In case you missed it, I was interviewed by new biz guru, Jody Sutter, this week on her LinkedIn Live show, “Just Ask Jody.” We talked about advertising new business tips and tricks as well as some old war stories. Click to watch.
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Firebrand is the combination of Ideasicle X, our virtual web application designed for virtual idea generation, Ernie Schenck, renowned and award winning creative director and writer, and Conductor, a full service production company, with the singular aim of developing brand ideas with A-list creative talent all the way through to a brand anthem video, and all for $100,000. Here’s how it came to be.
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Last week I wrote a blog post introducing our newest Ideasicle Expert, Matt Lindley, to the world (here’s the post). Since then we got a wildly urgent call from an agency who needed ideas in 24 hours. We don’t typically do ProXy Service projects that quickly, but we confidently accepted the challenge. I invited Matt to this project for a couple reasons: one, he’s not only creative but he’s super quick; two, I wanted to get him some experience on the platform. Frankly, I was a little nervous about what his reaction would be to the platform. Matt’s last 14 years has been at digital giants, Sapient Razorfish and (gulp) Google/YouTube.
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Ideasicle X is a software platform designed to help marketing organizations and agencies tap into world-class freelance talent to come up with creative ideas. It’s an incredibly powerful tool R&D’ed over a ten-year period of virtual trial and virtual error. However, it is a clear disruption to our normal ways of coming up with ideas. As such, it’s not right for everyone. What follows a five situations where an Ideasicle X Subscription (IX) may NOT be right for your organization.
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I was interviewed on the Brands In Action Podcast by David Baldwin. We really covered the gamut on this one. My advertising agencies past (Wieden, Goodby, Arnold, and Leonard/Monahan), how Ideasicle X came to be, how companies can take advantage of it, what creativity is (and isn’t) in public schools, and much more.
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We’ve been playing around with ChatGPT now for a few weeks. And while many sages in the advertising industry are poo-pooing it for not being innovative or bringing truly original creativity, I think they are missing a powerful and useful application of this technology. And one we plan to use at Ideasicle X.
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Claudia Caplan is one of my go-to Ideasicle Experts because she has attitude, she is fearless, she’s brilliant, and says exactly what she thinks. All important ingredients in being successful within our little idea generating platform. But one thing I didn’t know until recently is her relentless curiosity and depth that comes with continuous higher learning. Just an inspiration. But I’m going to let her tell you.
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Creative ideas are everything at Ideasicle X. That’s why a recent addition to the Ideasicle Expert ranks is Suzanne McKenzie. She began her career as a designer at Boston shops Arnold and Continuum (I worked with her at Arnold). She was not only a gifted designer, she was a conceptual, and big, thinker who could also design. However, soon after stints with the Boston agency world, a tragedy happened and her life changed forever.
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I got to see Ernie in action several times when I was at Arnold when he freelanced on pitches. Not that he needed auditions for Ideasicle X. The man is an advertising legend. But I remember being so impressed with his lateral thinking and ability to tell a great story. Well, he wrote a book that is a must-read for anyone in advertising because it’s as relevant today as ever. Ernie, take it away.
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Lisa Taylor is an Ideasicle Expert. She is a writer by trade, but a mom when not trading words. Evidently, a very good mom. Her son had a learning disability—dyslexia—and Lisa, naturally, had a big idea to help not only her son, but all families dealing with this disability. Best if Lisa tells you the rest.
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I’ve known Roger Baldacci for almost 20 years now. I invited him to be an Ideasicle Expert because he’s a brilliant concept guy, has ridiculous energy, he sees the world differently than most (bring up anything paranormal and watch him go), and he’s a great collaborator. Well, he recently trained and ran a Spartan race and I thought the process he went through said a lot about who he is as a person and what he might bring to an Ideasicle X project.
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We are thrilled to announce a new feature to the Ideasicle X platform that will give Organizers of idea projects the power to invite Observers (view only) and Idea Directors (full permissions) to each idea project. Virtually every beta tester and recent customer has brought this up to us as a need (thank you, 180/NY, White Rhino, North, and Lucky Generals, for your suggestions). Here’s what this new feature means for Ideasicle X users.
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Ideas beget ideas, I always say. And it turns out the ideas we posted in support of the Ukraine’s “Prevent WW3” effort inspired at least one new idea. Just a day or so after I posted that piece, my former colleague Amelie Loyot called me all excited about an idea she had in reaction to our post. It’s a great idea so I want to share it with you in case someone wants to take it and run with it. Amelie and her partner CJ Kaplan prepared a write-up for it and designed visuals as well, as follows.
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We call ourselves a “SaaS,” or a software as a service, because it’s technically true. But what’s lost in that categorization is the role human beings play in our company’s purpose. It’s not an “idea machine,” which would suggest an artificial intelligence pumping out ideas. No, Ideasicle X is a machine whose purpose is to increase the odds of human intelligence happening. And that intelligence is anything but artificial. What follows are the ways our software platform is designed to be in continuous service to the real (and very human) heroes.
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Rebecca Armstrong (CEO) and Mark Ray (CCO) run North, a creative advertising agency located in Portland, Oregon. They recently conducted a trial of Ideasicle X and I asked them about their experience via an email interview. And I’m glad I did. Here’s what they said.
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Since we launched Ideasicle X this summer, we’ve learned a lot from our customers and trial users. The idea generation model we’ve created is working incredibly well so far. It’s what surrounds the idea generation we’re improving. Just recently a major creative agency in New York City conducted a trial of the platform and not only loved the outcome, but plan to deploy it throughout their NYC and LA offices. But under one condition: the platform needs to allow more people to be involved in the process (not the idea generation part—that will remain four to a team—but the process surrounding it). It was an “aha!” for us and may be for you, too. Here’s how the platform is improving as a result.
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Ideasicle X does one thing, but that one thing is very different from the way creative development has been done in the past. Founder & CEO Will Burns took some time to explain the concept on video, how agencies will benefit, and how the freelance model is turning upside down. Check it out.
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The platform facilitates collaboration between creative teams on a blog-like stream. Ideasicle X, a new freelance and collaboration platform for agencies, launched on Monday as a subscription-based product for the remote work age. The platform connects agencies with freelancers or internal talent for specific projects and helps them brainstorm better remotely by collaborating on ideas in a blog-like stream.
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We are so excited about our resolutions for 2021, we’re feeling they’re a little more revolutionary than resolutionary. At least as they relate to the advertising industry. Here are our three New Year’s “Revolutions”.
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If I may, I’d like to share with you my motivations behind creating Ideasicleˣ. I’ll start by reviewing a few of my personal driving principles and then explain how Ideasicleˣ is the ultimate manifestation of those principles. Warning, though, this may get a little deep or “woo-woo” for some.
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