A while ago we had a company meeting outlining our goals for 2008. They were divided up into Business, Brand and Work goals. One of our Work goals this year is to do more high-profile projects with premium companies with the aim of having more fun.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing with FLSmidth. Our retainer agreement with FLSmidth means we get involved in some really interesting projects, work with many different departments in the company as their copywriting resource ‘on tap’, and essentially be an extension to the marketing department.

Working with the guys at FLSmidth means we are getting closer as a team, united in our efforts to ensure their international communications carry world-class messages.

Check out our press release to find out more.

I hate supermarket shopping. The aisles are always crowded. I have trouble finding the things I want. There’s always someone who wants to jam their trolley right up my behind. The overhead florescent lighting is too bright (I guess that says something about my Saturday mornings, or rather, Friday nights). I could go on. But the worst thing is how stressy it gets when I put my shopping on the belt at the checkout.

The nicely firm avocados, perfectly round tomatoes and painfully-fragile bouquet of flowers are thrown down the chute - along with bulky apples, the sharp-cornered carton of milk and a nice bottle of wine that just rolls down over everything like a boulder, crashing to a halt at the potatoes.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no. Then I have to cram everything into my bags as quickly as possible, packing the awkward heavy items on top of the light, squashy things. If I don’t do this quickly enough, my shopping will be relegated to the smaller, secondary chute where it all gets siphoned off and compressed together by a big metal bar. Then the process starts all over again for the next psyched customer.

So imagine my delight when I see that Danish supermarket chain, Føtex (or Funtex as I like to call it) is advertising that they will pack my shopping for me on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Although I don’t shop at Føtex that often (I suppose you guessed that already), this new service is pulling me closer to them. I’m going to check them out.

When a company offers pretty much the same as everybody else, it’s excellent customer service that makes them stand out from the rest. By introducing an intuitive customer retention programme (I expect Føtex to introduce a club card soon, if they haven’t done so already), you’re locking people onto your brand. And, unless you do something really stupid, you’ve got them for life.

I feel quite excited that I could be witnessing somewhat of a revolution in Danish supermarket customer service. It’ll be interesting to see how the other chains respond - and what the marketing executives at Føtex have up their sleeves.

After reading the Bad product names article in our recent edition of Wordspin, I thought I’d share this product review with you. It’s by an alternative email news service called Thrillist. The links (as well as the well-written copy) are really funny. And although it calls itself the leading men’s lifestyle newsletter, I’m signing up today. (I’m a girl by the way.)

I’ve just come across this brilliant ad from IBM. Have you ever worked in an organisation where brainstorming was as painful as this?

Last night we had our friends over from FLSmidth for a table tennis contest. In the weeks leading to the event there was plenty of competitive banter between the two camps (as we had previously played each other). But this time it was serious. There were more people on each side. A team strip (I mean shirts, not…you know…). Some snacks. And a trophy.

After a few practice games and some last-minute decisions about the rules, we were ready to go! Each game played was a doubles match, which meant that bodies quite often got in the way of each other (sorry Asya!), but the confusion over whose turn or serve it was added to the fun of the whole event.

The results were pretty close throughout the evening, but at 16:55 the FLS Warriors were trailing behind the EFI Bears by just one point. FLSmidth managed to pull it back so the scores were even. At 14 points each, both teams decided to give it their all. It was time to bring out the big guns…

Both teams put forward their best-performing players. The duo who could secure glory and the stunning trophy would surely be idols for table tennis players everywhere. It was Anders and Henrik versus Matt and David. As the four men picked up their bats and squared up to the table, you could have cut the atmosphere with a cheese slicer.

The game was fast and furious as each man played as if he was playing for his life. The table tennis ball flew in all directions, narrowly taking out a spectator’s (Shila’s) eye and causing each man to throw himself around the arena as he desperately fought for each point. Man and table tennis bat became one - it was like watching a scene from The Matrix. After notching up some well-earned points, Matt and David came through for the EFI Bears and claimed victory not just for themselves, but for the whole team.

The whole evening was really good fun and FLSmidth has promised us to a rematch so they have a chance to win the trophy next year. Thank you for coming over guys - we had a great laugh, and hope you did too!