Don’t put all your Apples in one basket!

We all have our favourite brands and, more often than not, we do ourselves a disservice by not venturing outside the comfortable walls of familiarity. I believe in finding and using the right tools for the right job. A fit for purpose ideology I have lived by - not just as a developer and creator of brands but also as a consumer. So whilst I love gadgets in general I am always looking for the right one for the right purpose. As an advocate of Apple it came as ‘some surprise’ to many that I ventured towards a Windows 8 phone rather than the latest Apple iPhone offering. What I wasn't expecting though was the feeling that iOS had some serious catching up to do.

Testing the future of content publishing

Tablet publishing is taking off in a big way with not only traditional houses like Conde Nast using the medium for interactive versions of titles such as National Geographic, GQ, Wired, and Vanity Fair but now brands like Mercedez-Benz, Jaguar, EMI, and Redbull are also extending their reach via this platform. The BBC have a wealth of digital editions  and The Times, Independent and other broadsheets have been quick to follow the trend too.

We’ve got your number…or have we?!?

In 2013 there are very few people who could say that they don’t know who the ‘Men with the moustaches’ are – you know the ones; Dodgy 80’s sports gear, curly ‘Scouse’ wigs and a certain numerical catchphrase! But the question is, whilst they may indeed ‘have your number’, do the key people you want to reach? Are you sending out the right information?

Over the past 20 years telephone numbers have gone through significant change, especially on the South Coast. When Idealogy was first born as Selling Ideas in 1989, our dialing code was 0703. Fast forward to the mid 90’s and we all had to add an extra 1  to become 01703 and then, in 1999 we had the biggest and seemingly most confusing change – we were joined with Portsmouth and the two area codes became 023.

The Agency Brief!

This blog started life a few weeks ago as a quick chat between a few of us about how varied the briefs we receive are. In fact, we used the words ‘lesser spotted’ as a way to insinuate the rarity of a good brief – which struck us as funny at the time (you had to be there!). That said, as an agency, it’s our job to interpret all sorts of briefs - the good, the bad and the ugly - and boy do we get all types!

When only The Best is good enough - Building World Class Practices for Idealogy

It seems strange to report that, after almost 25 years in business, Idealogy is only now embracing a Best Practice philosophy. So, in light of that revelation, it also seems fair to be asked questions like “Are we just slow?” or “Haven’t we found any we like yet?”

To be honest, the very mention of the words ‘Best Practice’ sends many SMEs diving for cover.  So many of the processes that smaller organisations employ are so intimate and so cultural it’s hard to change direction and attitudes.

Pearltrees: More Than Just “A Nice Idea”?

“Interest Cultivation” has caught our attention, but does Pearltrees have any practical value?

Pearltrees picks up where your “regular” or “favourite” Internet task bar leaves off. All your key sites are stored on the App as “Pearls”, from which any additional links can…ahem…branch out. It all seems like such a good idea on paper, but does our enthusiasm for Pearltrees extend beyond a cursory nod? We’ve taken a look from three perspectives, so the numbers can speak for themselves…

Productivity App of the month

Productivity can become even more of a must-have in the early months, as managers try to make up for any lost time brought on by the festive season. So what tools out there can help this cause?

January: Write Or Die

What’s the big idea?
Let’s imagine you’ve got a pitch to write. Or a report. Maybe some copy? Your word count is set, but you’d rather Tweet than reduce your to-do list by 140 characters. Write Or Die makes the choice for you - the longer you leave your work unchanged, more and more words disappear!