• by Joe Mandese , November 4, 2013

Just walked off stage after conducting a  “conversation with” Alan Cohen, the former OMD chief who recently launched creative media (or is it media  creative) start up Giant Spoon, and the ideas are racing through my head. That’s because the core of Cohen’s presentation focused on a concept he calls “idea-centric strategy.” In fact, Cohen’s Giant Spoon even trademarked the term -- amazingly.

If you have an idea-centric strategy, Cohen said, then it will transcend media, creative, technology, or any other element that goes into the typical campaign today, because it’s inherently about the “human element,” which in terms of what Madison Avenue does, means connecting a consumer with a brand.

Cohen showed a number of examples where machines were replacing things that humans do, but he also showed some striking examples where machines enhance or accelerate what people do. The trick to “surviving the robot uprising,” Cohen said, is to focus on what people do that motivate other people to do things. And using machines to do them better, faster, and more efficiently.