Sourcing Creativity—The Firm Voice Showcases Ketchum’s Mindfire
Creativity pays, which is why we all want that next great idea, that flash of brilliance that will delight clients and keep them coming back for more. What if I told you that a firm out there has devised a pathbreaking new tool, at relatively low cost, for harnessing some of the best young minds? And what if I told you that this system obtains a steady stream of dazzling ideas from a population many of us wouldn’t even think to ask?
That firm is Ketchum. That tool is called Mindfire. And that population is college students on campuses in the United States and around the world.
Mindfire, in Ketchum’s words, is “an open innovation community for college graduate and undergraduate students with demonstrated creativity, communications and digital skills.” In what is one of the first crowdsourcing ideas ever attempted by a public relations firm, Ketchum feeds actual creative challenges generated by clients and new business prospects to a network of over 300 students from 22 leading universities, allowing students to contribute ideas individually and collaboratively during breaks in schoolwork. In return for their participation, students receive points redeemable for career coaching sessions with Ketchum employees, as well as accelerated job interview and internship opportunities with the company. Cash prizes as well as public recognition are awarded to the individual students who submit the best idea (as judged by an internal creative committee and selected by the client).
Ketchum came up with the idea for Mindfire to complement its internal creativity engine in order to diversify the ideas the agency provides to clients, especially those who need big ideas with a turn-around time of only a few days. Observing crowdsourcing efforts in other industries, and noticing the dearth in public relations, Ketchum decided to test a secondary idea engine. With client confidentiality a priority, Ketchum beta-tested Mindfire with university students at schools with which Ketchum had prior connections, reasoning that students seeking employment and working under the oversight of professors would respect confidentiality. As an additional benefit, Ketchum could build bridges with a population of digital natives, perhaps generating a talent pipeline for the firm.
Beta-testing began in the fall of 2010, and so far, all indications point to a resounding success. More than forty clients have used Mindfire, including Hertz, Wendy’s and Frito-Lay. Students have loved the chance to gain real-world experience and to participate in a rich environment that allows them to comment on and rate others’ ideas. Mindfire has turned into a feeder of entry-level talent into Ketchum, with several participants coming on board as interns. Professors, too, seem enthused. As Missouri School of Journalism professor Suzette Heiman sees it, “Mindfire is one dynamite program! This is such a win-win for everyone — Ketchum, students, mentors. It’s a great way to help students really understand what public relations is all about and if the field is really right for them.”
According to Ketchum’s Chief Innovation Officer Karen Strauss, clients and internal teams have been inspired by the insightful postings and great ideas contributed by students. Brian Keenan, who carries the title of Open Innovation Creative Project Leader, recalls, “A client in our Chicago office engaged the community to provide examples and creative ideas for a new website they were launching. The students provided wonderful examples, and the client and account team took those ideas and used them as part of the programming for the launch activity. Then we circled back and showed students how we used their ideas. It was a great 360 process.” Provided as a value-add service to clients and prospects, Mindfire has generated ideas for many global new business wins, including most recently a large European food company out of the firm’s London office.
Fuelling Mindfire has its challenges, particularly in winning over cautious internal teams and clients. “Creative professionals and clients sometimes need convincing to test out the crowd-sourcing of ideas,” Strauss notes. “We all have a natural tendency to favor ideas we come up with ourselves, or ideas that we saw hatched before our eyes in a brainstorm session. So we always work to make people comfortable with this new process.” Also, given how many contributors ultimately shape any creative idea, it is still too difficult to establish an ROI for the program.
Yet ultimately, Strauss thinks Mindfire is a valuable creativity tool in the arsenal. “I’ve learned a few important lessons,” she reflects. “First, great ideas require patience to take shape. Ideation is an iterative process with builds coming from many people and places. Second, there are no longer geographical boundaries in the creative process; it’s thrilling to see terrific ideas for a North American client coming from students in India and China. Finally, it takes a creative village. By combining college-aged thinkers with experienced professionals, we’re seeing strong results.”
I participated in the “mindfire” brainstorming process through NYU graduate program in PR and Corporate Communication. It is truly exciting and challenging to come up with ideas that solve real problems. It is a balancing act. I am learning how to be creative and practical at the same instance.
SKA
Stacia -
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Kathy