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7th May 2020

COVID-19 Grants & Supports

Over the past number of weeks, the Irish Government has announced a number of measures to support businesses. From salary supports to assist with business continuity and growth advice there are now a number of schemes and initiatives that can help us all position ourselves as what has been called the “new normal”, becomes a reality.

With help and support, both financial and advice based, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation have gathered all of the information on supports available in one place, you can view this in full by clicking HERE.

If you haven’t taken the time to review yet, we recommend that you do so.

At Idea, we have worked with a multitude of these agencies over the years and we are currently working with many of our clients to assist them in the application process by providing guidance on how their businesses can benefit from and become stronger by using the resources offered.

If, after reviewing the supports on offer you believe there are opportunities for your business, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss how we can partner with you to drive your business forward during these unprecedented but opportunity-rich times. 

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Idea Digital - Marketing Agency in Dublin Ireland

31st March 2020

COVID-19 Notice

On Friday 27th March, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, informed the country of the next stage in the national emergency response, announcing additional protective measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in Ireland. Workers must stay at home in all circumstances except where work is an essential health, social care or other essential services that cannot be done from home.

Idea staff are working remotely but we are still able to provide almost a full range of services to our clients. We can still work with our clients on all Strategy, Branding, Design, Digital Marketing and Consultancy projects. For print and delivery of physical marketing materials, this can only be delivered if they fall within the “Essential services” category as set out by the Department of the Taoiseach here, although we can still work on the design of these and deliver once restrictions are removed.

Now might be a good time for you to work on your Marketing Plan or Digital Marketing Strategy. If this is something you would like Idea to assist you with, or if you have a business idea that you want to discuss with us, we would be happy to hear from you- by phone or videoconference.

In the meantime, click here and have a look at some tips on how to survive and thrive during and after this period of uncertainty.

We will continue to monitor the situation and update this page with any changes to the current circumstances.

Our very best wishes to you, your colleagues, and your families at this time!

Please do not hesitate to contact us:

Ciaran Flanagan – ciaran@idea.ie – 087 2456321

Jane Dane – jane@idea.ie – 087 6738090

Ciaran Fox – ciaranfox@idea.ie – 086 7808797

Idea COVID- 19 Statement updated 31/03/2020

6th January 2018

Dublin – The Smartest City in the World?

You have heard of smart phones, televisions, and watches but what about ‘Smart Cities’? Smart cities work to implement new technologies to boost connectivity, productivity and liveability within our urban spaces. Over the last few years Dublin has made great advances in this new space – and is now on the way to being the world’s smartest city.

Building Momentum

The Smart Docklands Steering Group, under the direction of Jamie Cudden, Smart City Manager, has seen Dublin’s profile as a smart city gather momentum indeed. Dublin City Council, have put considerable resources behind smart projects including smart flood prediction, smart bins, smart lighting and numerous smart cycle projects.

Dublin’s Docklands – A Unique Environment

The Docklands area is unique to Europe. What was once a run down neighbourhood now generates 9% of Ireland’s GDP. 44,000 people are employed there, with another 20,000 – 40,000 more expected in the next 2 years. This, along with the presence of most of the World’s top tech companies, makes Dublin’s Docklands the ideal testbed for new technologies. This area has been given special status by Dublin City Council, and many new smart tech projects are currently being tested in this unique environment.

Companies such as Google, Cisco and Vodafone are all testing world first technologies in the district. Vodafone have selected Dublin Docklands as the global testbed for Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) – their new standard for connecting Internet Of Things projects.

In November 2017, Dublin was shortlisted for a ‘Smart City of the Year’ award at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. This award is aimed at rewarding cities that demonstrate strategies, initiatives and policies for their citizens.

