebrating with the best things in life - our loved ones, our communities, and our planet.

Links:

Twitter: @Twixtmas2020

Website: twixtmas.com

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create names & posters for @Father_Critmas' new #CreativeGym & encourage people sign up to give or receive the gift of a book crit at merrycritmas.com

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It’s been an especially difficult year for junior creatives trying to break into the creative industry.

That’s why Father Critmas is BACK, for the 5th year running, with his Merry Critmas initiative to match young creatives with Creative Directors around the world for invaluable Zoom book crits.

This year he's also been in the gym & delivered a Joe Wicks inspired 'Creative Workout' to help students/grads get their portfolios in shape!!

Check out Father Critmas’ self-proclaimed ‘Xmas Ad of the Year’ below…which was written, produced, directed, filmed and edited in just one week!!

To coincide with today’s Merry Critmas campaign launch… we’re doing a fun One Minute Brief.

Following his workout video, Father Critmas has decided to open a #CreativeGym

But he doesn’t know what to call it.

He’s hoping the elves aka OMBLES will help him name it and produce fun posters that include hard-hitting headlines and visuals.

Think about what would be in a creative gym and what the exercises would be called. We’ve already seen crit-ups in the film. It’s time to show us what else you’ve got.

Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs @TheDrum & @Father_Critmas with the hashtags #CreativeGym and #MerryCritmas

along with the all important line…

Sign up to give or receive the gift of a book crit at merrycritmas.com

And if you’ve not signed up yourself yet… what are you waiting for? Get your crit together!

You don’t need to submit your portfolio (unless you’re feeling brave and want to get roasted by Father Critmas) you simply sign up… we match you… and then you arrange a time between you to suit you.

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ABOUT MERRY CRITMAS 2020. 

Since 2016, the Merry Critmas campaign has created thousands of book crit matches of young creatives with Creative Directors and it’s getting bigger every year.

This year, the ‘Witness the Critness’ campaign partnered with ourselves, Adland, Cut The Crap, Creative Allies, NABS and The Drum! It was filmed in Stockport at Sozo Gym by videographer Luke Nield and edited by Ben Rustage. OMB founder & Merry Critmas co-founder Nick Entwistle wrote, produced and directed the film.

David Felton, co-founder of the campaign, has been busy behind the scenes setting the framework for all the matches and updated the website & socials alongside fellow elf Breanne Lawrence, with assets illustrated by Shaun Maclennan

Nick Entwistle:

We want to create these opportunities so that senior creatives can give back to the industry and junior creatives can receive the gift of invaluable advice, placement opportunities and tips to improve their portfolios. In previous years, we’ve worked with Father Critmas to deliver a music video and even parodied a horror movie. So this year, we wanted to do something really epic to inspire young creatives everywhere. And, with so many people doing home workouts right now, we thought it would be a good idea to encourage people to bulk up their books and make sure their portfolio packs a punch so they are fighting-fit for their crit!! 

I hope that Creative Directors & senior creatives will join me in signing up to give the gift of their time to a young creative who needs it. Their advice, contacts and critique will be invaluable to help people progress in their careers, particularly when it’s harder than ever to get their foot in the door due to current circumstances.

Tiger Savage, a Creative Director renowned for many hard-hitting and award-winning ad campaigns, has thrown her weight behind the campaign. She has featured in the film and signed up to give her time for several book crits to share her expertise and experience.

Tiger Savage:

I‘m involved with the amazing OMB unique, supportive & diverse community because I believe in Nick’s vision in giving everyone the chance to come up with a cut through creative in a world of often soulless clutter.

If I can help advise young creatives on not just their ideas, but singularity of purpose, art direction, copy, content etc but how to stand out as creatives and make them feel more confident then it will in turn make this Tiger a very happy Mrs Claus.

Whatever you’re doing this Critmas… make sure you pull your weight and sign up to give or receive the gift of a book crit at merrycritmas.com

Below are some of the elves who have already pledged their time to give a crit this year. They’re definitely on the nice list!!!

Some assets here if you’d like to use them.


One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to support @MissJamesUK's crowdfunding campaign & raise awareness of their beltfree maternity shapewear. #BeltfreeBump

Today we’ve got an exciting brief with our friends at Miss James for their brilliant products (as worn by Paloma Faith!!) and we can’t wait to see how the OMBLES take on this very different theme and help spread the word of the brand and their crowdfunding campaign.

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs & @MissJamesUK with the hashtag #BeltfreeBump

Prizes: 5 x free products for yourself or friends/family members.

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Beltfree by Miss James

We are crowdfunding to bring the first maternity product of its kind to the market.

Miss James maternity wear has patent pending Beltfree technology in-built into a seamless garment made of knitted compression.

It does the job of a medical support band to help with PGP as part of super soft, stretchy, and long lasting leggings or shorts. The maternity support wear lifts and supports the weight of the baby, to reduce pressure in the pelvic area, and offer an added maternity support.

Our manufacturer in Italy is ready to ship the products, so we are ready to revolutionise the maternity wear market.

What are we trying to achieve?

We will put the money raised through this crowdfunding campaign back into our business to pay for our first full production run, and launch our online shop. 

This means that we can start to change the lives of pregnant women with back and pelvic pain.

They will finally be able to find a solution that will give them instant pain relief, so that they can enjoy the rest of their pregnancy. 

They can also be worn postpartum to aid recovery.

We know how debilitating back, pelvic, pubis, hip, and sciatica pains can be during pregnancy. By using our products, mums-to-be can stay mobile, take exercise, and stay on their feet for work or childcare of other children.

We truly believe that our products will not only change the physical lives of pregnant women, but also empower them to enjoy their pregnancies. 

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What makes our products great?

Our patent pending Beltfree technology is integrated into our maternity wear. 

It is the only retail product that provides pain relief and an added maternity support as part of an item of clothing. 

Beltfree technology combines the function of multiple products only available in the medical market into one garment that can be worn day or night. 

Our leggings are soft and comfortable, and can also be worn as tights under a dress. Our shorts can be worn at night or as a base layer under anything in your wardrobe for any occasion. We give you all the right support, in the right place, in a gorgeous seamless garment that you can wash and wear over and over again.

That means:

✅ One pair of leggings to see you through a whole pregnancy and afterwards
✅ No separate bands that move around
✅ Comfortable support day and night
✅ Instant relief from PGP
✅ Increased energy and better mobility
✅ More comfortable sleep

Where did the idea come from?

