Doesn’t 2012 feel great? I’m sorry, Mayans, but it truly does feel like a new beginning. People seem to be in a better mood, the economy is improving slightly, there’s no snow to contend with in the Northeast.

Not a bad start.

It’s in that spirit that I give you a detailed, but informal, report on this great experiment I call “Ideasicle.” You know, to kick the new year off right.

The State of the Virtual Union Is Strong.

We had a good year last year despite the crappy economy and the fact that Ideasicle is so weird. I mean, really, I admit it’s not a normal way of doing business, but our clients immediately see that it’s also our strength. Clients can’t believe we don’t care about our own PR (we don’t), they love that we are willing to be their secret weapon (we do), and, most of all, they are in dire need of great ideas without retainers.

The “Expert Sourcing” model we are pioneering continues to blow me away. Every time. And big brands and great agencies are jumping in with both feet. Though I must savagely respect our “secret weapon” status with most clients, I can tell you that in 2011 we’ve named new products, conceived of major national promotions, provided big ideas for several agency pitches, came up with campaign-extension ideas and segmented go-to-market ideas, we’ve written tag lines, positioning statements, and countless others. And we’ve done these things for brands like:

1. Warner Music Group
   

2. 
   

3. The New York Times
   

4. 
   

5. MMB Advertising
   

6. 
   

7. Miranda Technologies
   

8. 
   

9. Chevrolet
   

10. 
    

11. Advanced Micro Devices
    

12. 
    

13. Baldwin& Advertising
    

14. 
    

15. North Advertising
    

16. 
    

17. Think Conservatory
    

18. 
    

19. Brand USA
    

1. The Harvard Center On The Developing Child (our pro bono)
   

2. 
   

Always fun to say that the United States of America is one of our clients (Brand USA). But we couldn’t be more proud of our entire client list in 2011. We hope they’ll keep coming back for more in 2012. And who knows who else we’ll meet?

Three New Ideasicle Experts

We needed to add a few Experts to our pool for two reasons: one, to increase capacity; two, I wanted to add some specialties to our mix:

1. WONDER WOMAN: Here we have an award-winning creative director/writer by trade. So there’s that. But this Wonder Woman has secret skilz: she’s a well-known Moms expert. Been interviewed by Katie Couric, the TODAY Show, CBS The Early Show, and others. We’ll put her on any kind of project, but when we’re targeting Moms, she’s our woman.
   

2. 
   

3. STUNT MAN: Stunts, events, social blitzes, this guy aims way higher than measly media relations and that's why we recruited him. A twenty-year veteran of risk-taking PR with general creative-agency experience, Stunt Man is currently the head dude of a major, award-winning PR firm.
   

4. 
   

5. MR. CONNECTOR: This guy's super powers have super powers. The power of invention. Of reinvention. He's a writer, a creative director, an innovations specialist. But his greatest power is his mastery of the social media space. He's so good at it, in fact, I bet you a buck you’ve heard of him.
   

The Idea Movement Continues

We’ve continued to “untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea” with the Ideasicle Blog & Podcast, and done so with a fury. In fact, I have broadened my obsession with creativity and ideas to two new forums:

1. 1.Forbes Magazine - I am now a contributor to Forbes.com and will write roughly five original articles a month about creativity in marketing. More from a CMO standpoint than an agency standpoint (it’s in the CMO section of Forbes.com), but don’t worry, it’ll be all about fighting the good idea fight. Please “follow” me there and you’ll never miss a post. My first two articles are below:
   

2. 
   

3. “The Marketing Power Of The Super Bowl Could Happen On Any Given Sunday. Are You Ready?”
   

4. 
   

5. “When Reviewing A New Idea, Never Forget Its First Impression”
   

6. 
   

2. 2.B2C - Business 2 Community Blog - Great marketing blog that picks up this Ideasicle Blog & Podcast and reposts it to their blog. Nothing new, but just so you’re aware.
   

Amazing Guests On The Ideasicle Podcast in 2011

I had promised one per month last January and somehow stuck to that. Here’s a complete list:

1. January - Episode #9 Nick Egan
   

2. 
   

3. February - Episode #10 Tom Butta
   

4. 
   

5. March - Episode #11 George Parker
   

6. 
   

7. April - Episode #12 Sir Ken Robinson
   

8. 
   

9. May - Episode #13 Jeffrey Davis
   

10. 
    

11. June - Episode #14 Vivian Rosenthal
    

12. 
    

13. July - Episode #15 Jamie Cat Callan
    

14. 
    

15. August - Episode #16 Jon Steel
    

16. 
    

17. September - Episode #17 Dr. Synthia Andrews
    

18. 
    

19. October - Episode #18 Edward Boches
    

20. 
    

21. November - Episode #19 Jonathan Fields
    

22. 
    

23. December - Episode #20 Sian Beilock
    

Hard to pick favorite episodes - I learned so much from every one - but if you were only going to listen to two, I’d choose Sir Ken, Jon Steel and Edward Boches. Wait, that’s three.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Big plans for 2012.

2012 Initiatives

In a word: ideas.

Ideas are all we care about at Ideasicle. And we will continue to provide our clients with the the most creative marketing ideas we can possibly muster. We never know what we’re going to be asked to do, or by whom, and we thrive on this element of surprise. Maybe it’ll be you.

Personally, I plan to do what I can to push the marketing world towards better ideas. The world needs better ideas to get through this crazy economy and, hell, advance civilization. I’m going to continue my research into what creativity is, how it happens, and how we can all be more creative ourselves. It’s primarily selfish, of course, but I’m making it a public quest via this blog so you can learn along with me. In fact, if you have ideas and/or connections for podcast interviews, please let me know. Also, a big thanks for all your Tweeting and Facebook “liking” of my posts. It matters. A lot.

As a quick aside, I was asked this year to be on the advisory board of Tauntr.com, an amazing content creation company in Boston. Can’t wait to see where that goes. Check them out.

I also hope to have the time between Ideasicle projects to be doing more speaking engagements this year. It’s really fun for me and helps get the word out, albeit indirectly, about Ideasicle. I have one planned in Toronto in May at a Worldwide Partners conference. Very excited about that. If interested in having me speak, or know someone who might be, check out this little site. Maybe we can work something out.

But since the Mayans have told us the world will end on December 21, 2012, Ideasicle’s biggest initiative for 2012 is to be here (and thriving) on December 22, 2012.

Take that, Mayans!

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