An Exclusive ‘Smart Docklands’ Collaboration

IDEA are specialists in smart city marketing and are part of the leadership team for the Smart Docklands project. This group has a growing number of engaged tech partners including Google, Huawei, Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, Vodafone, AT&T, Three, IBM, Dell, Ericsson, Accenture, Deloitte and Trinity Connect. Can you think of any other project that would lead these companies to sit around the same table? These companies choose to get involved thanks to the Smart Docklands collaborative spirit and the potential rewards for it’s citizens and tech partners.

This kind of collaboration is not the norm for other Smart City projects around the globe (it’s generally university led theoretical projects with maybe one or two tech companies supporting minor local smart technology projects) . To have this many partners engaging, co-operating and exchanging valuable data to create something better is extremely unique.

IDEA – Smart City Marketing Specialists

This is the type of engagement that IDEA thrives on. These creative, communicative challenges enable us to deliver to top levels of corporate and municipal activity. The vision of Dublin City Council’s two main Smart City promoters (their City and Smart City Managers) is becoming a reality at a rapid rate. It is our prediction that within two or three years Dublin will be taking home the prestigious ‘Smart City of the Year’ title. Watch this space!

Ciaran Flanagan, Managing Director

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6th December 2017

Attracting Property Talent? Make it Fun and Functional!

Businesses are in a constant state of change – and the employment market is no exception. People are the greatest asset your company holds but how can you grab amazing applicants in this fast paced world? Jenny Darmody, Careers Editor at Siliconrepublic.com advises “Looking for top talent to join your company? Making your recruitment process more fun might be the key”.

It’s About the Who and the How

Like most companies, Sherry Fitzgerald understand the challenges of attracting high quality employees. It is not only a challenge to attract high level surveyors, project managers and IT staff, but it’s also problematic to appeal to new graduates. Sherry Fitzgerald wanted to stand out at recent Graduate Fairs (where competition is stiff) to encourage new graduates to take property as a career. They approached IDEA to revamp their existing graduate video to reach out to a more informed audience to attract people to their Internal Professional Development Programmes for both their Residential and Commercial programmes.

Championing the ‘Sherry Fitz Way’

In order to appeal to this younger, tech savvy demographic IDEA designed an exciting online game that could be used at career fairs to engage with their intended audience and to attract high quality graduates to their professional teams. They were invited to leave their email address to enter a draw and to hear about future career opportunities. While at the stands potential employees also viewed a ‘talking heads’ style animated video produced by IDEA which highlighted previous graduates who had gone through or who are going through the ‘Sherry Fitz Way’ within the Sherry Fitzgerald and Cushman & Wakefield groups.

This recruitment approach showcases the new exciting, modern working environment within the estate agency area. Working with advanced technology such as augmented and virtual reality and the exciting use of drones would be seen as a huge draw. Other benefits were highlighted firsthand throughout the video – such as working within the exciting Sherry Fitzgerald teams and the social and educational benefits and opportunities that come with the “Sherry Fitz Way”.

The Who and Why’s

In this modern age it’s not just about what you are communicating with potential employees, it’s also how you communicate. By reaching them in a lively, stimulating way you can appeal to and attract top talent. This ensures your business’s people power – and ultimately your success and survival.

Are you looking for a marketing solutions for your business, why not talk to IDEA?

 

Ciaran Flanagan, Managing Director

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28th November 2017

The Future Looks Bright

What does your vision of the future look like? We went along to Dublin’s latest conference “The Future” which celebrates the innovators in design, media, creativity and culture, and acknowledges the role they play in the future of society, business and the spaces in between! We were awestruck by the speakers, insights and speeches. Here are our 5 key learnings from the event:

 

  1. Robots Will Never Replace People!

While Gartner has predicted that people will have more conversations with a bot than with their partner in next 2.5 yrs, Leila from Platform 13 reminds us that bots don’t write like people! So while we are entering a robot renaissance she reminded us not to forget the basics. However advanced they are, robots will never write like humans.

