== BrightHouse ==

"Brighthouse is an Atlanta-based consultancy founded in 1995 by ex-advertising guru, Joey Reiman. Billing itself as 'the world's first Ideation Corporation,' the company adheres to the belief that true innovation is the result of an organization's interaction with outsiders who can offer relevant and divergent insights (Barton 123)." This group of thinkers is composed of strategists, artists, and an a luminary network of Nobel Prize winners, best-selling authors, distinguished professors of anthropology, sociology, literature, religion, and philosophy. BrightHouse has worked with luminaries from Kellogg School of Management’s Dr. Kotler, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, to winner of 1993 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Dr. Kary Mullis.<br />

The 4 I's

The 4 I's is a process constructed by CEO Joey Reiman to help his companies harness their thinking power to create the Master Idea™ for each of its clients. To discover or uncover the Master Idea™, Reiman encourages company leaders to ask themselves this question: “If your company were gone tomorrow, what would the world lose? (

First there’s an “investigation” phase. For each project, BrightHouse interacts with an average of 50 to 75 experts to better understand each clients history and corporate soul (Sittenfield). A intergral component to BrightHouse's consultative process are the luminares, which received their title because of "the light they shine on creative problems (Schenck 173)." However, Luminaries are not the typical marketing consultants but rather people often outside of the corporate world which can shed key insights and allow BrightHouse "to gain multiple perspectives (Schenck 173). "Depending on the project, a group of luminaries could include a neurosurgeon, a housewife, a concert violinist, and a crane operator (Schenck 173)." Then comes an “incubation” phase, during which BrightHouse staffers give themselves lots of time to let their thoughts coalesce—without letting their brains go soft. 'Incubation happens when you let things simmer,' Reiman says, 'when the left brain and the right brain play with each other' (Sittenfield)." " And that takes time. It is during the “illumination” and “illustration” phases that the firm’s big ideas really come to life. For one recent project, involving Coca-Cola’s presence at Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves), the goal was to improve upon billboard advertising. BrightHouse analyzed the architectural drawings of the stadium, found an area that no one was using, and built Sky Field—a 20,000-square-foot experiential park, complete with mist, picnic facilities, and million-dollar prizes for catching a ball (Sittenfield)."

References

1. "Have You Identified the DNA of Your Company?". Knowledge@Emory. June 25, 2008 <http://knowledge.emory.edu/article.cfm?articleid=827>.

2. Rabe, Cynthia. The Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Change. New York: Cynthia Barton Rabe, 2006.

3. Schenck, Ernie. The Houdini Solution: Put Creativity and Innovation to Work by Thinking. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

4. Sittenfield, Curtis. "This is Old House is Home for New Ideas". Fast Company. June 25, 2008 <http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/26/brighthouse.html>.