Our founder, Emma experienced back and pelvic pain from 16 weeks of her first pregnancy. She tried to find a product that could not only help her to manage her pain, but that looked good and she could wear throughout her pregnancy, day and night.

The only thing she could find were medical belts and elastic supports, none of which helped. They were also pretty horrible to look at.

So, she set to making her own! Emma wore the prototype that she'd created for the rest of her pregnancy, and then whilst she was carrying her second child.

The products that she created managed the condition from the very beginning, which meant that she could enjoy her pregnancy, and continue to care for her first child. The cherry on top was that she could also sleep well and pain free, and didn't have to strap on any ugly belts.

Testimonials

We had a huge demand for samples earlier this year, so we decided to launch a giveaway campaign until we launched the business. 

The feedback has been incredible! 

The Beltfree technology in the Miss James maternity support wear is changing the journeys of pregnant women. Our mums who have tried them out have felt empowered to enjoy their pregnancies without the pain of PGP. 

We think every woman suffering with this condition is entitled to that.

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What's our vision?

Our vision is to fully launch our website with leggings and shorts this year. 

We then plan to release new products into our maternity range.

We have already started the process to secure the CE marking certification for the medical market as we know our products can help many more people with back and pelvic pain not just pregnant women. 

The products can be used for chronic conditions, but also to provide beneficial support to speed up the recovery process reducing the usual long recovery journey. 

We have already submitted a proposal to a major global sportswear brand to integrate our technology into sports and leisure wear. 

You can keep up with our news by signing up at:

http://eepurl.com/hiXYg5

How you can support our business

Please support us and every pregnant woman in pain by:

  • Buying a hugely discounted pair of our premium leggings and/or shorts for yourself or a loved one

  • Donating a small amount to get a discount that can be be used in the future on our website

  • Buying a gift voucher to redeem on our website when its live

Our intention is to help as many people as we can with back and pelvic pain, this is just the start to something amazing and with your help we can get there quicker! 

Help us

If you could share this campaign we would be really grateful. We want to reach as many pregnant women as possible. 

The usual comment we have is "we didn't even know these existed" or "I needed these when I was pregnant." 

Help us get the word out there. 

We don't want to ever see a pregnant woman suffering in silence again when we have the solution.

Thank you for your support!

Links:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/maternity-leggings-shorts-for-back-pelvic-pain

https://www.facebook.com/MissJamesUK/

https://twitter.com/MissJamesUK

https://www.instagram.com/MissJames_UK/

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The Struggle Is Real - Blog Post by Nick Entwistle

In this post I want to share some of the realities we face in our lives.

It’s all too easy to see all of the ‘all smiles’ content via social media that can often mask what really goes on behind the scenes. We see it with our family and friends on our Facebooks & Instagrams but it is often forgotten about when it comes to brands and organisations. It's easy to forget that there are real people behind those too.

Last week I began a 14-day isolation as I, at short notice, finally got a date for my spine operation to repair my slipped disc. The discectomy is booked in for the 17th of December. I had the chance to take the op privately for £7000 on October the 10th last year, which was just after our #OMBLIVE6 event, in which I was trying to hide the excruciating pain I was going through. In hindsight, if I realised a global pandemic would be cancelling operations for many months, I’d have taken it. Instead, after discussing options with my consultant, we agreed that I would have a CT-guided lumbar epidural corticosteroid injection, as a stop gap to take away some of the pain, and make life liveable, with a view to having the full operation via the NHS in March.

Then, of course, the lockdown was announced in March and operations and check-ups began to be cancelled and postponed. Mine was one of them and the NHS could offer no answers for months as to when they would be up and running again or where I would be within any waiting list.

At a time when I was having contracts, events and film projects cancelled, it was a huge worry. This also came at a time when One Minute Briefs was growing rapidly and becoming a creative outlet for those stuck at home. The feed became relentless every single day, which was of course a huge positive but not necessarily paying the bills at a time when we were receiving no government support (and still haven’t to this day) as a Forgotten Limited Company. We even ran a campaign in support of ForgottenLTD to try and make Rishi Sunak listen.

As if everything that was going on in the world wasn’t enough, I was now having to try and stay motivated to keep going every day at a time when the work just wasn’t there. Motivation itself was a real struggle for me already as I was on controlled drug Gabapentin, which is for Epilepsy and nerve pain. The side effects of which are tiredness, drowsiness, dizziness and, at worst, they can make you have suicidal thoughts.

So, at a time, when every day is like Groundhog Day, they definitely aren’t the best drugs to be on.

At our last real-life OMBLive event, I spoke about the struggle to get up in the mornings due to the severe pain I had been in. I spoke about how this had come alongside issues within the family and how I’d also been battling with neighbours from hell. All of this was overwhelming. However, one constant in my life has been the OMB community wanting that daily brief. And, I’ve ran the last 300 without any breaks. Over the past 18 months, this has definitely forced me to wake up in the mornings when I could have easily have stayed in bed to avoid the pain. But now it has become just to walk in to another room of your house to work. Sometimes you question yourself… is it really worth it?

Before the lockdown, I did my very best to get up and out of the house despite the pain and do my best to carry on as normal. Growing the community and sharing the story. The picture below is me before a talk I was doing at Lloyds Bank in September 2019. I was embarrassed about the picture at the time as it shows the pain I was in. The sciatic pain caused by doing something as simple as sitting down or standing up was unreal. Oh, and to add insult to injury, if you look closely, you can see my finger is taped up. I had cut off the tip of my finger the night before (doing art to try and relax funnily enough) and it was still bleeding heavily the morning after. Just 20 minutes before the event I was considering cancelling but I somehow made my way down to do the talk and then went to hospital afterwards.

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Not long after that, I was due to fly down with a few friends to London to watch American Football at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium. It was great to have something to look forward to. But the night before was the worst pain I have been in, in my life. Life was genuinely not worth living. I didn’t sleep at all. I was up at 4 in the morning reading blogs about how people could possible deal with this pain.

I read about someone who was a successful stock trader with a great family, car and house. Yet he said all he lived for every day was to have the comfort of hugging a bean bag to get away from the pain. Nothing else in his life mattered anymore apart from gaining himself that pain relief. And I could completely relate.

The pain is indescribable. It’s even far worse than the heart attack I suffered a few years back. But because that happened to me, I have to make sure I am exercising my cardio. Yet I can’t, every walk I do gives me pain, I gave up the game I love of football and I have been unable to exercise in gyms or go running.

