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.
Coming up with ideas remotely is unavoidable these days with hybrid work becoming more and more the norm. But that doesn’t mean the quality of your, and your partners’, ideas must suffer. 2024 can be the year to embrace remote idea generation. Here are three best practices (and worst) we’ve learned first-hand about participating in remote creative sessions that you can start using today.
Read MoreIf you ask the great Rick Rubin, he’d likely say ideas exist already outside of space/time and when their time has come enter our three-dimensional universe through…someone, anyone whose vibration matches that of the idea. Deep stuff, for sure. It seems to me that, since we can’t force an idea to happen, all we can do is increase the odds of one happening. So I looked at Ideasicle X anew to see if and how, exactly, it increases the odds of great ideas. Here are three ways I came up with.
Read MoreOne of the things the great Rick Rubin talks about in his new book relates to fear and how important it is to, as he puts it, “Create an environment where you’re free to express what you were afraid to express.” This statement challenged me to think about how Ideasicle X mitigates creative fear. Here are three tangible ways the IX model minimizes fear among the team of four.
Read MoreWhen agencies need freelancers they need them yesterday, not three days later after they’ve been called, negotiated with, W9s received, an office found for them to work, hotels to put them up, etc. What if freelance talent could be intimately integrated into an agency’s existing creative process, where teams who know your client’s business are but keystrokes away at any given moment and could be coming up with ideas within hours not days? Well, we have the meats.
Read MoreWe have always believed the client should be excited about the advertising ideas we bring them. Why not? It’s their company. Not to mention it’s nearly impossible to sell in an idea the client simply doesn’t like. But we have discovered, quite by accident, a question—a magic question—the answer to which not only may shed light on a client’s creative biases, but provides you and your creative teams a map of landmines.
Read MoreI feel sorry for ad agencies these days. Fees aren’t increasing, staff is getting harder to find, and the staff they have is stretched. Worse, agencies are still battling with the inertia of remote work, leaving their talent all over the place. While we can’t solve all the problems agencies face today, we can help address the challenges of remote work when it comes to creative ideas.
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 MoreI have an idea for Zillow that I think could increase their revenue substantially, effectively creating an entirely new channel for advertising. The idea has been collecting pixel-dust on my hard drive for at least a year, and I don’t have the time to identify the right people, beat down their doors and get this idea in front of them. So instead I’m simply going to post the idea below. That’s right, I’m going to give the idea away.
Read MoreClients 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.
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 MoreI’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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreErwin 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.
Read MoreWhat 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreI’ve been using some form of Ideasicle X for fourteen years now, two with our new web application. And along the way my entire view of creativity itself has changed. I’ve learned so much about myself, I’ve learned new skills, and sharpened old ones. All by using this idea generating platform. Here are ten.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreWe 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.
Read MoreIn-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.
Read MoreNorth 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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