Ideasicle Podcast

There's a problem out there in idealand. It's a social problem, a political problem, and a gender problem. But more importantly it's an idea problem. Only 3% of all creative directors in the United States are women. 3%. Where are all the Donna Drapers? Today we are talking with the founder of an organization that aims to change that percentage, Kat Gordon. The organization is called the 3% Conference, and we got some time with Kat to discuss this important issue. SHOW NOTES: We begin with Kat explaining what the "3% problem" is, exactly, and what her "3% Conference" is doing about it. Kat describes a moment in time during a pitch at the agency she was working where the light bulb went off. She never forgot that moment. And it all led up to this movement she's started. Kat has a great way of convincing men why her movement matters. It's called the "Birthday Gift Test," and she explains that test in detail. We then get into specifics as to how the "3% problem" affects advertising agencies' work. She even gives

When you think of an interesting story, there’s always a protagonist and an antagonist. There’s the good guy and the bad guy. Often in graphic relief to each other. But what about brands? Do brands need enemies? Today, we’re talking to Chief Creative Officer of Arnold Worldwide, Pete Favat, about exactly that concept, one he introduced to a packed house at Cannes this year. SHOW NOTES: We begin the interview with Pete talking about his speech at Cannes with Shepard Fairey about this "enemy" concept. Apparently brand storytelling was all the rage this year. Pete believes human beings are wired to find contrasts in the world. Yet most marketing shoots right down the middle. That's why brands need to create an enemy. Otherwise they're like the movie "Jaws" without the shark. The concept of having an enemy sounds polarizing (and it is), but that does not mean it will limit your audience. Pete talks about how tension is what gets attention. Examples: Apple's "1984" TV spot, Nike's "Just do it" tag line, and Coke'

We have all walked into businesses or ad agencies and seen the tell-tale signs of creativity. You know, the ping-pong table, the pool table, the rooms specially designed to force people to run into each other. But are these just gimmicks from non-creative companies? Or are they the result of an already-creative culture? We’re going to get answers to these questions and more from Mr. Justin Brady, author of Wall Street Journal article, "Some Companies Foster Creativity, Others Fake It." In that article, Brady outlines his "LET" process - listen, empathise, and trust. Show Notes: We begin by discussing what, exactly, creativity is - messy, chaotic, even disgusting. Even those who are known to be creative reak of failure - from DaVinci to Apple. Justin talks about the "gimmicks" of the creative environment and whether they create creative environments or are a result of them. Some great examples. Quote: "Gimmicks don't do squat." We discuss how to motivate employees to create, in general, and look to the child

Music in advertising is something valued by the insiders. But what is it about music that can "make" a TV spot? How do you choose the right artist? What brands are using music in powerful ways, and what brands aren't? These are the questions I put to the music experts at North Advertising, Mark Ray and Dave Allen. Both are musicians first and advertising executives second. Which makes their brand of advertising special. I was fortunate to get some time with them both. Note: the musical breaks are from Dave's band, "Gang of Four." The first is from the song, "Outside The Trains Don't Run On Time"; the second is from "Ether." Both are from Gang of Four's "Entertainment" album. Great stuff. They're on Spotify. SHOW NOTES: We begin by talking about North, the agency, and how music has been at the core of the culture there since the beginning. We discuss the parallels between composing music and "composing" advertising. Mark talks about the importance of execution (production) in creating both music and advertisi

Okay, have you ever thought about creativity in a spiritual way? That at least some ideas are the result of divine, or some other, inspiration? Well, I know I have. And we’re going to talk to a bonafide expert on all things paranormal to find out what he thinks.  Jim Harold is the host of The Paranormal Podcast and Jim Harold's Campfire. SHOW NOTES: We begin by discussing what's real about the paranormal. Is it all real? Is some of it? Jim then gives us some incredible stories that could indicate where creativity comes from.  He talks about a book called "The Wreck Of The Titan," which was written in 1898, yet almost perfectly describes the building and demise of the Titanic, which didn't set sail for years following the story. And Jules Verne's novel, "From Earth To The Moon," written in 1865 and describes almost perfectly the Apollo Mission of the 1960s. The parallels are truly amazing. Was it telling the future? Divine inspiration? Lucky guess? We then talk about ways to jujitsu the cosmos in a way to tak