I remember in August doing a shoot for Quest Media. We shot at 8 different locations in a day and getting in and out of the car was unbearable and excruciating. But I was determined to deliver a great campaign for them and not let anyone down.

I then took on a month long freelance project with Ear To The Ground in October. Going on shoots with Gary Neville in my first couple of days. I was responsible for the creative direction across a few projects. And, I remember how I would wheel myself on my chair across to the film editor whenever he had a question, to avoid the pain of having to stand up. Quick questions became a daunting prospect and I couldn’t act in a normal way anymore. I tried to hide all of this at first, but the best thing was to be honest about it and let the people around you know that you are suffering so they can understand.

So to get the epidural injection on October the 17th, in the middle of this project, was an instant relief. I was suddenly completely numb. I remember having it and then attending the MPA Awards that night. But I didn’t feel right and left early.

I then had a course of physiotherapy to coincide with my pain relief. But often the stretches I’ve had to do have brought on even more pain but I have persevered as much as I can. I even joined in with football for 10 minutes here and then just before all football was cancelled. Essentially playing on one leg but trying my best to keep some sort of level of fitness.

The medication I am on means I struggle to be able to wake up quickly in the morning and I am sometimes slow in my conversations or forget what I’m saying mid-sentence. But I have become completely reliant on it.

That’s a worrying thought in itself, as I know they are very difficult to come off. But they are at least allowing me to live in some level of comfort. However, if I’ve been for a walk or I drive, or miss my meds, the pain comes back in waves. This has come alongside a communal dispute with my property management company Zenith, who have offered abysmal service for a year but hold you to ransom to take your service charges. Something I will look to create a campaign on in the New Year. This and everything else that has gone on, has led me to go to the doctors with anxiety and depression. Resulting in me having heart monitors fitted due to palpitations

With all of this in mind, I had planned to try and take 2020 fairly easy and stay positive. I made a resolution to say yes to all trips and I had Bali, Oz, Dubai, Spain and Poland all booked. Covid came in and cancelled all of them and I have, as a result barely left my flat.

As One Minute Briefs has grown over the lockdown period and we work with more and more brands, I have wanted to grow with more staff but have held off on doing this due to the uncertainty of the world right now and I knew the operation would come up at some point, where I will be in recovery for a number of weeks. Not knowing when this would be has really held me back.

I kept asking but they could give me no answer. Until, late in November, my consultant rang me and said they have a date for my surgery. December the 17th. It came as a shock and I have had to think quickly about the Christmas period and where I will be for my recovery. I had my pre-op on the 4th and will be in for an MRI on the 9th.

This last minute news forced me into a quick decision on this year’s merrycritmas.com campaign. It would have been much easier to cancel it this year… but I tried to do the impossible and write, produce and direct a film within a week. We somehow managed it and have something to show for it with the brilliant work of a number of contributors pro-bono. The results of which, you will see this Wednesday as we launch the campaign with The Drum for the fifth year running. We look forward to creating more book crit matches for young creatives with Creative Directors than ever this year.

Following that, I’ve since started my isolation due to Covid and will be spending time recovering at my mums following the op. Me being me, an exciting opportunity has come in over the next week, and I’ve taken it. This will be to do a film/stunt for a very big brand and it’s something I did not want to turn down after a year of not being able to create big campaigns.

But I’ve been told for a while by a number of people that I must take a break from One Minute Briefs. A lot of people think there is a team of people behind OMB but it is me running everything behind the scenes. But the support of the OMBoard members has been brilliant as they help me do posts across our social feeds and advise on any issues we face as a community.

OMB has become more of a way of life than a job for me. It is part of my routine and is truly rewarding when I see all of the positive stories coming out of it every single day. The joy it brings, when people receive a tweet or a like from a brand or when they get their first win, is something that I never get tired of. But to keep the feed running as it does, takes many hours a day. Working weekends and into the evenings is a normal thing and, although it doesn’t feel like work, the demands of it every day can take it’s toll when you receive thousands of notifications a day. I actually have to turn notifications off on my phone as it drains the battery rapidly. We get so many tweets that we are even now begging Twitter to stop hiding tweets from new accounts as it is blocking them due to the relentless amount of posts coming through our feed!

Last week, I had a long chat with Tiger Savage, a world renowned Creative Director who has been an inspiration of mine and has since become a friend alongside her husband after we collaborated on campaigns for their brand, King of Shaves. Following our discussion about life, health and wellbeing, she has told me “You must take a break!” This along with other people telling me the same thing has made me realise, I do need some headspace. And with the op coming up, now is the ideal time.

So that’s what I am doing. I am stepping aside from OMB during this project, op and recovery period.

I hope to return stronger and, fingers-crossed, pain-free in the New Year with a rejuvenated feeling to help grow OMB and the Bank of Creativity into an even bigger worldwide platform that this positive and supportive community deserves.

It’s been a difficult year for all, but together we have still achieved some amazing things including setting a number of Twitter trends, featuring Live on ITV’s Peston, sparking a worldwide #StayAtHome campaign for Guinness, collaborating with huge brands like ABSOLUT, Pringles, Adobe, O2 and KFC. As well as supporting various charities/causes like NHS, UN, Oxfam and WWF. We’ve held our 7th annual event online, which was possibly our best ever despite the circumstances. And, after a successful collaboration with industry inclusivity initiative Outvertising, we’ve even signed a year-long partnership with Clear Channel, which will see some of the inspiring OMB content created being seen by the public right across the United Kingdom.

Overall, I just wanted to say that, despite all of the physical and mental pain, it’s important to keep going. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t worry about not progressing in the way you want to. Things change in life and success isn’t defined by how much money you make or how big you grow.

It’s about what you do for yourself. And, if you are trying your best despite what the world throws at you, that is all anyone can ask for. Your legacy will be what you leave behind and the lives you help improve. And, if you can help other people, they will help you in return.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me during all of this. Let’s hope for a better 2021!!!

Nick

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters that celebrate that the Paris Agreement is working because it has catalysed a set of unstoppable economic, social and political changes. #ParisEffect

Continuing our partnerships with organisations around the important cause of climate change, we’re excited to share this one with you today based on a different theme that will inspire lots of great, fun, instinctive creative content to celebrate the brilliant Paris Agreement. You can share your sketches, scamps, designs, posters. GIFS and more on this one to support this great cause.

Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @UNClimateSummit with the hashtag #ParisEffect

Prize: £200 cash prize for today’s winner!!

