Previously, I created a case study to demonstrate how Ideas Marketing could be applied to Tess Nobile’s idea for Paint the Town Green and ‘creating ideas to forward the greater good’. It has sparked some interesting and exciting conversations since!

Today I wanted to share my own case study of how I’m looking to use the eight principles of Ideas Marketing to design, build and sell Ideas Marketing. It’s not a complete plan and here goes…

1 Manifesto

Everything starts with a manifesto. And, I’m creating two from the four types of manifestos.

1. A Rules based manifesto – the Eight Elements of Ideas Marketing. These are the eight areas where I believe you need to build your idea. And, the more of these areas you build the better your idea will come alive and engage other people.
2. A World based manifesto – The overarching theme is likely to be ‘For F***** Sake’. I believe that ideas marketing is the key to creating the future world we all want to live in. This is not only our individual worlds, it’s the world we share as part of teams, families and communities; and ultimately it becomes THE world we all share.

2 Game

My primary game is be a leader in my own cause. And, the two specific ways I’ve chosen to do this are:

1. Show How – Create 100 Case Studies that demonstrate what Ideas Marketing is and how it works. Last weeks Paint the Town Green was the first. This blog post is the second. And, I’ll keep sharing one a week on this blog.
2. Do It – Build the things I’m talking about in this case study to show how it can be done. My commitment is to have at least one expression of each of the eight elements of Ideas Marketing designed and delivered by the end of 2015.

[Tweet “If you’re not leading the way your idea is worthless #ideasmarketing”]

3 Publish

Whilst I haven’t clarified a final plan just yet, there already are a host of things in play around publishing for Ideas Marketing. Here are some of things already in play:

• Blog – this post and others
• Book – each blog post is another page for my book that will be released later this year
• Websites – This website is my home base, plus IdeasMarketing.com.au and 1000manifestos.com are sitting idle ready for a revamp and update.
• Content Marketing – mostly through this blog and there are some podcast episodes that touch aspects of Ideas Marketing. I’m wondering if a dedicated podcast is a good move or not. Any thoughts?
• Infographics – I’ve released one on Ideas Marketing so far, expect more…
• Social Media – I’ve been sharing my own posts and those from other people that are relevant on my Facebook page at GeoffMcDonaldcom.

4 Experience

Following from the theme of the game section there are two aspects to the experience of Ideas Marketing that I’m building:

1. Experience the idea – For example if I’m presenting at a conference I can share the key distinctions of Ideas Marketing and use case studies as examples
2. Create ideas – For example if I’m running a workshop I can work with people to create their own examples in their own businesses.

Here are some ways I’m looking to do this:

• Keynote presentations – This can be presenting a formal presentation and/or riffing with an audience member to create a real-life on-the-spot example
• Workshops – stand alone workshops on the eight elements of Ideas Marketing
• Mastermind Group – a small group of ten people that meet regularly and work together to build their own business based on the Ideas Marketing principles
• Meetup and Lunches – an informal gathering of people meeting to share their thoughts and ideas
• Webinar/Podcast – I’m considering running a live webinar as a means of answering questions and riffing about some live examples. This could then be re-purposed as a stand-alone podcast show.

5 Artifacts

There are four main artifacts or tools that I’m looking to create:

• A Book – The Ideas Marketing book will outline the key ideas with case studies showing how it’s done.
• A Board Game – A board game will become the showpiece for an introductory workshop. The basic plan is done and I’ll be looking for volunteers to test it soon – let me know if you’re interested.
• Souvenirs and Activators – I’m looking at a series of ‘For Future Sake’ items to remind us of the manifesto missions. This might include t-shirts, mugs, desktop displays, etc.
• A Smartphone App – this is on the wishlist! Not sure what this will look like yet. I need to dig deeper into the rituals to make this an essential tool. Any thoughts?

6 Cult

The key to building a cult or fan-based community is to define the identity of that group. At this stage I’m thinking that we’d call ourselves ‘Idealists’ – people who believe that ideas change worlds. Does this resonate with you or not?

Two threads of events are planned to inspire the community:

1. The Formal – The key seed will be a mastermind group of only ten people committed to meeting and helping each other build their ideas.
2. The Informal – For example: an online Facebook group and some face-to-face meetups.

[Tweet “The key to building a fan-based community is to define the identity of the group #ideasmarketing”]

7 Rituals

Rituals provoke the experience of your big idea on a regular basis and they often include artifacts or tools to enhance the effect.

My emotional goal for Ideas Marketing is to inspire people to consider new worlds in which we could live. For instance: Apple wanted to inspire a world where people think differently and the RSPCA are working to create a world where every animal matters.

My rituals could be:

• Inspiring Things – Share inspiring things as part of my social media and content marketing. This could be a big idea from another idealist, a movie or documentary, a quote, a vision for the future, a song, an image…
• Being Present – In my view the key to inspiration is to become present to new possibilities and opportunities. So, practices to be present could be powerful rituals for Ideas Marketing. Traditional examples include: meditation, mindfulness and yoga. Perhaps I can develop or simply promote these existing practices…
• Being Creative – Creativity and design thinking are central to my view of Ideas Marketing and the rituals needed to bring it alive. Thus some simple practices to learn how to do this better will be key.

[Tweet “The emotional goal for #ideasmarketing is to inspire people to create a better world”]

8 Gestalt

To bring all this together into a sustainable operation and create value for others will be based on the following three elements:

1. Community – I think this is the key for any business today.
2. Information Products and Content – one of my strengths. The board game will be a standout and talking point!
3. Live Design – I think I’m at my best when I’m designing on the fly with others and I can incorporate this into keynote presenting, workshops and coaching sessions.

Coming soon… As I develop each of these aspects of Ideas Marketing I’ll share them and the lessons learnt on this blog.

Of all the ideas presented here, which one stands out for you that you can take away and use today in your business?