FT.com "We Live In Digital Times" Brief Winners

No that is not a mistake in the headline, we did mean winners and not winner. In true Idea Bounty style the team from FT.com had a seriously tough time choosing their winner and as a result have become the second brand to host a brief on Idea Bounty and pick two winners - the first being the guys over at Peperami. 

Whats even more awesome is that the two Ideas chosen work really well when combined and together they are going to form the base of one kick-ass campaign. But wait there is more… one of the two winners takes home an Idea Bounty first by being the first creative to win two Bounty's! So without more delay or waffling, a big congratulations to Kevin Baldwin (who was one of the winners of the Peperami brief) and Johannes Badenhorst, well deserved guys. There were also a number of runners up - 12 Silver and 10 Bronze - who picked up some awards for their outstanding effort. You can check out the runners up list here. Read on for an interview with Kevin & Johannes our FT.com winners. 

Johannes Badenhorst

1. First and foremost, congratulations on having your idea selected, well worth the $4000 it picked up. Did you think you had the winning Idea? 

Thank you. I was convinced that it was a great idea but since I did not know what other ideas was entered I couldn’t be sure that it will win. If the idea works I think FT.com is the real winner. 

2. Tell us a bit more about yourself and how you stumbled across Idea Bounty and the FT.com brief.  

I am very interested in how the internet is used to change all kinds of industries and therefore read a lot about new things on the Internet. I cannot remember where specifically I read about Idea Bounty but liked the concept from the start and signed up to receive the briefs. 

3. What drew you to submitting an Idea? Was it the brand or the challenge presented?

It was the challenge that was presented. When I read the brief I knew that it was a problem that I will be able to solve. What attracted me as well was the fact the answer could be described in words and did not require any graphic design. Graphic design is not something I am very good at.

4. How long did it take you to come up with the idea - was it a toilet moment (I get lots of ideas on the toilet) or a cunningly crafted plan? 

Let me put it this way - I was not under any pressure when I came up with the idea. I applied my mind on and off over two or three days before I drafted the final version. I find that my ideas get better once I have slept over them.

5. So I know you do not work in the "creative" industry as we traditionally see it but you do see yourself as a creative person. Can you tell us a bit more about what you do for a living and how you see this as tying into the concept of creativity? 

I recently started as a business architect at S1. A business architect designs businesses similarly to how an architect designs buildings. There are many facets to a building – what it looks like on the outside, the aesthetics, the “feel” of the building, the entrances and exits, the maintenance shafts, the lighting etc.  Businesses enabled by software also have many facets. Creativity is required to design why users would use a system, how they will sign up to the system and how they will interact. Interacting with software is also happening more and more on new devices like mobile phones. Creativity is required to design ways that new technology can be used that users want. I regard Steve Jobs as a good example of this viewpoint. 

6. What was your process for tackling the brief?  Do you think your software development background had an influence on your submission and the direction you took? 

I actually do not have a software development background but rather software design as described above. I can’t code.  I think what influenced me most was the way I approach problems, which is in logically creative way – which sounds like a paradox but works for me.

7. What is the project that you have been creatively involved with in the past that you are most proud about?

I worked on the MTN banking project with MTN and Standard Bank and even though it did not reach the heights we all hoped the same software is very successful in other countries.  

8. We assume that you have no problem with Crowdsourcing, (since you submitted an idea) what do you think it will take for the concept of mass idea generation to become standard thought for big brands? 

In an interview with Fred Brooks (Author of The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist) he explained that he believes that great designs come from great designers, not from great design processes. Once big brands believe the same – that great creative ideas come from great creative people and not from a great creative process they will use crowdsourcing more since the great creative people can be found right here on ideabounty. I don’t think crowdsourcing can be applied to everything – the ideas that do not require a lot of collaboration between different creative disciplines are probably more suitable for crowdsourcing. 

9. If I had to tell you had an unlimited budget to work on any project you wanted - what would you do? 

What a question! The answer by the way is 42. Seriously though - a budget like that needs a big problem. The biggest problem I think we face is that the expected world population is between 8 and 10.5 billion between the year 2040 and 2050. Keeping all of those people happy is not going to be easy. 

10. Lastly -  if you had to shave your head and tattoo a portrait of a political leader onto your skull, who would it be? 

Since history is written by the victors I don’t trust that we know the complete truth about any historical political figure – which leaves just one that I have seen myself – Nelson Mandela. 

