BrandStorm Part Of Agency’s INVENT@horizon Initiative
Horizon Media, the largest and fastest growing privately held media services agency in the world, hosted its first-ever “BrandStorm” meeting of the minds on June 25, 2015. The hackathon-style event, launched under the agency’s INVENT@horizon initiative, gives Horizon employees the opportunity to work within a team to brainstorm, ideate, and deliver creative solutions to a client-based problem.
“Today our people are inventing,” said Taylor Valentine, Chief Invention Officer at Horizon Media. “They are thinking and acting differently, working with new people, being exposed to new concepts getting a fresh perspective on client service and generating great opportunities for brands. Our clients expect world-class media solutions, which we deliver daily, and BrandStorm serves to enhance the level of creativity that we bring to them.”
The hackathon was created to encourage employees to think about clients’ business through a different lens by unconventional and non-linear opportunity identification. The programme is part of the agency’s INVENT@horizon initiative, helmed by Chief Invention Officer, Taylor Valentine. Valentine is tasked with creating and executing on a blueprint for bringing invention to life across the agency, which includes numerous programs and projects.
“As we move towards an agency of collaboration and away from an agency of record, it’s important that we adjust the way we think about our clients’ needs,” said Bill Koenigsberg, President, Founder, and CEO of Horizon Media. “BrandStorm is an exciting opportunity because it allows our employees to think differently about our clients’ businesses. It is just one of many ways we are encouraging invention and deep-seated ideation within the walls of Horizon.”
75 Horizon employees have signed on to be a part of BrandStorm. Teams will be briefed on creating innovative solutions to challenges faced by clients across multiple categories, including financial services, entertainment, insurance, quick service restaurants (QSR), consumer packaged goods (CPG), and automotive. Teams will present their ideas to senior leadership at the agency.
INVENT@horizon was launched in 2014 and acts as a launch pad to drive invention across all facets of the agency. The invention team is responsible for pioneering product development and new forms of media, formulating better ways to solve client problems, and seeking new ways to recruit and motivate employees, among other activities. The BrandStorm event follows the May 2015 launch of the agency’s new invention development program, Dunes of Dreams, which invites employees to submit their best ideas for the opportunity to turn their concepts into a reality.