 

  1. Consumption is Changing, but Keep Quality Consistent

One of our favourite discussions was during ‘The Future of Storytelling’ on Friday where the concept of changing consumption was raised. We were reminded that people now consume content – on a 70/20/10 sliding scale. So 70% of content is consumed ‘on the go’ – therefore most of the content we produce should be in scannable ‘bite sized’ formats. The 20% refers to consumers having slightly more time to read/watch such as at lunchtime etc. The final 10% is when consumers are at home where they can indulge and spend longer consuming media. The take-home point? Be wary of where you content will be consumed – always keep this in mind! So why not produce a shorter version of your promo video, a shortened case study with top line points or even an infographic instead of a financial report?

 

A second key point was that content should always resonate with your audience – it must work for both the brand and the audience. So get creative!

 

Rob Alderson from We Transfer illustrated this point about content and audience wonderfully! His company regularly produces interesting content which resonates with their customers. They recently worked with artist FKA Twigs to shoot a documentary about her work – it’s a win-win for all involved!

 

  1. Create Experiences Not Things!

We were constantly reminded throughout the 2-day event to create experiences, not things! Stefan Sagmeister’s talk titled ‘Why Beauty Matters’ explained that objects can be both beautiful and functional – and that we should make things more beautiful than they have to be. On Saturday Kathryn from Slater echoed describing how we should create an experience, not just a logo – we must aim to create an emotive reaction with our design work. As Astrid Feldner from Bleed explained, “people won’t forget how you made them feel!” So go forth and design beautiful experiences!

 

  1. Go Back to Basics

Astrid from Bleed had more resonating advice. She explained we should make moral decisions when working with design and UX. Don’t make people addicted to screens – our design decisions impact people’s lives! She urges us to make a good impact on the world.

 

As expected during Paula Scher’s talk there were more people than seats, no one wanted to miss this design legends’ lecture. Paula had some wonderful lessons including changing people’s expectations instead of alienating them. She also shared an interesting learning point that she had only recently been reminded of. When a recent job to design beach pods wasn’t received as well as expected, she had to question why. Paula realised she wasn’t fully understanding who was consuming them and so changed the dreary grey colour to a brighter one (people going to the beach loved the bright lifeguard huts, and a dull grey appearance wasn’t keeping with this expected aesthetic). It was refreshing and comforting to know that even the greats have to reassess and rethink their work! She also urged us to remember clients are people too – something that can be lost during the design process.

 

  1. Change Your Thinking!

Activations agency ‘Guns or Knives’ delivered one of the most interesting and useful workshops of the event. Speakers Darius and Catherine realised they were drafting the same briefs for clients, they concluded everyone is now thinking the same way. We are consuming the same media, reading the same newspapers, and scrolling on identical timelines. As 90% of us will not move past the first page of a Google search we are collectively looking at the same information – so how do we break away from this tunnel vision? The workshop helped to drive home several key tools and new ways of thinking:

  • We must allow our unconscious to break free have a beginners mind! The Japanese call this ‘Shoshin.
  • Get distracted – allow your unconscious mind to break free! Break up with routine, take a different walk to work, read a new magazine – take up a new stimulus …you never know where it will take you!
  • Don’t be afraid to be bored – the group were urged to put their phones and pens away and to sit and “get bored” for 1 minute! It felt strange but very striking!
  • Develop a rich empathy for things- try to understand why they are they way they are. Keep asking ‘why’ it will take you on an interesting journey and help you creatively!
  • We were urged to learn the difference between facts and assumptions, in a world of click bait and fake news this can easily happen!
  • Check your cognitive bias – keep questioning and don’t make assumptions about situations!
  • Finally we were urged to be ok with making mistakes – don’t let fear impede the creative process!

 

A huge thanks to The Future and all their wonderful speakers. It was a powerful reminder to stay curious, to not forget the basics and to keep our mindsets magic!