Kevin Baldwin 

1. First and foremost, congratulations on being the first ever double winner of an Idea Bounty brief – I’m sure the $1000 is welcome but did you think you would scoop a second Bounty so soon?

Not at all.  So many people enter that the chances of winning once are small enough.  And my wife had almost convinced me that I wouldn’t be allowed to win again as it would probably [expletive deleted] people off too much.  If it has, by the way, I apologise.

2. So how has life been since you won the Peperami brief - I hope you have picked up a bit more freelance work or are your kids still keeping you busy?

The kids are indeed still a full-time job with loads of overtime – all unpaid but very rewarding.  And I’ve had a better year with freelance work, though I don’t think that’s a direct result of the Peperami win.  It did bring a surge of visitors to my website, but all the new briefs have come from companies I was already doing bits and pieces for.

3. So did something in the FT.com brief draw you to answering it or was it just another challenge to tackle?

To be honest, I looked at the brief and my first reaction was that it probably wasn’t for me.  As an old advertising dinosaur, I thought there’d probably be hundreds of whizzy digital solutions sent in by tech-savvy youngsters, and anything I sent in would look a bit pedestrian by comparison.  But then I saw it as a challenge-stroke-experiment to see if I could devise something for this medium.

4. I must admit your idea was very clever and simple (my favourite kind).  Was it a long thought process or a light bulb moment?

The process was the same as for the Peperami brief – I read the brief a couple of times, then let it simmer at the back of my mind for a couple of weeks without actively thinking about it.  After that, a couple of ideas just suggested themselves naturally.

As I mentioned in the Peperami interview last year, having the time to work this way is one of the best things about most Idea Bounty briefs (the Capitec Bank one being an exception).  It’s very rare to get even a week to think about most briefs in an agency.

5. Do think there is a trick to solving an Idea Bounty brief - any pointers, tips? 

I think you answered that in your last question.  I think it’s a good idea to keep things as simple as possible.  That’s always a pretty good rule, but especially when you’re competing with so many other entries and you’re not there to explain the idea in person.  If your idea is complicated and you explain it in a woolly way – even if there’s a great thought in there – there’s a danger that it will get passed over in favour of something that’s quick and easy to grasp.

I’d also suggest treating the brief as a problem-solving exercise rather than indulging in extravagant flights of imagination.  Though I would say that, as my imagination has trouble getting off the ground.

6. Now you have taken on a couple of our briefs I’m sure you must have a couple of brands you would love to work on - any brands on your wish list for a brief?

I’ve always wanted to write press ads for the Guardian newspaper, and not just because I read it.  They’ve always gone for well-written ads which assume a certain level of intelligence in the reader.  (That sounds like intellectual snobbery, I know, but so many clients out there treat their audience as if they’re idiots.)  The closest I’ve come was writing some ads for the Guardian’s sister paper the Observer, but that was twenty years ago.

7. The name of your winning Idea - FreeTrial.com - makes it almost too obvious you are a copywriter - do you think that being good with words makes you approach challenges in certain ways?

Probably, yes.  I do try to approach briefs from different angles, but I have to admit that as a copywriter of the old school, my default setting is to turn to language as a solution.  It’s not fashionable these days, of course; the prevailing opinion in advertising is that visuals should hold sway.  And the rise of global advertising means that words often have to be easily translatable, which often rules out any cleverness.  But I still think that words are a really powerful, persuasive and engaging tool – not to mention very enjoyable to use.  (There’s a blog on my website about the use of language.  I even update it sometimes.)

8. Any great copy you have seen in an ad recently that jumped out at you?

There’s not a lot around, to be honest.  The only print work from the last year that springs to mind is the campaign for the Children’s Workforce Development Council (examples here and here).  On TV, I rather like the recent 'just passing by' spots for McDonalds – though that’s tinged with envy and annoyance as I’ve tried and failed more than once over the years to get something similar bought.

9. And finally - if you had to shave your head and tattoo a portrait of a political leader onto your skull, who would it be?

As the author of a book on baldness (still available on Amazon – buy now while stocks last), I have no need to shave my head.  If I were to have the image of a politician on my bare pate, it would only be so that I could stand under a tree full of incontinent pigeons.  And whittling the list of contenders deserving of such treatment down to one is too difficult a task to give a snap answer.