So what is Novel Idea? Simply put, we’re marketing consultants. “But what’s that?” you may ask. Fair enough. You come to us when you have a problem with your marketing, advertising or sales. We work with you (that’s the consulting part) to come up with innovative solutions (that’s the ‘novel idea’ part) to fix those problems.
When we first started out in the consulting business, a longer time ago than we care to remember, we were all about making things – websites, brochures, logos…things that people needed, that would solve their problems. Along the way, something dawned on us…we needed to dig deeper. You see, it’s all well and good to have a customer come to us and ask us to build a website or design a flyer. But what we found is that while a customer knows their own business better than anyone else, sometimes they’re too close to it to see the depth and breadth of what problems need to be addressed. As a result, sometimes what they think they need doesn’t go far enough to really solve their problems.
Here’s an example. We had someone call us about editing an iBook they already had, customizing it for a new customer. Rather than simply do the work and move on, we asked questions. Lots and lots of questions. We quickly realized that they had an unmet need – a problem that we could solve for them by going past what they’d asked for, and getting deeper in to not just what they wanted, but how they planned to use it. As a result, we ended up creating an application for them as a companion to their new iBook, which we not only updated, but redesigned, to modernize the look and feel of the publication.
If you’re selling websites, brochures and logos, you can’t get the products to get to the heart of the matter. We prefer to start with getting a grip on your goals, and letting our solutions flow from what we discover.
What makes novel idea, well…novel?
What makes us different is our more than just our approach to helping our clients and solving their problems. We have extensive backgrounds in not only marketing and design, but technology and computer science. This multi-disciplined background provides a significant advantage when solving challenges like social media strategies, where the solution involves a blend of technology, strategy, and design.
With a long list of clients from Fortune 500 firms to small startups, Novel Idea enjoys an envied position among agencies. Approaching our twentieth year in business, Novel Idea is still riding the cutting edge of evolving technologies, and consistently delivering results that are both innovative and eye-catching, all of them on-time and within-budget.
How we charge for what we do.
We are not like most ad agencies you’ve ever worked with. We don’t charge by the hour. We don’t do ‘retainers’ as a general rule. Instead, we use what we like to call “value pricing.”
An hourly rate is a lousy way to sell creativity. If you’ve ever had a brilliant idea, it probably came to you in a flash. It didn’t take hours. It took seconds – maybe even a fraction of a single second. Well, since our stock-in-trade is your basic brilliant (or novel) idea, charging by the hour seems pretty crazy. Essentially, it penalizes us for being fast and good. But on the flip side, you want to get the biggest bang for your marketing buck.
With value pricing, we both win. We base our price, not on what it takes for us to think up a great idea, but instead, base it on what that idea will do for you. For instance, let’s say you want more customers. We’re going to ask questions – a lot of them. And we’re going to come up with a solution for you that will mean you will earn at least $2 for ever $1 you spend with us…and our goal is closer to get you to earning $4 for ever $1 you spend with us. You won’t overspend your marketing budget, and we’ll deliver a value proposition that is like money in the bank.
brad kozak | principal/chief creative officer
Novel Idea was founded by Brad Kozak, an internationally-recognized authority in graphic design, motion graphics, and marketing. Kozak is a polymath, with a background that runs the gamut of the entertainment, software, and advertising fields.
Kozak’s involvement in technology dates back to his time as the Desktop Publishing Specialist for Mark Cuban’s Microsolutions, a Dallas-based computer reseller. Moving to Micrografx, Kozak also moved from sales to marketing, quickly becoming the company’s Creative Director and head of the in-house ad agency, responsible for retail packaging design, trade show booth design, collateral design, radio, television, and video, and product development of what was at the time the largest collection of stock vector art on the market. At Altsys, he served as Senior Product Manager for retail applications in the Windows, NeXTStep and Sun Solaris markets.
Starting his own consulting business in the mid 1990s, Kozak became one of the pioneers of motion graphics for corporate use. Recognized for his work by the industry, he became a member of several product advisory boards, and a member of Team Macromedia, a panel of industry experts. He wrote two books on motion graphics for Macromedia, prior to their acquisition by Adobe.
Kozak is also a professional composer, arranger and orchestrator. His works have been commissioned and used by everyone from IBM and Nortel to FoxNews and the State Bar of Georgia. A fifth-generation, professional musician, Kozak has performed with Gladys Knight and the Pips, Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Robert Guillaume, the Louisiana Hayride, and others.