Be creative, become a bounty hunter

Idea Bounty is the latest innovation from Online Marketing firm Quirk eMarketing and capitalises on the new trend of Crowdsourcing. The basic premise sees big brands offering a bounty for new ideas. Creatives from the world over are encouraged to submit ideas in answer to a brief - the bigger the better. Protected by extensive terms and conditions, Idea Bounty offers the best of both worlds to both creatives and brands. Brands are given access to a host of fresh ideas while creatives are offered a platform to express their ideas - and be paid for doing so!

The first bounty

FNB was the first brand to take the plunge and sign up with Idea Bounty, offering a $2500 bounty for new ideas to promote online banking to premier clients. The response was overwhelming, with over 130 ideas submitted.

So many ideas, so many choices, so FNB were spoilt for choice and felt it necessary to also recognise llana Wetzler, Nick Bennett, Kate Elphik and George Krater for their contributions as well. In the end, however, it was the simple and results-focused idea that proved to be the most effective, with Guillaume Martin winning the bounty.

FNB's CEO of Premier Banking, Robert Keip, said the bank's first experience with Idea Bounty was not only rewarding, but also incredibly impressive.

"Innovation never stops for companies who want to thrive. The search for ideas never halts - and this seems to provide a way to drive that innovation in this new digital world," he said.

And the winner is…

Guillaume currently lives in his native France, working as a senior planner at DDB Paris, and submitted three ideas, but he was not happy with his first two attempts. “Creatively they were ok, but both of them could have been potentially dangerous for the image of ‘real' banks offices.” It was only when he stopped thinking too much that he had a brainwave and submitted his third idea, one that he thought would be far too simple to win.

This winning idea apparently took him only a short time to formulate as “once you have a solid strategic process, ideas often come more fluently - and harmlessly”. His advice for would-be creatives looking for inspiration? “There's nothing more insightful than keeping an ear open when dining out. I guess food makes people confident and talkative.”

The next brief from Levi's is up and waiting on http://www.ideabounty.com.