Will Burns, Founder & CEO
Anyone who knows Will Burns knows he’s the consummate idea guy. Nothing gets him more excited than either coming up with, or witnessing the birth of, a great marketing idea. How else do you stay in “the business” for over twenty years?
So it’s no surprise that he’s channeling his energy and experience into a unique and entrepreneurial endeavor like Ideasicle, where ideas are all they do, or this blog, where “untangling the mysteries of the elusive idea” is his obsession, or his speaking engagements, where he projects what ideation will look like in the future, or even his brand-rants as a Forbes Contributor.
Prior to founding Ideasicle, Will Burns worked at some of the most creative advertising agencies in the world, including Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Mullen and Arnold Worldwide. It was at these agencies that his love for brilliant ideas was inspired and cultivated.
And he’s been solving marketing problems for diverse categories like technology, beer, retail, imaging, consumer electronics, hardware, financial services, sporting goods, eyewear, luxury hotels, golf, and boating, to name a few.
While Director of Business Development at Arnold Worldwide, he was in the “pressure cooker” for ideas constantly. He pitched and won clients totaling well over $1 billion in new billings. Including the following brands:
When he’s not managing client-business at Ideasicle, Will consults with agencies on pitching “best practices,” is a lecturer at the College of Communication, Boston University and speaks at marketing conferences around the country - e.g. American Marketing Association (Dallas), The Magnet Group, In-house Agency Forum, etc..
"Will was an outstanding teacher, a hell of a businessman, and a great guy. It was a truly enriching presentation."
“Fantastic information, professional and exciting presentation and I think this content is a great new way of thinking.”
- Attendees at recent presentations of Will’s
“The Three Keys To the Ideation Age”
Welcome To Will’s Obsession
Follow Will on:
Forbes: www.forbes.com
FBook: www.facebook.com/Ideasicle
Twitter: WillOBurns
LinkedIn: Will Burns
Blog: Ideasicle Blog
Podcast: Ideasicle Podcast
Email: willb@ideasicle.com
Skype: Ideasicle
Telepathy: Stare at the picture
Vitals:
College: Hamilton College
Major: Psychology/Econ.
Favorite Color: Sky blue
Favorite Book: Trinity
Favorite Movie: American Beauty
Favorite Cocktail: Martini, gin, shaken, dry, olives
Favorite Quote: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” - John Lennon
Three Favorite Ideas:
One of Will’s favorite ideas was to “unpack” the rock legend, Paul McCartney, as a “brand” for
marketing people to assess the icon’s business value. A move that led to the now-famous “This is Paul” Fidelity/McCartney partnership. And a way for Will to “give back” to Paul McCartney since Will, as a child, loved to sing “Hey Jude” on his rocking horse. And he’s remained a rabid fan ever since.
One day at Arnold, Will read in AdAge that the $250 million RadioShack business was up for review and that Arnold wasn’t invited. So Will wrote “the letter” that hit RadioShack between the eyes and got Arnold accepted as a late entry into the
$250 million pitch for the RadioShack account. A dark horse, Will’s team went on to not only get into the pitch, but win the business against Chiat Day, Carmichael Lynch and Deutsch. After the victory, the client sent him a framed letter with a lucky 21 theme - Arnold was the 21st agency in the pitch.
He invented an intranet site at Arnold called the “Innovation Station” where everyone 
in the company could post ideas to anyone else’s requests. Over 4,000 ideas later it’s still going strong with product names, tag lines, promotional ideas and stunts, to name a few. It was then and there that Will’s interest in the power of “crowdsourcing” began.
The best idea yet. He turned crowdsourcing on its head by inviting a select few brilliant Experts he worked with at various tier-one agencies from his past and providing those brains with a virtual playing field to do what they do best: come up with marketing ideas. Ideasicle is the mother of all Will’s ideas because it begets more ideas for Ideasicle’s clients every day.
