The Cost Of NOT Having A Great Idea
The Cost Of NOT Having A Great Idea

Clients can be quick to question the cost of agencies coming up with ideas. What’s the blended rate you’re billing me? Why do you need three teams working on this? Explain to me the overhead you charge every month. Can’t blame them, really. It is important to keep all marketing costs in check. But what about the cost of NOT having a great idea? Why don’t clients ever ask that question? Well, I asked a few of my Ideasicle Experts to identify ideas they’ve been a part of, the absence of which would have blunted the trajectory of a client’s business.

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CreativityWill BurnsIdeasicle expert, value of ideas, Carl's Jr., sam adams, seattle rising, Volkswagen
Ideasicle Expert, Matt Lindley, Reacts To His First Creative 'Pillow Fight' On The Platform
Ideasicle Expert, Matt Lindley, Reacts To His First Creative 'Pillow Fight' On The Platform

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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News & Updates, Expert ProfilesWill BurnsMatthew lindley, creative ideas, SaaS
Matt Lindley, Google And The Four-Hour Ad: An Ideasicle Expert Profile
Matt Lindley, Google And The Four-Hour Ad: An Ideasicle Expert Profile

I’ve known Matt for nearly 20 years and have been after him to be an Expert here since I launched in 2010. While at Arnold Worldwide, we pitched and won Vonage, Progressive Insurance, and the RadioShack business, then the largest win in New England history. I always wanted Matt on the pitch team because he has this uncanny super power to disarm his audience with charm, creativity, and, most importantly, ideas. Since Arnold, Matt spent many valuable years entrenched within the Google/YouTube technosphere. Which brings us to his story about the four hour ad. Over to you, Matt.

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Expert ProfilesWill BurnsMatthew lindley, youtube, google, arnold worldwide
Sometimes You Just Gotta Go Outside For Creative Ideas
Sometimes You Just Gotta Go Outside For Creative Ideas

In my three decade career in the advertising business, I’ve worked at eight agencies in five cities. There wasn’t a single agency who didn’t, at times, go outside to get creative ideas. It’s not ideal, of course. Agencies want to use their own people whenever possible. It’s more profitable. But here are three cases where going outside is the right business decision.

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CreativityWill Burnsfreelance, outside perspective, ideas
Collaborating Virtually Gets Us Closer To Pure Consciousness Intermingling
Collaborating Virtually Gets Us Closer To Pure Consciousness Intermingling

Erwin Schrödinger said, “Consciousness is the fundamental reality.” So doesn’t it stand to reason that if we, to the degree we can, remove the UNfundamental reality (our physical reality) from the idea generating arena, then each participant’s individual consciousness is better able to shine through? And, better yet, the consciousness of multiple individuals on a team intermingle more purely? That’s exactly what we’ve found.

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CreativityWill Burnsconsciousness, erwin Schrödinger, creativity
Dear Elon, If By "Everything" You Mean Business, We Need To Talk
Dear Elon, If By "Everything" You Mean Business, We Need To Talk

What if your X had an application within it that allowed businesses to shop and recruit creative talent from around the world, put them into teams of four, and have them come up with ideas for said business over a few days? Now, you could go take years building that application, testing it, etc. Or you could recognize the fact that Ideasicle X already is that application.

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PromotionWill Burnselon musk, twitter, X, everything app
"John will whistle at me, and I whistle back at him." The Creative Process According To Paul McCartney
"John will whistle at me, and I whistle back at him." The Creative Process According To Paul McCartney

I stumbled upon a wonderful Facebook post from Beatle John on Facebook today that I think gives us several insights into the creative process. The post quotes Ivor Davis, an investigative reporter who was given unprecedented access to The Beatles when they were on tour in the early 1960’s. In the following blurb, Davis describes what he saw when he saw John and Paul working, creating, and writing some of the greatest music of all time.

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CreativityWill Burnsbeatles, Paul mccartney, John Lennon, creativity
3 Ways Virtual Idea Generation In Teams Of 4 Nourishes The Imagination
3 Ways Virtual Idea Generation In Teams Of 4 Nourishes The Imagination

In today's interconnected world, virtual collaboration has become the norm for teams across diverse industries. While the benefits of virtual teamwork are widely acknowledged, one aspect that often goes unnoticed is the profound impact it has on nourishing a participant’s imagination. In this blog post, we explore three compelling ways in which virtual idea generation in teams nurtures the creative spirit, allowing ideas to flourish.

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CreativityWill Burnscreativity, virtual, remote work
Combine The Effects Of 3 Scientific Studies On Creativity To Supercharge Your Ideas
Combine The Effects Of 3 Scientific Studies On Creativity To Supercharge Your Ideas

We are constantly scouring the science out there as it relates to improving our creativity. We want every advantage, right? You can see all of the individual studies we’ve found so far on our Science tab. But what if we combined the insights from different studies? How unstoppable would we be then? Well, let’s see what happens when you combine walking, the color green, and getting off your smartphone.