Brief:

To create posters that celebrate that the Paris Agreement (the historical global climate change treaty) is working because it has catalysed a set of unstoppable economic, social and political changes that slow down the climate crisis.  12 December 2020 is the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement and we’re hoping the OMBLES will help share lots of positive content around it as we show our support of it over the next week.

See more info below:

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What is this about:

A new report by Systemiq - The Paris Effect - assesses for the first time the pace and scale of change since 2015. Due for release on 10 December, two days ahead of the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Effect report summarises how different actors and sectors have started to shift towards a net-zero future. Businesses and countries need to scale this transition and existing solutions to hold the rise in global average temperature below 1.5*C degree.

 

Details:

The picture on the surface is not rosy: emissions are rising, climate impacts are intensifying. But 5 years ago the idea of a decarbonised society was unimaginable. Today every sensible business and country has a net-zero carbon emission deadline. This would have not happened without the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement.

The world is currently rebuilding from the ashes of a global pandemic. The Paris Agreement has actually catalysed a set of changes that can help economies shift towards more resilient investment plans that will protect jobs, peoples’ health and nature.

Some of the changes the Paris Agreement is helping to make: 

  • 12.5 trillion USD - the combined revenue of companies with a net-zero target

  • building towards a net-zero economy could create 40 million jobs

  • Electric vehicles are now on our streets and railways, they will become cheaper than the gasoline-powered ones.

  • Meatless burgers, sausages and much other alternative food are now in our markets, they are rocketing in sales, 29% growth in just the past few years.

  • Solar panels, wind turbines are almost everywhere. They are the cheapest form of electricity production now, providing the energy of nature without polluting it.

  • For sectors contributing 70% of emissions, we will have increasingly competitive solutions in markets that we can champion to drive those emissions down.

Full details of the Paris Agreement can be found here.

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to bring to life #ACanFullOfFlavour with @Pringles_UK

Today’s brief is an exciting collaboration with a great brand with a brilliant prize to be won. We’ve been hoping to join forces for a Pringles OMB for some time and we cannot wait to see how the OMBLES respond to the brief in their typically brilliant quick-fire creative ways!!!

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CONTEXT:

Taste is the number one reason for choosing a potato crisp.  However, Value plays a big part as well, with people having a vast choice of potato crisps at very competitive prices. Competition is fierce, particularly in a challenging economic environment where consumers are expected to shop around more and be less loyal to brands as they look for better Value.  

Pringles offer a unique eating experience: the POP when opening the can, the iconic shape of the crisp, the unmatched taste and texture and flavours that everyone likes. 

pringles.com/uk


BRIEF:

Create a poster that shows that a can of Pringles is “A can full of flavour”.

Do it in a visually exciting way while making it unique to Pringles and have fun!

Tweet your submissions to @OneMinuteBriefs and @Pringles_UK with the hashtag #ACanFullOfFlavour

PRIZES:

1ST PLACE:

£300 CASH PRIZE & A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF PRINGLES!!

2ND PLACE:

£200 CASH PRIZE & A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF PRINGLES!!

3RD PLACE:

£100 CASH PRIZE & A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF PRINGLES!!

SHORTLISTED ENTRIES COULD ALSO BE FEATURED ON THE PRINGLES SOCIAL CHANNELS & EVEN HAVE THE CHANCE TO BE BROUGHT TO LIFE IN THE FUTURE!!!

DO’s

  • Use the Pringles can;

  • Use the Pringles colour palette and font;

  • Keep it simple and single-minded;

DONT’s…

  • No direct comparison with competitors brands / competitors’ crisps packets / crisps in a bag;

  • When using the Pringles logo, do not: change its colour; stretch or squeeze; rearrange its position; add elements to it; remove any part of the logo; hang any elements to it;

WINNING CRITERIA

  • Best posters will be unique and feel unmistakably Pringles. They will be clearly driving the message that a can of Pringles gives you both Value and Taste in a fun Pringles way.

Social Links:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/PringlesUK/

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@pringles.uki

Twitter

https://twitter.com/Pringles_UK

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/pringles.uk/

Feel free to use any of the can images below in your entries. Brand colour codes can be found at the bottom of the page.

You dan download the Pringles font here.

You can also view full T&Cs here.

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to encourage people to #JoinTheREFILLution with @KingofShaves

Well it’s December the 1st… and that can only mean one thing. The end of Movember!!! Perfect timing for another exciting collab with our friends at King of Shaves!

Yet again, we’ve got another great prize to be won and we’re looking forward to see what the OMBLES come up with in their creative ways to get people shaving off those moustaches! But, more importantly, we’re hoping you can help us spread the word about our refillables, which are now available online and in-store!!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @KingofShaves with the hashtag #JoinTheREFILLution & link to kingofshaves.com

Prizes:

Winner: £250 cash prize

2 x Runners-Up: £50 worth of shaving products off the website.

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About:

  • King of Shaves is the world's first shaving brand to introduce a 'Lifetime Use Refill' rather than 'Buy, Use, Dispose' into the market.

  • Better for the planet, Better for your pocket. Clean shave, clear conscience!

  • Cost of shaving with refills vs single use tubes is cheaper.

  • We now need to get consumers aware of, and to buy into this 'refillable mindset', right now they continue to buy 'single use' plastic in the (mistaken belief) that plastic is recycled, when in fact 70-90% ends up in Landfill.

  • Clear point of difference from primary competitors

  • From a consumer POV, we not only 'shave' the planet we 'save' money too.

Founder of King of Shaves, Will King, shares his insight into KoS refillables here:

It was well over 2 years ago that the King of Shaves team and I decided to be the change we wanted to see when it came to the use of plastic packaging for our products. Having manufactured using PP tubes (yes, recyclable - but 70%+ weren't) for our gels since 1996, it was clear we had a binary decision to make regarding entering our third decade of existence.

Stick to doing what we'd always done, don't 'rock the boat', try to convince our consumers that our plastic tubes were recyclable, could be recycled - but the infrastructure in the UK and around the world didn't exist to do it' or take a deep breath and put our two bestselling products into a beautiful lifetime use refillable aluminium can, and work with specialists in single laminate refill pouches, to reduce plastic by 72-84% and thus take the first steps towards being that change.

Two years later, and lots of hurdles overcome, our best selling shaving gel and oil are now listed by all the major UK retailers - both the refillable AND the refill - kudos to them for coming on board - it would have been easy to list just the refillable on-shelf, but sell the refill on-line.

