Well imagine my surprise when I opened up a design magazine this week to read that the US homeware retailer Pottery Barn is introducing a range of furnishing items inspired by the hugely popular TV show Friends.

I wasn’t surprised by the association itself. I was never the greatest fan but saw enough shows to remember Rachel getting an apothecary table from the Barn (whilst claiming she’d discovered it at a flea market) and then Ross describing how he’d bought some bed linen at the store. I also recall Rachel and Monica browsing through the PB catalogue whilst on the sofa at their favourite café Central Perk. In fact It was pretty common knowledge at the time that the production company were happy to incorporate product placement investment to help offset those eye-watering $1m per cast member per episode salaries.

So for the Barn to bring out a Friends range seems only natural. However, when do you think the show ended? Believe it or not it was 15 years ago, although if you’re a fan you can still find it repeated somewhere on a host of re-run channels. But even so, a 15 year time lag strikes me as a little after the Lord Mayor’s show don’t you think? That’s a generational gap in brand association terms. Very odd.

If it’s not an example of altogether smarter thinking I don’t know what is. It’s perfect brand synergy. In fact I’d be tempted to wonder why it took so long. And then I discovered some other experiential and brand-focused concepts; most notably that of RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, the furniture retailer, which has already opened restaurants in many of its locations. Ah so much for originality of thinking.

Never mind I like the idea and I’m going to think about this concept of brand extension for my clients in the office design world too. Now where would be a good place to install a micro brewery….?