OUR FIRST STEP IS TO SEEK ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS THAT WILL DEFINE THE NEXT GENERATION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS.

Program 1: In order to develop an effective methodology for leveraging the creative process in service of the interests of brand marketing and advertising, we must find conclusive answers to the following: What are the critical differences between creativity and innovation? Are different competencies required?

Do "creative people" have common characteristics and, if so, what are they? Are they stable across situations? Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Why is motivation more important than nature or nurture? How can it be enhanced, measured and managed?

What properties of an organizational structure foster creativity and innovation? What is the role of knowledge? How do we effectively collaborate through the use of global networks? These answers hold the key to
more effective marketing practices.

Program 2: Evaluation of effective methodologies for engaging consumer interest and the management of value perception. When marketers wrestle with their media budgets, trying to decide whether to use traditional media like TV or take some of those dollars and put them into alternative media like the Internet, the debate is pushing forward in the wrong direction.

There are marketers looking for the new media to be the saviors for advertising, but in effect, we are using the new media to be ever more intrusive and saturating, thereby creating even more clutter.

"I still love and enjoy TV and believe it is very effective for advertisers," says Association of National Advertisers President Bob Liodice. "But we're killing it with cost increases, the level of clutter and the quality of the creative that is out there." The ANA is the voice of the client. The Institute for Advanced Practices In Advertising is addressing these concerns and committed to seeking out the answers.

Program 3: It is to that end that we are now engaged in the development of an educational entity that will seek to deploy the findings of the Institute into a comprehensive course of study, methods of best practices and means of applied implementation.

This will be no isolated outpost of academic pursuits. We intend for this organization to educate through thought leadership and inspire a new generation of applied arts and sciences to solve, rather than hypothesize. The line between student, practitioner and master will cease to exist within these walls.

In the spirit of the Bauhaus, the school ’s philosophy, basically stated, will be that our times require that extreme creativity must now be applied to the work of industry to create products of value to the consumer. This extreme creativity applies to art, design, music, film, interactive technology, product development and the written word.

Literally hundreds of questions surround the creative process. The time is here for answers to be found that unlock the leveraging power of "The Big Idea. The Institute has made the commitment to be at the forefront of this global challenge.