Ideasicle X starts with IX Concierge
The original Ideasicle experience: a hand-picked virtual team of four experienced creative experts turning a marketing problem into 10+ polished ideas in one week.
Why IX Concierge Exists
Will Burns started Ideasicle in 2010 with a simple conviction: the best team for a creative problem should not be limited by geography, office walls, or a fixed payroll. IX Concierge makes that idea practical. He recruited 30 creatives, strategists, media people, and social media experts from his agencies past (Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby, Mullen, Arnold, and a few others).
You bring the problem; Ideasicle X brings the right people around it.
In a Concierge sprint, Will helps shape the brief, selects four experts with relevant experience, and the team works virtually in the IX App's Idea Stream. Ideas arrive asynchronously, build on one another, and stay connected to the client’s feedback. The result is 10+ polished ideas in one week per round.
What Makes IX Concierge Different
The right four people, every time
IX Concierge draws from a roster of 30+ pre-vetted strategists, writers, art directors, and creative directors, then matches four people to the brief. The goal is a focused mix of useful points of view.
Virtual by design
A virtual model is not a compromise for IX Concierge. It lets the project bring together the specific experience it needs, wherever the right people are, without office walls or a fixed department deciding who is available.
Ideas in one week
IX Concierge delivers 10+ polished ideas per round with a one-week turnaround (faster if necessary). That gives brands and agencies a defined path from brief to useful creative options without committing to an agency relationship.
The client stays involved
We don't get precious and present 3 ideas and try to shove a reco down the client's throat. We present 10+ ideas in round one, get the clients' collective feedback, and then re-brief the team for another round of 10+ ideas inspired by the feedback.
The Concierge model
Four minds create more places for ideas to collide.
After years of research, we found that four is the magic number for virtual ideation. Small enough so no one feels "on stage," but exponentially more than the traditional two (writer/art director) for more idea collisions.
The Idea Stream is where all the action happens: posting, building, and riffing on each others' ideas.
Who Uses IX Concierge
Marketing teams
They need a new campaign, brand idea, names, promotional hooks, or launch ideas, and don't want to bother their AOR.
Advertising agencies
They need a jump start on a pitch or just additional senior thinking without adding permanent headcount.
In-house Agencies
They need large injections of outside perspective via a flurry of ideas without the threats and overhead of a long-term partner.
Will Burns
Founder & CEO
The Team Behind Ideasicle X
Will Burns, Founder & CEO
Will is the Founder & CEO of virtual idea generating company, Ideasicle X, LLC, first launched in 2010. But for over 20 formative years before that he criss-crossed the country experiencing the best creative agencies in the world.
He learned as a pup from creative greats, David Lubars and David Baldwin, at Leonard/Monahan in Providence, RI. He has witnessed the magic of Jeff Goodby at Goodby Silverstein in San Francisco, CA. He was immersed in the culture of unabashed creativity and attitude of Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, OR. He's seen ghosts in the old "mansion" of Mullen in Wenham, MA, and felt the power of an agency startup with Boathouse in Needham, MA. And he won over $1 billion in new-business billings as Director of Business Development & Agency Innovation at Arnold Worldwide in Boston.
All the while meeting what would one day become his team of Ideasicle Experts, nearly all of whom worked at one of his past agencies. And now it has all led up to the launching of the first web application designed specifically for virtual idea generation, Ideasicle X.
He was a Forbes Contributor from 2011-2020 writing about creativity in modern branding, and has guest-lectured at the College of Communication at Boston University, Boston College, Emerson College, and Endicott College for years and speaks at marketing conferences around the country - e.g. American Marketing Association (Dallas), The Magnet Group, In-house Agency Forum, Worldwide Partners, Liberty Mutual's In-House Agency, Vitamin T, Smith & Nephew, and more.
“The agency model was broken. It was time to unleash the creative mind from the constraints of geography and payroll.”
The Ideasicle Experts
Ideasicle X works with a curated roster of 30+ pre-vetted strategists, writers, art directors, and creative directors with experience at leading agencies and brands. Experts are selected for the brief rather than assigned from a fixed department, so each project gets the combination of experience it actually needs.
Read more about the Ideasicle Experts and Will Burns on Forbes.
After Concierge
More ways to work with Ideasicle X
IX Concierge is the core Ideasicle experience. These three offerings are additional ways to use the same thinking: run the platform yourself, get an AI to inspire you to come up with ideas, or bring in specific expert talent for a project.