See the full article here: linkedin.com/pulse/refillution-50-pcr-plastic-delusion-will-king/


About King of Shaves :

Created in 1993 in Will King’s kitchen, King of Shaves is a British company that is now firmly established as a leading challenger brand in the UK. Following redundancy and after suffering for years from razor irritation when using conventional shaving foams and gels, Will experimented with blends of essential oils and eventually created his first product – King of Shaves Original Shaving Oil – that was to become the bedrock of the company.

Will hand-filled the first 10,000 bottles over the kitchen sink (it took two weeks) and in 1993, got the product listed by Harrods and Boots the Chemist in the UK.

King of Shaves was born!

Our range of advanced high performance shaving, skin and beard care products are available in the UK from Amazon, Boots, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Superdrug and Waitrose as well as direct from our online shop. King of Shaves is also available in the USA as well as in several other countries including Australia and New Zealand.

We have introduced refillable packaging as part of our commitment to reducing the use of plastic in our range, our products are not tested on animals and our entire shaving and skincare range is suitable for vegans. Find out more here: https://kingofshaves.com/


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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to encourage people to gift their old smartphones to people who really need it and @O2 will pay for 12 months connectivity. #CommunityCalling with @HubbubUK

Today we’ve got an amazing brief in partnership with 02 and Hubbub to help raise awareness for an important cause. This theme is different to anything we’ve done before, so we can’t wait to see how the OMBLES respond to this one in their typically brilliant creative ways!!

It's also the season for gifting with Christmas coming up and Giving Tuesday is happening tomorrow! So you may want to consider that in your entries too. Good luck and check out the full details below!

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Brief: 

We’re hoping the OMBLES will help us spread the word in support of our initiative and encourage people to get involved.

11 million people in the UK do not have access to the internet. Gift your old smart phone to someone who really needs it and O2 will pay for 12 months connectivity. More info below.

Please tweet your entries to @O2 and @HubbubUK with the hashtag #CommunityCalling

Prizes:

Winner receives £150 cash prize plus tickets for Up at the O2 for them and a couple of friends!!

N.B. You don’t have to include the O2 logo…but we’d love to see creative uses of our blue colour in your entries where you can. Check out the O2 instagram for inspiration! instagram.com/o2uk

 

Overview: 

O2 have partnered with Hubbub on a national initiative to keep the most vulnerable connected in time for Christmas.

  • O2 are supporting a nationwide mobile device and data donation drive to support the most vulnerable who are digitally disconnected from others

  • The network is partnering with charity Hubbub, with the aim to donate 10,000 devices and 12 months of free connectivity to digitally excluded people in cities either facing, or at risk of Tier 3 lockdown restrictions

  • The news comes at a critical time as restrictions lead to a reduction in social contact – meaning that many people are struggling and isolated

  • Support the campaign and donate your old smartphone to Community Calling – visit http://www.hubbub.org.uk/communitycalling


About #CommunityCalling

Covid-19 has seen us all change the way we interact with each other. With 77% of us using our phones and the internet as a coping strategy, lockdown for those without a device hasn’t been easy. At the start of lockdown, Hubbub, together with O2, trialled a campaign that re-homed a whopping 538 smartphones with vulnerable, and otherwise digitally excluded, owners. With 28 to 125 million smartphones lying unused in people’s homes in the UK, we’re expanding our brilliant initiative with the hope of redistributing another 2000 smartphones across three London boroughs with support from the public and businesses. Along with the phone, each beneficiary will receive 12 months of free credit provided by O2. Following the London expansion, we will be taking Community Calling to five locations nationwide: Manchester; Bristol; Leeds; South Wales and Glasgow with the aim of supporting a total of 10,000 digitally excluded households.

As part of the campaign, O2 will be donating 12 months of free connectivity to the beneficiaries, which will include unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 6GB of data per month for a full year.

Digital connectivity has been vital this year: preserving economic output, helping businesses adapt and keeping us close to the ones we love. However, too many people are digitally excluded, without access to devices or connectivity.

O2 and Hubbub are working closely with local community groups in each city to identify those most in need of a smartphone – people who desperately need access to essential services, support with education and employment, or to keep connected with loved ones. The most vulnerable individuals have been identified as those who are shielding, the elderly, refugees, domestic abuse survivors and those in low income households.

All beneficiaries will also be able to access digital skills training at local support centres, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to thrive in the longer term.


Gift your phone

Anyone in the UK can get involved by donating unused smartphones. It’s easy to sign up online – you’ll receive a free-post donation box to post your old and workable smartphone, to be refurbished by trusted partner Reconome. It will be data-wiped, sanitised and redistributed with user guides and PAYG SIM cards. Alternatively, those who don’t have an old smartphone can choose to donate the cost of one month’s top-up for the beneficiaries by visiting hubbub.org.uk/donate-data-to-community-calling-resources.

O2 and Hubbub are also encouraging businesses to support the campaign by organising bulk device donations, or providing collection boxes in their offices (where appropriate).

If you’d like to support the campaign and donate your old smartphones to Community Calling, visit http://www.hubbub.org.uk/communitycalling/ for more details.

Community Calling connects the vulnerable in Southwark

The move follows a successful trial earlier this year, which saw over 500 devices distributed to residents of Southwark in London. It had an overwhelmingly positive effect – from keeping families connected during lockdown and reducing loneliness, to supporting home-schooling and helping people secure employment – as well as tackling the problem of e-waste. Three of the success stories from the trial are included below:

  • Mr Smith, one of the beneficiaries from the trial in Southwark, is a 60-year-old living alone with additional needs and a speech impairment. He had never used a smartphone before, which is why his local community group, AgeUK, ensured the phone was updated and accessible for his needs before receiving the device. Thanks to the Community Calling network, a local volunteer from GoodGym (a group of runners that combine exercise with helping their communities) helped Mr Smith understand how to use his new smartphone – enabling him to connect with his friends, peers, and colleagues, attend online activity groups, and receive text alerts for medical appointments.

  • Katie and Jay attend Bede House in Southwark (a centre for adults with learning difficulties) for social reasons. However, due to the pandemic, their main social outlet in life is closed at the moment – which means that many of the people who visit Bede House are feeling lonely and disconnected. The smartphones they received via Community Calling have enabled both Katie and Jay to stay in touch with the centre and their friends – they can access the centre’s app, join daily virtual meetings and activities, and share photos with each other.

