Shelf life for bright ideas

Sajan Raj Kurup’s year-old Creativeland is selling ideas off the shelf as if they were cookies.

By Abhijeet Mukherjee, ET Bureau | Sep 22, 2008, 11.23 AM IST

You've heard of buying cookies, wine and shampoos off the shelf. But what if you were to stumble upon a few ideas out there?

Creativeland Asia, a Mumbai-based advertising agency has decided to sell ideas off the shelf, which might include a film script, a designer pen or a marketing concept.

Started a year back by Sajan Raj Kurup after quitting as regional creative director at Grey Worldwide, the agency has come up with a laboratory to develop new ideas. Kurup who was into advertising for more than a decade and a half was keen on more than advertising.

So in addition to advertising he started off with commercial films, movies, brand incubation venture. He thought of starting a unique concept of creating ideas and then selling them off to his customers and hence the Creativeland Asia (CLA) laboratory. The agency claims it has notched revenues of Rs 75 crore within a year.

"The Lab is also acting as an ideas library for marketers and clients. They can buy ideas and designs off the shelf, or design proto-types for any structural developments at the facility. We hope that clients will find readymade ideas available in the lab, which they like and use it in their projects. We also hope product-designing ideas to generate from the lab in future. The Lab will give us the space to work closely with clients to identify opportunities for growth, and to design and build new offerings," says Kurup,who's chairman and chief creative officer at Creativeland Asia.

"The lab will be a planning space and an ideas library exclusively for advertising and marketing minds of Creativeland, its clients and all its Asian partner agencies. CLA Lab will be used as a hub to workshop ideas; test market new ideas and test launch new advertising and marketing concepts and strategies. In addition to the physical space to huddle and brainstorm, CLA Lab will provide the complete back-end support required for such activities," Kurup says.

For Creativeland, CLA Lab will be the brand planning space. It will also be the workshop of Creative apprentices where they proactively think up ideas and create brands and content. "The only thing that differentiates Creativeland from its competition is the quality of idea we produce. Every investment we make at Creativeland is to keep just that one thing in mind," adds Kurup.

For this Kurup has roped in Sudheer Krishnan, formerly vice president at TBWA to spearhead Creativeland's new venture based out of Kochi apart from other advertising related responsibilities.

"It is a place where great minds and great idea grow each other. It is a place you come to experience, to create, to nurture, to invest, to build, to think, to play, to share a passion for ideas and to build brands," adds Kurup.

The lab would cater to different space of creativity in a different ways like design it would help in prototyping and studio facility for various disciplines of design like packaging, retail environment, industrial design, product design and interaction design, in film production motion picture it would do content creation for all screen formats. There are other spaces like brand incubation and licensing, music, digital space and others.

"We are following a phased approach. The agency has already brought on board leadership to set up the lab. While the Kochi office will oversee implementation, talks are already on with investors and collaborators for infrastructure, resources and intellectual exchange.

The idea came from the fact that every company that is serious about the business it is in, invests in an R&D facility, whether it is the consumer electronics, FMCG or Technology, adds Kurup.

"In the medium term we expect the lab to be able to sell ideas over the counter especially in the content and design space. These ideas will be registered or patent applied before they are made available on the shelf."

Creativeland is not about starting an agency, claims Kurup. "It's about introducing a new school of thought that takes into account the changing face of communication, the gaps it has left in the market and the evolving needs of clients," he adds.

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Shelf life for bright ideas

Sajan Raj Kurup’s year-old Creativeland is selling ideas off the shelf as if they were cookies.

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