I've been following Mitch Joel for years now. His first book, "Six Pixels of Separation," was a huge inspiration to me when I started Ideasicle. Mitch studies the digital and social media space constantly, always learning, always helping us learn.  SHOW NOTES: We begin by discussing whether the "act" of creativity has changed in the digital age of marketing. It's different when you can do anything. Mitch tells us about the nuances of blogging. Before writers would hold back and save the big ideas for the book. No longer. Now the blog actually helps formulate those big ideas. But he warns that blogging is a rope, one that you can hang yourself on if you're not careful. We talk at length about branding in the digital age. How it's the same. How it's different now. Mitch believes that Apple has multiple personalities, for example. And that's a good thing. Brands need to be both passive and active in order to be vital. I pushed Mitch to be a futurist for us. What's next? He brought up new technologies (ideas) li

Today we rethink work, and the act of working. Creativity is hard work. We all know that. But maybe there are things we're doing and cultural conventions companies are following that, if looked at differently, might not only yield better work, but happier creative people. SHOW NOTES: Sally begins by giving us an overview of her company, Forshay, a very modern recruitment company. You'll see why the psychology of working is important to her. Then we turn her sights to creativity.  Sally debunks the myth that more work is better. It's not necessarily true. Even if you think working all hours makes you look better politically. She describes the "ideal worker" as described by many unenlightened companies - and those are people with no lives who can devote themselves to the job. And then contrasts that convention with what makes for creativity. And it's not this so-called "ideal worker."  Did you know that Ford established the 40-hour work week because Henry found that any more than that, productivity dropped off

He's back. Dr. Bob Deutsch challenges us to consider his theory on "The Alchemy of Difference." PROGRAMMING NOTE: Dr. Bob removes a piece of paper from his microphone at about 13 minutes in and it sounds way better. So hang in there. SHOW NOTES: We live in a "world of too" - too much, too complex, too everything. The world has shifted from the world of choice ("or") to a world of "and." It's a much more complext world. Like tradition AND modernity. How can we take that seeming paradox and make it innovative? A new concept in which a person lives. We discuss this paradox as it relates to politics. A leader achieves emanence by being familiar AND mythic, accessible AND the one who knows the way. Being a leader is already a paradox. Famous people are paradoxes. Elvis - sacred and profane. Marlon Brando - tough and tender. Each of us is a "democracy of disparate voices" - we live in paradox, it's our self-narrative. Marketing makes a mistake - it tries to slice up existence so small that in that place and time i

We kick off this Labor Day weekend 2012 with one of the founders of new Boulder agency, Grenadier, Mark St. Amant. This guy's creative track record is impressive. He's creative directed at Arnold, Crispin and Sterling-Rice. He's written two books, one about Fantasy Football ("Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie"), and another about his attempt to play semi-pro football ("Just Kick It: Tales of an Underdog, Over-Age, Out-of-Place, Semi-Pro Football Player"), and plays guitar at Christmas parties. I've seen him. He has a great sense of humor and some wise advice about creativity.  SHOW NOTES: We begin by discussing Mark's new agency, Grenadier. His motivation in starting it and the role serendipity played in making it all happen. We talk about Barkley, the employee-owned agency and partner to Grenadier, and how being independent affects creativity in a positive way vs. the holding companies. I asked Mark flat out why all these agencies are spinning off CPB (Crispin) - first Goodness, then Victo

This month we’re taking an about face from last month. Last month we talked to Dr. Sean McDonough about whether creativity was divine and how it was part of god’s plan. This month we are going to talk about the movie Old School, with the screenplay writer himself, Court Crandall. But Court is much more than the writer of Old School. A creative director, director, writer of a children's book, and a dad. This guy, I was delighted to find out, knows a thing or two about creativity. Show Notes: We start at Court's beginning, his childhood. How his dad's creativity (he was also in advertising) influenced Court's creative abilities. He uses his children's book "Hugville" as an example of his own flavor of creativity, which he describes as "problem solving." We talk about learned helplessness and how it can defeat creativity if we let it. I ask Court flat out - what is creativity? And I get an answer I hadn't heard before. We discuss the childhood effects of the democratization of production tools - like video came

