Here you’ll find relevant use cases for Ideasicle X. Articles on the art of generating ideas while working remotely. Insights and studies into creativity itself. All from the desk of our founder and CEO, Will Burns.
Ah, mid-December. The season of holiday cheer, last-minute shopping sprees, and—if you’re a marketer or an agency—a full-blown panic attack. Budgets need to be spent. Campaigns need to launch. And, oh yeah, the Super Bowl is coming. It’s enough to make even the most seasoned pro make like Griswold and reach for the eggnog. But at Ideasicle X, we say: breathe. We got this.
Read MoreI spoke recently at the In-house Agency Forum about the many ways virtual idea generation is better than in-person. Things like this thing called online disinhibition, it’s asynchronous, it allows creativity to happen in the wild, etc. Worth considering as agencies contemplate moving creative people back to the offices or go hybrid. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Read MoreRecently, we ran an idea project that brought together Ideasicle Experts and students from Texas State University to collaborate virtually. One student, Jason Lovejoy, was so impressed by his experience that he introduced me to his professor, Sage Baker, a Lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State. Jason believed our platform could be an excellent tool for university collaboration. We set up a meeting with the three of us, and here’s what happened.
Read MoreWe recently took on a project that challenged us in ways we hadn't anticipated. It started with a bold client (a research company) who proposed a unique approach: form three teams composed of both our seasoned Ideasicle Experts and college students from Texas—students who represented the very market we were targeting. Sounded smart, at least on paper. But could students with very little life experience bring something valuable to the table? Um, yeah.
Read MoreAs you likely know if you follow us at all, we are now in development of a new service we’re calling “IX Embedded.” It moves our existing Ideasicle X virtual idea generating platform organically into an agency’s web environment. I asked Rebecca Armstrong, CEO of Portland, Oregon, agency North, to explain why North has agreed to beta test IX Embedded. Here’s what she had to say.
Read MoreI talk to agency execs all the time. It’s tough out there. They’re facing a dual challenge: staying creatively competitive while also finding new revenue streams to sustain and grow their businesses. We are developing a new form factor for Ideasicle X that will not only improve an agency’s creative output, in general, it will help optimize existing creative resources while generating new revenue streams.
Read MoreThat’s it. That’s the whole blog post.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreFirebrand 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.
Read MoreLast 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.
Read MoreIdeasicle 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreWe’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.
Read MoreClaudia 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.
Read MoreCreative 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreLisa 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.
Read MoreI’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.
Read MoreWe 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.
Read MoreWe 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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