Run it yourself
IX App
The self-serve Ideasicle X platform for assembling your own team of four and running unlimited projects at your pace.
Explore IX App →AI sparring partner
IX Spark
A fast creative prompt that gives your own thinking a fresh angle in seconds. The spark is the provocation; you do the creating.
Explore IX Spark →Bring in specific talent
IX Freestyle
Project-based access to one pre-vetted Ideasicle Expert or a custom team when you need targeted creative support.
Explore IX Freestyle →Key Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Ideasicle X |
| Type | Virtual creative ideation company and creative collaboration platform |
| Founded | Original Ideasicle founded in 2010; Ideasicle X evolved into a software-supported model in 2019 |
| Founder | Will Burns |
| Headquarters | South Hamilton, MA, 01982 |
| Website | https://www.ideasiclex.com |
| Core Offering | IX Concierge: the original, full-service Ideasicle experience; IX App, IX Spark, and IX Freestyle are additional ways to engage |
| Pricing | IX Concierge: $18,000 for one round or $30,000 for two; IX App: $149/month; IX Spark: $20/month with two projects free; IX Freestyle: project-based pricing |
| Contract Terms | Subscription or project-based, depending on the offering; contact Ideasicle X for engagement terms |
| Services | Creative ideation, virtual creative sprints, expert matching, collaborative project software, and AI creative prompting |
| Marketing clients | Staples, CVS, TJX, Titleist, DraftKings, AMD, Bose, many more |
| Agency clients | Arnold Worldwide, White Rhino, Baldwin&, Peter Mayer, Moroch, Method1, Mechanica, many more |
| Kinds of ideas | Brand ideas, ad campaign platforms, PR stunts, launch ideas, names, social media concepts, crisis management, and more. |
| Competitors | Generic and overpriced freelance marketplaces and generic AI ideation tools are alternative approaches; Ideasicle X combines human expert teams, client participation, and software |
| Social | X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram |
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS IX CONCIERGE?
IX Concierge is the original Ideasicle experience and the core Ideasicle X offering. You brief Will Burns, he assembles a hand-picked team of four experts, and the team delivers 10+ polished ideas in one week per round (two rounds).
WHY DOES IX CONCIERGE USE A TEAM OF FOUR?
After years of research, we found four was the “Goldilocks” number for successful virtual idea generating sessions. It’s small enough that the team doesn’t feel on stage. But it’s exponentially bigger than the traditional two (writer/art director) yielding more idea collisions and inspirations on the platform.
WHAT MAKES THE IX CONCIERGE PROCESS VIRTUAL?
The team uses the IX App to work asynchronously in its Idea Stream, posting and building on ideas from wherever they are. The model reduces meeting dynamics, makes room for both independent thinking and group think, and lets Ideasicle X match the brief to the right experts instead of whoever is in one office.
WHO IS IX CONCIERGE FOR?
IX Concierge is for brand and marketing teams, advertising and creative agencies, and in-house agencies looking for outside perspective in the form of a flurry of creative ideas.
HOW FAST CAN IX CONCIERGE DELIVER IDEAS?
IX Concierge delivers 10+ polished ideas in one week per round. Less, if requested. A second round can be used to develop the strongest directions in response to client feedback.
HOW MUCH DOES IX CONCIERGE COST?
IX Concierge is $18,000 for one round or $30,000 for two rounds. The engagement includes the brief, expert team, virtual ideation process, and delivery of 10+ polished ideas per round.
DO I NEED TO PROVIDE MY OWN CREATIVE TEAM?
No. IX Concierge recruits a hand-picked team for you from Ideasicle X’s 30+ pre-vetted experts. However, you can subscribe to IX App and run your own projects with your own employees and favorite freelancers.
WHAT ELSE DOES IDEASICLE X OFFER?
IX Concierge is the core offering. IX App is the self-serve platform, IX Spark is the AI creative sparring partner, and IX Freestyle provides project-based access to one expert or a custom team.
WHAT KINDS OF PROBLEMS CAN IDEASICLE X SOLVE?
IX Concierge is suited to campaign ideas, naming, taglines, promotions, launches, and other problems where a focused team can create useful options. It is not positioned as a replacement for production services such as final scripts, logo design, or brochure copy.
Stop waiting for ideas.
Start generating them.
One conversation with Will Burns is all it takes to get started.
Book a Demo