What's the big Ideasicleˣ?

Ideasicleˣ is the brainchild of Will Burns and, although it has been a project ten years in the making, the timing couldn't be better. With remote work, collaboration platforms, and the gig economy all exploding in this new new world we find ourselves in, Ideasicleˣ is setting sail with the changing advertising winds at its back. The title of this interview riffs advertising genius George Lois' famous book and approach to the creative process. What is the big idea? Today his question remains as relevant as ever although how we get to the answer may have changed. Below I interview Will about the origin of his nascent platform business, changes in the advertising and creative landscapes, and how he believes his big idea, Ideasicleˣ, will play a formative role in the future of creativity.

What is Ideasicleˣ and how did it all start?

When I was at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, I was Director of Business Development and did nothing but run new business pitches for 7 years. In a pitch you need ideas and you need them now, the deadlines are the deadlines. At that time crowd sourcing was in its very early days and it occurred to me maybe I could build an intranet site where I could post a request for an idea and then anyone in the entire Arnold network could post ideas. I built one and called it the “Innovation Station.” It worked really well. We got tons of ideas, some literally pitch-winning. Then after a while and seeing the technology evolve, it occurred to me maybe I could do the same kind of thing but, instead of aiming it at Arnold folks, I could aim it at a pool of genius creative and strategic experts I’ve worked with at agencies like Goodby, Wieden, Arnold, Mullen and a few other places. So I jumped ship from Arnold to start Ideasicle in 2010, recruited a band of genius pirates, and did nothing but come up with ideas for clients I landed. It was during the years of 2010-Present that I developed the “Post, Build & Riff” process, where I could recruit a team of four people from my genius pool and put them to work right on the platform. They didn’t compete against each other, they worked together as a cohesive team. One person posts an idea and then the others jump in to build upon it. It was a beautiful thing.

So with Ideasicleˣ it was all about the idea. Just the fun stuff.

You spent years at large and well-respected Ad firms. What was it like to jump? Any regrets?

It was scary at the time, but no regrets at all. I’ve always been an ad guy who loved the creative process, but didn’t love the politics and pressures that come with the execution of ideas. So with Ideasicleˣ it was all about the idea. Just the fun stuff.

What's your outlook on the health and future of the advertising industry as we've known it?

Advertising was already a tough business prior to Covid. But this past year has certainly tested their collective mettle. Remember it’s a very young business and nothing tortures 20-somethings more than forcing them to stay home and not go to the office thanks to the pandemic. Further, clients had to pivot their marketing on a dime at the time Covid began. Some of the advertising out there wasn’t appropriate anymore and had to be scrapped. Agencies busted their asses to accommodate their clients during a difficult time, and clients appreciated it, but that didn’t keep clients from cutting budgets out of necessity. So now agencies are forced to do even more with even less, while it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain some form of “agency culture” while everyone is remote working.

But what I do know is that agencies have surprised themselves during this pandemic. They have been more productive working remotely than they thought they’d be. The lack of commuting time and increase in boredom gives creative teams more time to work. So it’s not all bad, which tells me that, like some of the big tech companies, agencies may look at a hybrid model going forward, where those who want to work in the office can, and those who don’t want to don’t necessarily have to. This one shift will ultimately save agencies money on overhead and perhaps convince them that they don’t as many full-time employees in order to do the same amount of work. 

What are your thoughts on in-house agencies at client companies? Is this a fad?

Definitely not a fad. I’ve written about the unique powers of in-house agencies in my Forbes column. Believe it or not as recently as 2018, 64% of corporate America has some form of an in-house agency. That number was only 42% ten years ago. So the trend is definitely moving in-house. And if you think about it in-house agencies are uniquely equipped to “be the brand” because they work there, they are steeped in the company’s culture, they get intuitively what the brand would do and wouldn’t do, which is often difficult for outside agencies to truly internalize. So with the pressures agencies are facing and the resulting reorganization of their business model, coupled with the growth and influence of in-house agencies, I think you’ll also see agencies become closer to consultants than executioners. Ideas and strategies versus cranking out TV spots. The in-house agency can do that. It will be interesting to watch in the coming years. 

Independent agencies can behave nimbly because they don’t answer to anyone but themselves.

Is it a good time to be an independent agency or freelancer?

I think it’s a great time to be an independent agency or freelancer. The less beholden you are to any form of “old ways” the better positioned you are for change. Independent agencies can behave nimbly because they don’t answer to anyone but themselves. Freelancers who prefer working remotely, given what traditional agencies have learned about the power of remote work, are perfectly positioned to swoop in and out as needed instead of working full time anywhere. That means they can work on more projects at a time, which means more money. 

What is the future of the "Creative Department" in today's world?

To me one strong possibility is that creative departments in traditional agencies decrease in size, but not in importance. In a new world where ideas can come more easily and efficiently from outsourced services like Ideasicleˣ, the senior creative directors on each account are still the brand “curators” with final say on what’s a good idea and what’s a great idea, what gets presented and what does not. The difference to the client is imperceptible other than getting more consistently better ideas from their agencies. Clients don’t care where the ideas come from as long as they’re awesome and on brand. So smaller, tighter creative departments whose super power is knowing a great idea (for their respective client) when they see one.

What is Ideasicleˣ and how did that evolve?

Where the original Ideasicleˣ was a “closed system” of experts with me managing the entire process, Ideasicleˣ is a SaaS platform that will allow any agency who subscribes to recruit teams of four freelancers, brief them, watch the four work as a team posting ideas and building on each other’s ideas, and pay them after the work is done, and do it all right on the platform. The freelancers work remotely from wherever they live. And if there’s a freelancer the agency wants to use, but he or she isn’t in the Ideasicleˣ database there’s a way to invite them using the freelancer’s email address. That’s how we organically grow the freelancer database over time.

Who is the primary user of Ideasicleˣ?

We are focusing on advertising agencies at first, as they are the “PGA Tour” in the ideas arena. They need ideas constantly and don’t always have the resources at hand. They are used to working with freelancers (at all) and now, as I implied above, remote working has been normalized due to the pandemic. One of our beta tester agencies has told me Ideasicleˣ has completely changed the way they work and that their creative process revolves around Ideasicleˣ now. But ultimately it’s not just advertising agencies who could benefit from Ideasicleˣ. I could see Hollywood directors/writers using it for plot development, engineers using it to solve technical problems, political campaigns using it for messaging or stunts, scientists using it for ideas around experimental work. It’s really endless. 

Is Ideasicleˣ an enabler platform for freelancers, agencies and clients?

Yes, exactly. The agencies use the platform to find freelancers. The freelancers use it to find idea projects to work on. And the agencies’ clients, while the process won’t be visible to them, will be the ultimate beneficiaries through better, quicker ideas from their agencies.

Will service platforms like Ideasicleˣ increase in the ad world?

Hard to say. If Ideasicleˣ is successful, and I believe it will be when we launch early 2021, and potential competitors see that success, then yes we’ll see competitors. But I’m not worried. I’ll be a year ahead of them.

Thank you Will. We're excited to watch the progress of Ideasicleˣ!