Who said fun run?

Well it’s that time of year again when we all add a few inches, watch a whole host of television that we would have otherwise missed, and wonder what happened to the year. December has come around so quickly and this is a short note to advise you of a few things.

Firstly we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and as those of you who received our Christmas mailing will be aware this year’s competition question was ‘In total, how many gifts were given in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas’. The correct answer is 364 and congratulations to Paul who is now the owner of a new Orange iPod Nano. There were a total of 35 entries, of which 10 were correct and entered into the draw.

This is a popular, well known conundrum and the answer is calculated using the following formula. On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree, on the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves and a partridge in a pair tree. If you read it literally, on the second day there were 3 gifts given – both a partridge in a pear tree and two turtle doves. Then if you follow this logic throughout the song your total will reach 364. Easy.

We would also like to thank all our clients, suppliers and contacts for their donation choices. You raised £110 for Keech Cottage and £30 for the Forest of Marston Vale.

The Bonfire team also collectively raised £865 in the Keech Cottage 5k Santa Run on the 6th December 2009 (well done John for coming second!!) and we would like to congratulate Steve on his silly beard antics that ended on the 30th November, as seen in the Mail on Sunday, raising a further £670 for Keech Cottage. A time for giving indeed, and a very worth cause so thanks to everyone who supported us. On another note Gemma also completed a sponsored swim (22 miles in 12 weeks – distance of the channel) raising £430 for Aspire – so at least one of us will be in shape for the Christmas calories!!!

On a slightly more serious note, and for your reference, we will be closing our doors at 1pm on the 24th December 2009 and reopening them on 4th January 2010 to start another exciting year – our 10th!!!

Once again have a great break and a wonderful New Year!

All the best

The Bonfire Team xx

Argos appoints Bonfire for the development of the Chad Valley brand

Bonfire has been appointed by Argos to develop their Chad Valley brand. The project is the first in a series of developments for Argos following a

Chad Valley brand development

Chad Valley brand development

number of recent brand acquisitions.

Chad Valley was one of the UK’s leading toymakers throughout the 20th century. The brand’s roots are in a Birmingham based printing business established by Anthony Bunn Johnson in the early 19th century. Under the management of subsequent generations the company moved to the suburb of Harborne, in the valley of a stream called the Chad, from where the brand takes its name.

Chad Valley was taken over by Palitoy in 1978 and later bought by Woolworths, ten years later. Home Retail Group, the parent company of retailers Argos and Homebase, then purchased the brand for £5 million from Woolworths when it finally closed its high street doors in January 2009.

An interim phase has been completed with the production of a series of themed background illustrations for catalogue 73 in January 2010 and is to be followed by a full brand review and development in the New Year.

The project will cover a broad set of style guides, packaging and other promotional activity, and is aiming to be launched in June 2010 in time for catalogue 74.

Stephen Judge MA FCSD, Strategic Development Director at Bonfire says ‘Chad Valley is a historic children’s brand and we are proud to be part of this project. I can’t think of a more exciting way to enter our 10th year.’

Andrew Turner, Marketing Manager for Argos owned brands, adds ‘Having been recently appointed to manage a number of the recently acquired non-Argos brands, I approached Bonfire to help with the first phase development of the Chad Valley branding – to help develop and position Chad Valley in the 2010 spring/summer catalogue as a brand (although Argos-owned) in its own right. This initial work will be followed by a full brand review.

Bonfire created a range of wonderful background illustrations for the various age and product categories to very tight deadlines and I look forward to working with them further. Their expertise, approach and in-house illustration capabilities made them the perfect partner for this fun and lively brand.’