  • Mary is a single parent who, pre COVID-19, supported herself and her son by working as a cleaner. When the country went into lockdown in March 2020, she was unable to work and ineligible to claim benefits. Unemployed and at risk of homelessness, she was disconnected from the outside world and struggling to cope. Community Calling was the lifeline she needed – it provided her with a smartphone, which allowed her to apply for jobs. The next week she received a job offer and she now proudly works as a cashier at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre.

Mark Evans, Chief Executive of O2, said: “Connectivity has been vital to keeping the country running during the pandemic, but if you’re unable to get online you’re likely to miss out on a lot of support. We’ve already seen the positive impact Community Calling has had on vulnerable people in Southwark, so we’re pleased to announce this expansion and tackle digital exclusion elsewhere across the country. We’re determined to support the people who need it most.”

Gavin Ellis, Director and Co-Founder at Hubbub, said: “It’s been heart-warming to see the positive impact receiving a smartphone through the Community Calling project has already had on so many people’s lives. Being connected to loved ones and accessing essential services is easily taken for granted, but is still not a reality for too many people. We’re looking forward to working with O2 to expand Community Calling to get more people connected and prevent unnecessary electrical waste. We’re calling on individuals and businesses with spare smartphones to donate them to somebody who needs a device to stay connected at this difficult time.”

Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman said“Digital connectivity has been a lifeline for many of us during the pandemic and I welcome O2’s efforts to get more vulnerable people online.

“The government brokered an unprecedented deal with mobile operators to offer extra support to those struggling to pay their bills and better deals such as free or low cost mobile data boosts, and I am pleased to see O2 is continuing to do whatever it can to help those affected by the virus.”

One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to encourage use of the @LovedBefore_ soft toy adoption agency!! #LovedBefore

We cannot wait to see all of the cuteness on show today. We are delighted to be collaborating with Loved Before and, after yesterday’s intense brief, today we have the opportunity to show the OMBLES’ softer side and win some extra special prizes!!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBrief and @LovedBefore_ with the hashtag #LovedBefore and link to lovedbefore.london

We’d also love you to also share your entries via Instagram today. Tagging in @OneMinuteBriefs and @lovedbefore_london

Prize:

£100 cash prize and a free Loved Before of your choice to today’s winner.

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About:

Loved Before are a one of a kind soft toy adoption agency on a mission to change the world, one teddy at a time. When people are ready to part with their soft toys, they send them to us, telling us a bit about their life or personality. People then adopt these toys based on their vast stories on characters and instead of ending up in landfill, or being left in a box for years, they go on to find new love and adventure. Over our lifetime we have donated over 50% of our profits to charity, and this year are supporting the fantastic Make-A-Wish UK.


Brief:

We would love the OMBLES to help to create posters to encourage use of our soft toy adoption agency!!

We are looking for designs which help us communicate the essence of our concept, and help persuade people to choose us this Christmas, or next time they're looking for a soft toy (or to donate their friends). We want it to capture our values of sustainability, embracing imperfection and our mission of finding new adventure for toys around the world.

We would love for people to understand that a toy once loved can be even more special and that you don't have to buy new to gift great this Chirstmas.


See this link for more info or head to our socials for a snapshot of life at 'HQ': lovedbefore.london

*Please feel free to use our photos for this brief if you'd like!!

One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters/film clips to support @Father_Critmas' mission to help young creatives get their portfolios in shape for big book crits this December! #WitnessTheCritness

Today’s brief is a very exciting one that could see you be a part of our first, and final film of the year. Covid has put all our other film projects on ice but it would be nice to go out of 2020 with a bang and create a campaign where we all work together to make a difference in the lives and careers of young creatives.

This year Father Critmas is creating a fitness (aka Critness) video and he wants the OMBLES to help spread the word. He promises free mince pies and tangerines for everyone shortlisted!

He wants to see your quick-fire posters in typical OMB style, but he also wants you to send your film clips so you can all be in this year’s film. Full brief details below.

We’re also delighted to be teaming up with world-renowned Creative Director, Tiger Savage who is the first of many CD’s we’ve signed to give the gift of a crit to a junior creative this year. We’re hoping to get many more pledging their time to give their invaluable advice over a Social Critstanced Zoom meeting. And, we’ll be sharing some of the best entries and Critmas stories on The Drum, who have supported our campaign every year!!

We are also being supported by Adland, We Are The Allies, NABS and Cut The Crap!!!

If you’d like to support/sponsor the campaign or know someone who might… please email us at interest@bankofcreativity.co.uk

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs, @Father_Critmas, @Tiger_Savage & @TheDrum with the hashtag #WitnessTheCritness & link to merrycritmas.com

You can also mention our supporting partners @adland @weare_theallies @nabs_uk and @cutthecrap_nyc within your tweets!

We’ll be updating the site with the new campaign film etc soon but the site is now Live so you can sign up early to give or receive a book crit at merrycritmas.com

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ABOUT MERRY CRITMAS 2020

It’s been a difficult year for junior creatives, trying to break into the industry and/or progress in their careers. So, in December, we are working in partnership with Father Critmas to bring back the #MerryCritmas campaign for the fifth year running. 

We have created thousands of book crit matches of young creatives with Creative Directors all around the world and, this year, we want to make it our biggest year ever.

We want to create these opportunities so that senior creatives can give back to the industry and junior creatives can receive the gift of invaluable advice, placement opportunities and tips to improve their portfolios.

Father Critmas’ previous campaigns have included a video of one of his infamous book crits, a Critmas music video and event a horror movie parody. Check out his previous campaigns.

And after putting on a ‘lockdown stone’ he has decided to create a fitness video. Or as he likes to call it, a Critness video. 

He’s looking to help junior creatives get their portfolios in shape so they are fighting-fit to muscle their way into the industry. He’s determined to become the Joe Wicks of the creative industry and make sure people’s talent doesn’t go to waste. 

He will perform a personal training session via Zoom and include crit-ups, the bleep test, planks and more to help everyone bulk up their book and make sure their portfolio packs a punch.

He will invite his elves to share their portfolio progress through homemade clips and these will be edited alongside footage of Father Critmas showing us his moves and putting his elves through their paces.

Find out how you can give or receive a book crit at merrycritmas.com

WANT TO BE IN THE FILM?

We need clips, shot on your phones, in landscape of you doing your Critmas workouts!!