Is creativity divine? Or, better yet, is human creativity part of God's plan? Did He just get the ball rolling "in the beginning" and now it's our job to keep it rolling? What does the Bible say about creativity? Talk about untangling the mysteries of the elusive idea. We went straight to the source this time. And you might be surprised at some of the answers. This month we have Dr. Sean McDonough, Professor of New Testament at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, on the Ideasicle Podcast, to talk about spirituality, The Bible, and creativity. Show Notes: We begin by defining creativity from the Christian standpoint. We discuss the first creative act (God's) and the fact that act didn't end in seven days. That was just the beginning of creativity in the world.  The Old Testament is full of references to creativity, but the New Testament has very few direct references. Dr. McDonough explains why. Is there "good creativity" and "bad creativity" from the perspective of Christianity? Hint: Eve had a very bad ide

As a former TV host, Creative Director and ideation specialist turned training diva, Leslie Ehm knows a thing or two about creativity. And has made a career out of making others more creative. She was a Group Creative Director at Canada’s largest ad agency, MacLaren McCann, with clients like Nestlé, GM, Rogers, Microsoft, Bacardi, and McNeil.  In 2009, she focused on the areas of study she found were truly moving her clients’ businesses forward – ideation, collaboration and presentation skills. In 2010, Leslie launched Three Training and it's been unstoppable ever since. She trains many of the world’s top ad agencies (Leo Burnett,  draftFCB, JWT, Venables Bell & Partners, Taxi to name a few) as well as leading innovators like Disney, Pepsico, Mark Anthony, Boston Scientific and more.  In addition to Three Training, Leslie delivers workshops all over the U.S for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), develops and delivers part of the Institute for Communications Agencies’ (ICA) CAAP course, is cert

Consider this part two of an Ideasicle "Twofor." Prior to the first episode of AMC's "The Pitch" coming out, I wrote an article on Forbes.com about why I thought the big agencies were afraid to participate in such a show. Then I interviewed the two creative directors from the first episode: Jonathan Cude from McKinney and Tracy Wong from WDCW. Both of those interviews can be found on video at http://blogs.forbes.com/willburns/.  But I wanted my Ideasicle Podcast fans on iTunes to have access to them too. So this is the second one with Tracy Wong. We talk about why he and his agency decided to do the show and we got a whole lot of behind the scenes stories from his experience on the show. Great stuff.  And released simultaneously was the Jonathan Cude podcast, so be on the lookout for that one too.

Consider this an Ideasicle "Twofor." Prior to the first episode of AMC's "The Pitch" coming out, I wrote an article on Forbes.com about why I thought the big agencies were afraid to participate in such a show. Then I interviewed the two creative directors from the first episode: Jonathan Cude from McKinney and Tracy Wong from WDCW. Both of those interviews can be found on video at http://blogs.forbes.com/willburns/.  But I wanted my Ideasicle Podcast fans on iTunes to have access to them too. So this is the first one with Jonathan Cude. We talk about why he and his agency decided to do the show and we got a whole lot of behind the scenes stories from his experience on the show. Great stuff.  And released simultaneously will be the Tracy Wong podcast, so be on the lookout for that one too.

One of the most influential planners in the world, Russell Davies joined R/GA London from Ogilvy where he served as head of planning for EMEA. A frequent public speaker and well respected writer, his blog is one of the most widely read in the industry. He also writes a weekly column for Campaign magazine and is a contributing editor for Wired UK. Show Notes: We open by discussing agency "culture" versus "habit," and whether there even is such a thing as culture at an agency. What is planning to Russell Davies? Well, no one knows what you're supposed to be doing, for starters. We discuss creativity and whether it's even worthwhile to discuss. With easier publishing comes more creativity, right? Maybe not. The democratization of production tools means professional creatives will soon find out just how special they are. Crowdsourcing is dumb. Russell shares with us how he keeps himself inspired. It's all about discovering new things. As it relates to agencies complaining all the time, Russell says stop complain

