iris launches Urgent Genius social media HQ – hubs around the world including Singapore

iris has today announced the global launch of its new bespoke social media content division Urgent Genius.

It will act as a creative hub producing fast and effective online content in response to topical issues and trends for clients such as Sony Ericsson and adidas. Content will be produced in hours and days – the speed required to make a maximum impact in real-time – rather than weeks and months, the time length of typical client/agency approval processes. Urgent Genius is based on the belief that this is the only way marketers can embrace the current need for timely, clever content and stay relevant to today’s consumers.

Urgent Genius was conceived by Jon Burkhart, iris’ social media creative director in London in July 2010 before becoming a global collaboration with Singapore-based Grant Hunter, iris’ regional creative director for Asia.

iris has appointed a global management team that includes Tom Poynter, joint CEO of iris’ London, who will lead the Urgent Genius entity globally, Hunter and Burkhart as creative directors along with US-based iris founder and creative director Sean Reynolds.

Says Hunter: “We’ve been tracking the trend of newsjacking and real-time creativity for the last 12 months. We call it Urgent Genius. Urgent – do it swiftly. Genius – create powerful social ideas. Clients have masses to gain if they adopt an Urgent Genius mindset.”

Says Burkhart: “The agency of today, and fit for the future, has to embrace this pro-activity. The old internal approval and production processes have to be parked. They’re too slow. There needs to be a new ‘Go until I say stop’ client approval process if you want to harness the power of real-time marketing.”

urgentgenius.com will go live this week. It will feature examples of Urgent Genius from around the world, as well as content ranked using iris’ unique Urgent Genius Index, which calculates true influence online based on the underlying principles of Urgent Genius.

The structure of the new department will see briefs enter from all areas of iris’ integrated disciplines, which include iris’ digital, experiential and PR arms. The effectiveness of content will be measured by the Urgent Genius Index and a bespoke performance-related pay model.

Says Poynter: “It’s a totally new concept – it’s not only a service offering but a mindset, a set of principles. It specifically describes this need for powerful social ideas that will spread fast. To be relevant and impactful, content should ideally be released within 48 hours and agencies need to start being equipped to do this. Our Urgent Genius HQs around the globe will act as editorial newsrooms, tapping into what consumers are talking about online and producing relevant and engaging content.”

The new departments will handle a wide variety of projects for iris’ clients, which include Sony Ericsson, adidas and Philips. Urgent Genius will encompass big ideas as well as smaller tactical pieces, the development of integrated and standalone social media strategies, campaign seeding, consumer feedback management and online reputation monitoring. iris will also create its own unbranded pieces of content based on topical inspired and real-time ideas.

iris first tested the Urgent Genius concept with its ‘Urgent Genius Weekender’ in February, as reported by CB. 150 pieces of content were generated by teams from across the globe including Fallon, BBDO, Big Balls Films, and BBC Comedy, as they went head-to-head in a 48-hour race to create the most effective online content.

Hunter continued: “We will be recruiting a mixture of what we like to call ‘Hybrid Creatives’ to work in Urgent Genius. These individuals are inherently interested in culture and have a cross-blend of talents and a deep understanding of a creative idea’s inherent shareability. In addition, we will be looking to work with a wide variety of award-winning creative thinkers from comedy scriptwriters to journalists to animators and developers.”