As you’ve seen above, this year’s theme is a ‘creative workout’ and we want you to feature in a montage, led by Father Critmas, who will be having his own workout filmed this week at Sozo Gym, filmed by Luke Nield & directed by Nick Entwistle.

Feel free to be as creative as you wish… it can be filmed by someone else in your household, selfie, or set to record like this one I did with the toilet roll challenge!


Inspiration ideas below:

  • - Footage of you doing OMBs/scamps/ads for your portfolio

  • - Footage of you doing sit-ups and sketching ads out

  • - Footage of you doing press-ups whilst reading a creative book underneath you.

  • - Footage of Yoga whilst designing on a laptop

  • - Footage of lifting awards or portfolios up and down.

  • - Footage of stretching / warm-ups - marker pens in hands.

  • - A front on head and shoulders shot of you wiping sweat off your brow.

This is a good reference film… it’s a montage of people doing different ‘gym/workout’ moves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcy8u4nJE0

This is just a guide… I welcome anything at all you can think of and the more clips from each of you the merrier. Don’t worry about looking silly. This will be cut into a quick-cut edit, so the more we have the better.

You can have fun with it too… running whilst doing ads in the park…. stood on your head whilst doing ads… bicep curls with a Sharpie… there is no wrong answer.

Feel free to tweet your clips today!!

Feel free to involve friends and family within your briefs as they can be in the film too!

Hope you can help me turn around a great, fun campaign. We need to get this out for the start of December so I need the clips today if possible, but latest 5PM FRIDAY!!!

Send your clips to us at interest@bankofcreativity.co.uk

Good luck everyone. And, don’t forget to get involved at merrycritmas.com

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to say #WelcomeHome with @mahabis slippers

We’re delighted to be collaborating today on a very homely brief with the magnificent mahabis!!

We’re excited to see how the OMBLES get creative with this one as it’s a brilliant theme, amazing product and we have some great prizes to be won!

This is all about feeling at home in complete comfort!! Check out the info below for full details about these unbelievably comfy and stylish slippers!!!

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @mahabis with the hashtag #WelcomeHome

Prizes:

WINNER:

£100 cash prize + Pair of Mahabis Curve (RRP £99)

3 x Runners-Up

Each win a pair of Mahabis Curve (RRP £99)

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About mahabis:

we’re mahabis. footwear for time well spent

the thing that gets us out of bed in the morning? our mission to help the world spend its time well.

it’s a big mission, but it’s one we believe in.

because we believe that time well spent leads to a life well lived.

our story

our founders noticed that people were only allowing themselves time for enjoyment after their to-do lists were completed.

so they set out to create a product that helped people realise that doing very little can also be time well spent.

why footwear?

they’re the things that carry us through life.

mahabis took the world’s most comfortable shoe – the slipper – and ripped up the rulebook to create something functional. something beautiful. something that enhances every minute of whatever you're doing.

designed for comfort

life’s complex. our designs aren’t.

we like to keep things minimal, so you can get on with enjoying your time without distractions.

our london-based design team have created some pretty special features you won’t find on your regular run-of-the-mill slippers.

like our neoprene heel cradle which gently holds your foot in place as you walk. especially on stairs, slippers’ nemesis.

and our hybrid soles, which make it simple for you to pop out whenever you like, without the admin of changing your shoes. because we’ve all got better things to do.

materials matter

we went to the ends of the earth (well, australia and new zealand) to source the wool for our linings and uppers. our soft corriedale and fine romney wools keep the warmth in, the cold out, and your slippers box-fresh for years to come.

mahabis’ premium open cell pu footbeds contour to your feet as you move, making each step as comfortable and supportive as the last.

our soles are made from 100% performance grade tpu, so you can go anywhere, indoors or out.

while our materials on their own are great, mahabis themselves are worth more than the sum of their parts. stylish, considered, bold and comfortable (really comfortable), they’re the slipper you’ll never want to take off.

we do things properly

all of our major suppliers are sedex audited and in compliance with the ethical trade initiative. this means the people making mahabis are treated well, paid a fair wage, and provided with a safe working environment.

we put mahabis through their paces.

we work with satra, a leading independent research and testing footwear organisation, to ensure our footwear meets the highest durability, abrasion and sizing standards.

part of this process is putting mahabis through their paces. over a million in fact. and they more than stand up to the task.

Find out more here: https://mahabis.com/

Feel free to use the images below on your entries or check out the rest of our collection here: https://mahabis.com/collections/slippers You can also find some imagery via our Insta.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/mahabis

https://twitter.com/mahabis

https://www.instagram.com/mahabis

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One Minute Brief of the Day: To celebrate #WorldChildrensDay, create posters to encourage youth engagement in addressing childhood obesity with @WorldObesity #YouthMatters #HealthyVoices

To celebrate World Children’s Day, create posters to encourage youth engagement in addressing childhood obesity with @WorldObesity #YouthMatters #HealthyVoices

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are working tirelessly to ensure the health of future generations and reduce the spread of childhood obesity. Help us reimagine the world to make sure every child has the right to grow up in a healthy and sustainable environment. 

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True and lasting effects to positively impact youth health, including overweight and obesity, does not only need to include young people’s input, perspective and suggestions: the initiative and leadership of young people themselves need to be part of the answer. We want to show policymakers, governments and the general public that youth have a voice and the ability to drive change. 

On World Children's Day we pay tribute to the young people fighting tirelessly for healthy and sustainable food and health systems. They are ready to reimagine a better future - are you?

Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @WorldObesity with hashtags #YouthMatters and #HealthyVoices You can also mention #WorldChildrensDay in your tweets.

Winner’s Prize:

  • £100 Amazon vouchers

  • The winner will also be given a worldwide platform to share their work, by being featured both on our World Obesity and Healthy Voices website as well as highlighted in our global newsletter.

  • Top 10 entrants to be shared across all social networks: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These will also be featured in our newsletter.

Remember that as an organisation working to help change the obesity narrative and improve overall understanding of obesity, we do not want to stigmatise people living with obesity and want to dispel existing myths (i.e. ‘obesity is just about eat less move more’). Avoid the use of stigmatising language and images.


About the campaign: 

The World Health Organization has identified childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Today, 158 million children globally are living with obesity, a number predicted to reach 254 million by 2030 if current trends continue. It is therefore clear that existing interventions are not enough and new solutions are now more urgent than ever. 

Today, young people represent the largest part of the population globally. Around the world, we are seeing a desire for young people to get their voices heard. The recent youth strikes on climate change have shown the impact of engaged youth. But true and lasting effects to positively impact youth health, including overweight and obesity, will not only need to include young people’s input, perspectives and suggestions: the initiative and leadership of young people themselves need to be part of the answer. 