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CreativityWill Burnscreativity, studies, research
In-house Agencies Can Get Outside Perspective And Creative Ideas Without The Threat
In-house Agencies Can Get Outside Perspective And Creative Ideas Without The Threat

In-house agencies live their brand every day, they’re immersed in its culture, they get it first hand. However, the in-house agency is at a disadvantage to external agencies in one respect: the thinking can get insular. While external agencies are working on different brands all the time, in-house agencies work on one brand. All. Day. Long. In-housers know they need to bring in outside perspective from time to time, but many don’t want the risks involved in bringing in outside help. Is there an answer? Short answer, yes. Longer answer below.

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Creativity, Tips & TricksWill BurnsIHAF, in-house agencies, freelance, ideas
IX Use Case: North Jump Starts (And Wins) Ledlenser Pitch With Ideasicle X
IX Use Case: North Jump Starts (And Wins) Ledlenser Pitch With Ideasicle X

North Advertising was invited into a very attractive pitch recently for the Ledlenser portable lighting business and North felt they needed to manufacture every advantage humanly possible in order to win. After a deep strategy cycle designed to unearth the brand's "real,” they decided to augment their own creative muscle with a bit of IX creative juice. Here's their story as told by Rebecca.

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Use CasesWill Burnspitch, advertising, agency, ideas, collaboration
IX Use Case: Win Your Next Pitch With Unprecedented Creative Transparency
IX Use Case: Win Your Next Pitch With Unprecedented Creative Transparency

I was the director of biz dev at Arnold Worldwide for seven years, so I know how competitive it is and, more importantly, how savagely an agency will look for an edge over the competition in any given pitch. As long as it’s legal and wouldn’t get us kicked out of the pitch by the pitch consultant, we’d consider it. Well, we have a feature within the Ideasicle X platform that I wish I had when I was at Arnold. It’s an edge that I think will help some of the bolder agencies win pitches, but not every agency will have the guts.

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Use CasesWill Burnsnew business, pitch, advertising
J.P. Guilford’s ‘Unusual Uses’ Study Was The Mother Of All Modern Creativity Studies
J.P. Guilford’s ‘Unusual Uses’ Study Was The Mother Of All Modern Creativity Studies

Creativity is a complex and fascinating phenomenon that has captivated humans for centuries. From the works of Leonardo da Vinci to the innovations of Steve Jobs, creativity has been celebrated as a hallmark of genius and a key driver of progress and innovation. However, for a long time, creativity was thought to be an elusive and mysterious concept that could not be isolated, measured or studied scientifically. That all changed with a groundbreaking study by J.P. Guilford in the 1960s.

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CreativityWill BurnsJ. P. Guilford, creativity, unusual uses, research
Top 5 Reasons Your Marketing Ideas Are Lacking Lately
Top 5 Reasons Your Marketing Ideas Are Lacking Lately

For 13 years we have been on the front lines of bad ideas. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Let me try again. For 13 years we have been on the front lines interacting with marketers and agencies who are sick of their bad ideas and need help. That’s better. So we hear all the reasons. And sometimes it’s not until they see our process that they see what their own issues were. Anyway, here you go. The top 5 reasons marketing ideas have been lacking according to our customers.

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CreativityWill Burnsideas, client, agency, creativity
IX Use Case: Clients Create "Super Teams" Across Their Different Agencies
IX Use Case: Clients Create "Super Teams" Across Their Different Agencies

Most clients have multiple agencies working on their brands in different capacities. There’s a lead agency (AOR), a media agency, and then any combination of PR, social media, design, and/or promotions agencies who also bring their expertise to the client. Each of these agencies has its own superstars with masteries of their disciplines. What if a client could have these superstars form Super Teams and work in a concentrated way together coming up with ideas?

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Use CasesWill Burnsclients, marketing, ideas, agencies
IX Use Case: Rogerson Communities Taps Ideasicle X For A Unifying Brand Idea
IX Use Case: Rogerson Communities Taps Ideasicle X For A Unifying Brand Idea

Rogerson is a nonprofit that develops and manages affordable housing, independent living, assisted living/memory care, and adult day health for older adults. We have a complex ecosystem and a layered “operating world” requiring different levels of expertise, requirements to market to myriad constituencies, and challenges the organization to speak with a unified voice. Here is Rogerson’s testimonial about the Ideasicle X process.

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Use CasesWill Burnsrogerson communities, testimonial, brand idea, tagline
Alan Watts And The Profound Importance Of Human Creativity
Alan Watts And The Profound Importance Of Human Creativity

Alan Watts was an English philosopher, writer, and speaker, focusing on popularizing Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophies for a Western audience. I stumbled upon him years ago while killing time on YouTube and was blown away. I highly recommend any of his lectures. But one point he made in one lecture has always stuck with me and just today I realized why: it explains the importance of human creativity.

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CreativityWill BurnsAlan Watts, creativity, universe, big bang, ideas
IX Use Case: An Ideasicle X Subscription Isn't Right For Everyone. Here's How To Know If It's Right For You.
IX Use Case: An Ideasicle X Subscription Isn't Right For Everyone. Here's How To Know If It's Right For You.

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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Use Cases, News & UpdatesWill BurnsIdeasicle, ideas, marketing, advertising