Founded by Adam Glickman, whose most recent projects include supporting launches for BBH Labs and Nike Sportswear, The ideaLists is an invitation-only, online marketplace aimed toward communications professionals. The website allows members to share ideas in a protected environment and only pay for the ideas put into action.
“Applying efficient business models like eBay and Match.com to the communications industries was the inspiration for The ideaLists,” said Glickman.
“We provide the venue to match unused ideas and opportunities with the means to see them executed. Until an idea can be realized and shared, even the best have no value.”
Glickman emphasizes that The ideaLists is not to be confused with crowdsourcing, which operates more as an open call from clients to creatives. A more selective, thoughtful model, The ideaLists acts as an agent, pairing ideas to clients. It is a timely model for a marketing industry, increasingly in need of smaller, more targeted executions. By applying a mixture of social media philosophies emerging from the online open source community to marketing, The ideaLists makes it possible for creatives and clients to interact seamlessly.
The ideaLists allows users to post an idea, its value, and any other relevant information (for example, currently, the renowned artist Stephen Powers has the idea to create a Valentine’s Day card promotion using his fine art). If a company or individual uses the idea in part or whole, appropriate compensation is encouraged. Compensation in this marketplace might take the form of a fee, credit, or even providing the idea holder the budget to execute. Inversely, The ideaLists allows clients in need of good ideas—bands in need of a music video, marketers in need of a unique promotion, photo editors in need of a hard to get image–to post needs with a budget attached. One example currently on The ideaLists, Incase is in need of a video to illustrate the company’s iPhone cases used in extreme situations.
The ideaLists business operates on the freemium model: basic posts are free, while the site also provides fee-based creative and production services to clients in need of specific executions. The ideaLists has processes in place to protect intellectual property and ensure confidentiality. Users have the option to only share certain information after NDAs integrated into the site have been agreed upon. Records are kept of visitors and views to posted ideas.
“We all know unproven ideas are not copyrightable, but ideaLists provides better records than the current systems for selling IP,” said Glickman.
Glickman’s career is rooted in creativity and entrepreneurial spirit (he founded Tokion magazine and its branded content, which he sold in 2005 and also created the Creativity Now conference).
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