COVID-19 and the measures that have had to be taken to help curb the disease have further exacerbated existing challenges for child health and nutrition. While children seem to be less severely affected by the virus, overweight and obesity still appear to be risk factors for worse outcomes in youth aged between 18 and 34 years old. Could COVID-19 be a window of opportunity and ensure we reimagine a world for youth with youth? 

Check out a video on the importance of youth engagement: 

https://www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices/learn/learn-videos-podcasts/youth-engagement 

And on the dangers associated with weight stigma: 

https://www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices/learn/learn-videos-podcasts/weight-stigma 

Read more about us here: 

www.worldobesity.org 

www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldObesity 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldobesityfederation 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iaso 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldObesity 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSLEAM_Uw0r2eJjToIVON9A 

One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to promote having a bin by your toilet on #WorldToiletDay for #BinItDontFlushIt with @AnglianWater

Today’s brief is a glamorous one with a great prize to be won. It’s a campaign to promote having a bin by your toilet!!! Toilet humour allowed just this once! We can’t wait to see what people come up with for this on #WorldToiletDay.

Please tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @AnglianWater with the hashtag #BinItDontFlushIt

Prize: £200 CASH PRIZE FOR TODAY’S WINNER!!!

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About:

It’s World Toilet Day today!!

A day to celebrate the wonderful, lifesaving, environment-protecting device that is the toilet! Sadly millions of people across the globe do not have access to safe, clean toilets. We are hugely lucky to have modern toilets in our homes connected to a sewer system that takes away our daily ones and twos and stops them heading into the environment. So we need to respect and protect it – that means not flushing the wrong things like unflushable wipes, sanitary items and cotton buds which can cause blockages in the pipes and lead to pollution. We want to promote the humble bathroom bin as the saviour of our sewers. We would love everyone to have a bin by their loo to put all the unflushables in. Only the three P’s should go down the loo – poo, pee and paper! For everything else we’re saying loud and clear #BinItDontFlushIt!

More info here:  www.anglianwater.co.uk/keepitclear

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One Minute Brief of the Day: Create posters to advertise #NutsAndBolts to car manufacturers with @TheDrum @SteinIAS #B2BWORLDFEST

Today’s brief is an exciting one, to coincide with our involvement at The Drum’s #B2BWORLDFEST, with five amazing prizes to be won!!! We’ll be speaking at the event and also setting a very special brief to people around the world, including some amazing B2B agencies. So, do you, the OMBLES, have what it takes to show them how it’s done… or will the B2B agencies come out on top? One of the great things about OMB is that anyone can win, whether you’re a student, a CEO or not even in the industry at all! And that’s why we’re excited to see what everyone comes up with and share our favourites on the second day of the event. Full details below. Hope to see some OMBLES there!!!

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Brief:

As it’s a B2B event, today’s brief will be B2B-based.

But what does B2B mean?

Business-to-business (B2B) is a transaction or business conducted between one business and another, such as a wholesaler and retailer. B2B transactions tend to happen in the supply chain, where one company will purchase raw materials from another to be used in the manufacturing process.

What we’re looking for:

We want you to come up with quick-fire poster ideas, sketches and designs to advertise #NutsAndBolts to car manufacturers. It’s challenging enough to advertise cars to consumers, but what about advertising the things that make up those cars? They need to be advertised too!! Think quality, price and why the car makers should choose your nuts and bolts rather than anyone else’s! They’d be nuts not to!

Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs, @SteinIAS and @TheDrum with the hashtags #NutsAndBolts & #B2BWORLDFEST

Feel free to tag in the car manufacturers in your tweets too!

Make sure your Twitter handle is in the corner of your entry!

Prizes:

5 x £100/$100 cash prizes for the Top 5 entries!!!

Winning entries to also be featured on The Drum!!!

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Part 1 – Wednesday 18 November 11am ET / 4pm GMT 

https://www.thedrum.com/b2b/events/273

OMB Creative Smackdown

Agility. A watchword of marketing in this era. Can creatives rise to the agility challenge? Let’s set them a One Minute Brief competition!

Created by Nick Entwistle at The Bank of Creativity, One Minute Briefs is designed to change the way people think about advertising and the way creatives (and creativity) work. OMBs gives creatives one minute to create concepts. Are OMBs the answer to the creative agility conundrum, or do we still require a dose of due process? Nick and Stein IAS’ CCO Reuben Webb will discuss and debate agility in creativity. A One Minute Brief competition also will be set and the OMB community creatives and top B2B agency teams will be tasked with the challenge. The work will then be judged, and winner named in Part 2 of this event.

This live challenge and chat will look at the need for speed – and the positive impact it can have on the quality of creative thinking.

Speakers

Nick Entwistle, founder, One Minute Briefs

Reuben Webb, chief creative and values officer, Stein IAS

Part 2 – Thursday 19 November 12pm ET / 5pm GMT 

https://www.thedrum.com/b2b/events/283
That Was Fast…But Is It Any Good?

For the second part of ‘Creativity in the Age of Agility’, Reuben and Nick will be joined by Isabel Sierra Leon de Gomez, the multi-award-winning Global Head of Creative at Bloomberg. The triumvirate will both showcase and judge the submissions from the OMB community and B2B agency elites – name winner and runners-up. Who doesn’t like a good, clean creative competition – in virtual real time?

Agility meet your match!

Speakers

Nick Entwistle, Founder, One Minute Briefs

Reuben Webb, Chief Creative and Values Officer, Stein IAS

Isabel Sierra Leon de Gomez, Global Head of Creative, Bloomberg

About #B2BWORLDFEST

TWO DAYS OF MACRO THINKING FROM B2B’S BRIGHTEST MINDS ACROSS THE GLOBE

Through crisis and challenges, B2B marketers have responded with resilience and resolve. Through unforeseeable twists and turns, B2B marketers showcased insight and agility. When their organizations needed them most, B2B marketers have responded, are responding and will respond with innovation and inspiration. This is the reason for and guiding spirit behind the Drum’s first annual B2B WorldFest, developed in partnership with Stein IAS. WorldFest celebrates the best thinkers and doers. Explores the convergence of creativity and technology, of strategy and culture. Investigates the transformations that will shape the future. If B2B is your world, WorldFest is your event.

https://www.thedrum.com/b2b

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