NOTE: this podcast is really a video podcast and is better viewed than listened to. You can watch it here: http://www.ideasicle.com/Ideasicle_Site/Blog_&_Podcast/Entries/2012/3/6_Ideasicle_Podcast_Episode_23__Tauntrs_Marc_Gallucci.html. But it's a good listen, too. Now, on with the show! A lot of marketers and agencies talk about "real time" this and "real time" that. But few are actually doing it. And then there's Tauntr, a company built specifically to create real time digital creative. Born a digital content company mocking the sports world (hence the name) in real time, they are now applying that digital might on behalf of brands. And that's what got me interested in exploring more with CEO, Marc Gallucci. It's a simple formula: Today's headline + your brand idea + Tauntr's creative magic = Real Time Relevance. They call it "Real Time Relevance" for a reason. The creative comes literally out of the headlines that day, so it's got relevance baked right in. No agency on earth has figured out how to do t

For the first time ever. Two Ideasicle Experts go public with their identities in one Ideasicle Podcast. And another Expert stays incognito ("The Kernal").  But all of them, through great conversation and debate, give you a window into the minds of the Ideasicle Expert, as we work to untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea. Show Notes: The big reveal of two Ideasicle Experts. We do a quick roundtable on some great ideas out there that the Experts feel are worth noting. We talk about the ideation process - better to be alone or in a group? We debate the idea versus execution - which is more important. We get a little deep by asking, "Are there any new ideas anymore?" Then the Experts let loose and describe what it's like to be an Ideasicle Expert, working virtually and with each other for Ideasicle Clients. Trust us, this ain't no crowdsourcing.

Welcome to another episode of the Ideasicle Podcast, where we attempt to untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea.  Trivial note: first live Ideasicle Podcast ever! I’ve always admired Mechanica because they were one of the first to break from the traditional advertising agency mold. I wanted to have these guys on the show because, with their model, as with Ideasicle’s, they have found a way to rise above the overwhelming world of fractured media. And they’ve conducted a new study with Fast Company called, “Branding Forward,” that has implications for all of us. On my right, we have CEO, Ted Nelson, and on my left one of Mechanica’s two founding creative principles, Jim Garaventi. BIOS: Ted Nelson is a very hands-on CEO, and one of four founding partners who conceived and launched Mechanica.  His responsibilities include contributing to the building and management of a next-generation business model and organization, as well as general strategic oversight across Mechanica's clients and businesses. Jim Garav

We’re going to talk about pressure today on the Ideasicle Podcast. The kind of pressure that can crumble the best athletes, the greatest politicians and, yes, even the greatest of idea people during a pitch or under a deadline. Why do people choke under pressure? What’s going on in the brain? How can we manage the choke and maybe even avoid it? Sian Beilock is a psychology professor at The University of Chicago and one of the world's leading experts on the brain science behind "choking under pressure" and the many factors influencing all types of performance: from test-taking to public speaking to your golf swing. She has written the book, “Choke. What the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to.” SHOW NOTES: Sian starts off by explaining how she got into the concept of "choking" - hint, it has something to do with sports coupled with a fear of parallel parking in front of her husband. She defines the choking moment and explains what's going on in our brain when it happens. The ph

JONATHAN FIELDS is the author of the book “Uncertainty. Turning fear and doubt into fuel for brilliance.” It’s an important book for creative people because it addresses head-on a creative issue that has come up in almost every interview I’ve done on the Ideasicle podcast. David Baldwin talked about it, Tom Monahan talked about it, Seth Schulman talked about it, Jon Steel talked about it, Dr. Synthia Andrews talked about it. And that is, fear. Fear and uncertainty are creativity’s kryptonite. And Jonathan is going to not only help us all navigate it, but perform a near-jujitsu move to harness it. SHOW NOTES: We begin at Jonathan's first leap into uncertainty and how his initial reluctance to take that leap landed him in the hospital. He talks about how the reactions of people around you can affect your ability to face the uncertainty. The "three horsemen of uncertainty" and how to manage them. Great bit about how ritual and certainty anchors can help creative people manage their uncertainty. Think Nomar Garc