They’ve won over big-name U.S. clients including Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s.

They’ve won numerous Anvils, the advertising industry’s top creative awards.

They’ve even won the loyalty of Jeff Lennard, one of the most celebrated creative directors in Western Canada.

The Idea Machine team is led by founders Stephen McDonough, left and Tom Short, right, and creative director Jeff Lennard.

In fact, Idea Machine Creative Services founding partners Tom Short and Stephen McDonough are downright passionate about winning.

But don’t get the wrong Idea – it’s never been about them.

“The awards and accolades are great, and I guess they tell us we’re doing something right,” says Short, “but they only happen because we focus entirely on helping our clients win. And that may sound a little clichéd, but our entire organization is structured to ensure our customers come out on top.”

In its 10-year history, Idea Machine employees have been carefully hand-picked by Short and McDonough to not only provide the highest level of expertise, but to fit in with a team that insists on getting inside the heads of their clients.

“Our creative people spend just about as much time at the client’s office as they do working at their computers here,” lawyer-turned-entrepreneur McDonough says from the boardroom of Idea Machine’s funky downtown Calgary headquarters.

“People keep asking us how we landed deals with companies like Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s facing so much competition south of the border. The answer’s simple: We’re great listeners.”

A perfect example is when the Idea Machine braintrust was in Atlanta trying to clinch a deal with Coke.

“At the end of this big meeting, Tom was almost apologizing for taking so long and asking so many questions,” McDonough explains.

“But the Coca-Cola official’s response was: ‘That’s the best approach to this business we’ve ever seen.’ They could see that we genuinely wanted to do everything possible to make sure we understood their objectives – and that’s why we got the project.”

From there, Idea Machine has the creative juice and the technical prowess to help guide their clients to the end zone. Whether it’s general communications strategies, high-end digital solutions for your website or business presentation, traditional advertising including television and radio commercials, media planning, or any other creative requirements, Idea Machine does it at the highest level. And the fact Idea Machine does it all in-house is another significant advantage to the clients.

“There is truly no one in this market who does everything we do, to the level we do,” says McDonough. “Ever since we started this company 10 years ago, we’ve insisted on being the best at whatever we do.

“In welcoming Jeff Lennard to the team as our creative director over the last year, we have taken it up another notch.

“He’s been at the top of this business for 20 years, and now he’s got our entire team of creative people performing at an elevated level.”

Lennard worked with major agencies for much of his career before making the jump to the smaller, but more nimble, team headed by boyhood pals Short and McDonough.

“What attracted me to Idea Machine was the way they did business – Tom and Steve are absolutely driven to make sure our clients win,” says Lennard.

“That passion for excellence is something I thrive on, so this is a perfect fit for me. It’s very gratifying to be involved in projects that make an immediate positive effect on our client’s bottom line.”

Idea Machine doesn’t have any internal sales people – virtually all of their business comes to them via word of mouth – but that doesn’t mean they can’t sell.

“Let’s face it, as creative people, we are expected to drive sales for our clients,” adds Lennard.

“The key to convincing consumers to buy is establishing an emotional connection between them and the product.

“If you show consumers a personality they are comfortable with, they will want to be associated with your product. That is what “creative” is – delivering the right message, so it feels right to consumers.”

How Idea Machine sells itself is by doing great work.

To find out more about Idea Machine’s creative solutions, call 403.265.0435 or visit www.ideamachine.com