 

Rachel Hegarty, Digital Marketing Executive

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14th December 2015

10 last minute gifts for your creative friends

Stuck thinking about what to get your creative friends or loved-ones this Christmas? Look no further! Designer Jess has put together a list of 10 Last minute Christmas gifts for your creative friends. Whether you’re looking to spend a fortune and really spoil someone, or you’ve got a budget for Secret Santa, this list should cover you.

Grovemade Walnut Monitor Stand

 

Posture is everything, and you want your designer friend to be able to raise there necks when they’re talking to you, so why not treat them to a stand for their monitor. It’s made from walnut and looks really cool on a white desk, and we all know how designers are obsessive over their desks (or is that just me?).

Field Notes

 

Every designer loves stationary (if they say they don’t they’re lying). Field notes are notebooks small enough to fit in your pockets and are perfect for jotting, sketching and writing all ideas down. These one are made from real American cherrywood too, perfect for your paper obsessed pals.

Moleskine Smart Notebook

 

Want to really impress them? A Moleskine that works with Adobe CC is a designers dream, first you sketch onto paper, use an app to capture your art and, tada, your pencil sketch is now a vector file that a designer can work with.

The Design Deck

A quirky and fun gift that won’t break the bank, are these playing cards with fun facts about the history of design. Test your designer friends on their knowledge of all things design, distract them while playing poker and take all their chips, muhahaha.

Mini Desk Henry

 

Again, for the desk obsessed, this cute Mini Henry Hoover will suck up and away all those bad ideas and keep your desk organised and clean so creativity has the room to flourish. Magical.

Mini Desk Terrarium

 

Add some Feng Shui to their desk with this blooming mini terrarium. Succulent plants don’t need that much attention in-case your friends are the forgetful types.

Dinogami – Origami set

 

Unleash the inner child in your creative friends with this Dinosaur themed Origami set. Comes with 50 pieces of origmai paper to create a jurassic haven. Rawr!

Adult Colouring Book

 

A relatively new craze, the adult colouring book. Whether it’s for relaxation, stress busting or just for an hour out, sitting down to colour is proven to promote calm and peace. Designers need a break sometimes, let your friends have it in this creative way.

Wacom Intuos Draw

 

An affordable tablet with great results, impress your creative acquaintances and give them more flexibility with this graphic tablet from Wacom, great for starting out and finding your style, this tablet can be the source of hours of creative fun.

Mini Desk Zen Garden

 

Do your creative friends need to calm down, just a little bit? A mini Zen garden for their desk can help promote both mindfulness and peace, yielding a clear mind for those crucial creative concepts.

We hope this helps, even just a little bit. Happy shopping!

A very happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Jess 🙂

 

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30th November 2015

Our top 10 creative Christmas ads of all time

Our Top 10 Creative Christmas Television Ad’s of all time…

It’s less than 4 weeks to go until Christmas Day and that means the return of lots of our favourite festive television ad’s along with some new ones. Every year we look forward to seeing what John Lewis or M&S are going to come up with to entice us into their stores and get us feeling merry and bright so we decided to compile a list of our top 10 creative Christmas ad’s of all time and do a little reminiscing…

  1. Coca-Cola: Holidays Are Coming (1995)
  2. Guinness – Christmas Ad (2011)
  3. Kellog’s – Christmas Ad (1991)
  4. Penneys – Christmas Ad (1996)
  5. Budweiser – Christmas 1987
  6. John Lewis – The Bear and the Hare (2013)
  7. ESB Going Home (1980s)
  8. An Post – Snowman
  9. M&S Magic & Sparkle
  10. Boots – 2013

Do you agree with our top 10? What’s the one ad that signals the start of Christmas for you?

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9th November 2015

4 good reasons to tender

Although the key reason for any business to take part in a major tender or bid is to actually win it, there are certain times when purely taking part can be beneficial to your business.

1. Bidding increases your profile
The mere act of being included and taking part in a major bid can raise your company’s profile. This may reap rewards in future bids. It may also encourage the awarding authority to include you in future bids or indeed to ask you to supply other services.

2. Promoting your brand
If developed properly a well designed and thought out submission can promote your brand and deliver brand values. It provides the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge, and illustrate that you are an expert in your area of operation. It also provides a platform to include testimonials from successful projects that you have undertaken.

3. Team building
Any major bid requires efficient team building and team management. Whether you win or not, the experience of project managing the submission will help you develop an efficient process for bid management and also help you identify the real resources needed to take part in a major tender. Another benefit is the opportunity to identify key individuals within your organisation that can play a significant role in bid strategy and delivery.

4. Post Mortem
If you do not win the tender it is important that you find out why. Even it is simply a case of cost it allows you to assess your costing structure for future, similar tenders. If it is for other reasons such as experience or project management expertise, it allows you to revise business processes throughout your organisation that can be applied to all areas of operation.

IDEA have a dedicated Bid Management team that assists our clients with strategy and delivery for bid submissions. The team is led by Nicholas Cloake who has worked on a myriad of successful tenders from the London Olympics to tenders of every scale.

If you have a forthcoming tender please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Great Ideas

25th June 2015

Great Ideas!

Here at IDEA we believe that hard work certainly pays off. Sometimes the team will find a way to have a bit of creative and inspirational fun.

Only recently did our project manager, Mark, graphic designer, Emily, and managing director, Ciaran take part in ‘to Hell and Back’, one of Ireland’s toughest obstacle courses. Needless to say, it was messy and it was tough!

Our designer Laura Pittoni and her partner are home brewers of craft beers; of course the office had offered to give them a taste test on a Friday afternoon! We enjoyed the beers so much that the team had come up with the idea to have a BBQ in the courtyard. We’ve had a few days of amazing weather in Dublin this summer, so a small outside event did just the trick to relax on a late Friday afternoon. And it’s not just savoury foods that the team like to get stuck into. A new ritual has recently begun throughout the office, where home-baked treats are brought in to fight the Monday blues. Every week we get something different, like Laura’s pecan and pistachio tart, Elaine’s scones, or Jess’ chocolate protein balls. In these instances, it’s safe to say that we are not the healthiest of offices but it’s always a great start to a Monday morning!

The great weather doesn’t stop with us here at IDEA. A number of our team members are experts at yoga, and what better way to spend our lunch breaks on hot and sunny day with some yoga lessons from Elaine, Laura and Emily?

Here at IDEA we work hard with our clients; and it’s also good to relax with everybody here who shares different ideas and interests to learn new things, and in this sense we are growing as a team. We have the rest of the summer to discover our newest favourite activity; although it still remains that having a cold bottle of Laura’s craft beer is on top as our favourite thing to do on a Friday afternoon!

Sockies 15

4th June 2015

Sockies 15

The Idea team was delighted to attend the Social Media Awards 2015, which took place this week at the RDS Concert Hall. The Sockies is one of the top digital awards events in Ireland where over 400 companies that are leading in the social media space compete for the Grand Prix Sockie of the year.

With almost 700 attendees it was the biggest Social Media Awards night to date. There was stiff competition between finalists across the 23 categories, with the likes of SPAR, Mars, AIB, Garda Síochána, Tayto, Bord Bia and many more leading brands competing in the same category.

The big Grand Prix prize went to the team behind Dublin Zoo’s social media, who also won 2 other Sockies on the night for the ‘Best Use of Facebook by a Non-Profit/Organisation’ and the ‘Best Integrated Social Media Campaign’.

Our highlight of the night was definitely the impromptu Sockie awarded to the 4 young men behind the #YESEQUALITY campaign, who not only delivered the best social media campaign for change Ireland has ever seen but received a standing ovation on the night, well done lads!

Congratulations to all of the winners. All in all it was a great night, fingers crossed we will be taking home a Sockie next year as we continue to grow into the digital space.

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