°shaper is an initiative launched by DDB Group Sydney in 2013 that aims to create social value and build brands around solutions to unmet human needs or problems. There were three key reasons for its creation: to reinvent the business model, foster innovative thinking, and leave a legacy of creative innovation. °shaper identifies human problems, develops solutions through a 10-week incubation process, and either partners with brands to bring solutions to market or finds investors to create new brands. The goal is to innovate without disrupting the core agency business. Resources like a 4-person management team, project teams, consultants, and a $2,000 budget per project are required to support each °shaper project through the incubation

1. PLAYBOOK

2. DUC
TION
IN1.
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TRO
In 2013 DDB Group Sydney
launched °shaper, an
innovations initiative that
aims to create social value
and build brands around
products, platforms, or
services that solve unmet
human needs
or problems.
There are three key reasons for the
creation of °shaper:
1. We have a desire to regularly reinvent
our business model so we can evolve with
client demands and continue to diversify our
offerings within the group. It also allows us
to explore new outlets for our creativity and
potential revenue streams.
2. Innovation has never been more important
to the communications industry and as a
leading communications group, we were keen
to identify a means for us to foster innovative
thinking in a way that allows us to increase the
rate of innovation.
We believe that a different operating system
is required to deliver this, so we decided to
create a lab-type unit that was free from day-
to-day challenges that can hinder the creation
of innovative solutions. We looked at best
practice from around the world – spoke to
people at Google Labs, BBH Labs, Capstone
etc. and looked at what approach would serve
us best.
However, that’s not to say °shaper is separated
from our day-to-day offering, it needs to be
open and accessible to the wider agency
group so that we can develop
a virtuous relationship which benefits our
core offering.
We firmly believe that the learnings and new
way of thinking that °shaper will harvest, will
be transferable to our culture, core business
and ultimately our clients.
3. Leaving a legacy of contribution and
creative innovation is what DDB does, with
our interest in using our skills to add social
value hailing back to our founding father, Bill
Bernbach. There’s one particular quote from
Bernbach which illustrates perfectly why there
is a role for the likes of °shaper:
01

3. ALL OF US WHO
PROFESSIONALLY USE
THE MEDIA ARE THE
SHAPERS OF SOCIETY.
WE CAN VULGARIZE
THAT SOCIETY. WE
CAN BRUTALIZE IT. OR
WE CAN HELP LIFT IT
ONTO A HIGHER LEVEL.
BILL BERNBACH
-... .. .-.. .-.. / -... . .-. -. -... .- -.-. ....
Hype video
http://tinyurl.com/shaperVIDEO
Shape a better society, one brand
at a time
To provide social value to real
human problems through
brand-enabled solutions
Vision Mission
INTRODUCTION 02
12

4. PER
WHAT
2.
.-- .... .- - / ... .... .- .--. . .-.
SHA
IS...
...AND
ISN’T

5. generates social value
nimble
inventive / entrepreneurial
new conversations
scouting
skills-staffed team based on needs
start-up solutions
financially motivated
faster to market
recycling ideas
proactive hothouse for current client
problems
fielding
a rewards program for employees
technology R&D department
What it is What it isn’t
BRAND PURPOSE
SOCIAL VALUE
°SHAPER WRAPS BRANDS AROUND SOLUTIONS THAT DELIVER SOCIAL VALUE TO PEOPLE
WHAT SHAPER IS AND ISN’T 04

6. .... --- .-- / ... .... .- .--. . .-. / .-- -
Where our regular agency work
starts with a brand or business
problem from one of our clients,
a °shaper project starts with a
human problem or need.
A new °shaper project is launched 4 times a
year following a call for entries asking staff
to submit specific problems they encounter
around a certain theme in life.
A problem is sourced from the submissions,
and a project team is assembled from within
the group based on interest and skills.
In collaborative working sessions, joined
by external experts, community and law
enforcement leaders, the team develops
solution concepts, going through a process of
building, measuring and learning – all without
the involvement of clients or brands.
This incubation phase of a °shaper project runs
for approximately 10 weeks. At the end of this
period the °shaper project team is expected to
be able to:
• prove the viability of the product,
platform or service, in terms of
addressing the problem and appeal to
potential end-users or customers.
• demonstrate a viable business model
that can sustain the solution.
At the end of the incubation period the viability
of both product and business are presented to
sr. agency management and the core °shaper
team. Following this presentation a decision is
made whether the project has the potential to
live beyond the incubation phase and further
investment in the project will be made.
Once a concept proves to be viable and
a sustainable business model has been
developed, we then either partner with brands
or organisations to take the solution to market,
or we find investors and create a new brand
ourselves.
The outcome of a °shaper project can be a
product, a platform, or a service. The solution
can either work on an individual level, on a
group level, or on a community level. The
briefing compass is used to focus the brief
and steer the solution development process:
For a more detailed explanation of the process
please refer to page [enter final page number]
10 wks
community
group
individual
product platform service
Brief
Scale
Solution
Internal
presentation
to board
Presentation
to partner/
investor
Launch
in market
X wks Y wks
How °shaper works
WHAT SHAPER IS AND ISN’T 05
1
2

7. .... --- .-- / ... .... .- .--. . .-. / .. ..
This visual illustrates how – as
part of its objective to cultivate
innovation in the agency - °shaper
is positioned as part of the 10%
segment of work that’s described
by Eric Schmidt (Google, 2005)
as ‘things unrelated to the core
business of the company’.
70% of the work is described as ‘doing what
we do’ (or core business tasks, or ‘safe’
content). Translated to the advertising agency
situation this means that both the output and
the outcome of the brief are defined in terms
of tasks/deliverables and KPIs. This could be
a client brief for TVC or print ad, banners, a
product page, etc.
In the 20% of work that’s described as ‘doing
things differently’ (or projects related to the
core business, or innovating on what works
well) the outcome of the brief is defined (KPIs)
but not the output (tasks/deliverables). So the
output of this brief could be anything ranging
from a TV ad, a sponsorship or strategic
partnership, a branded game, or an integrated
campaign, as long as it delivers on the KPIs.
Typically this brief should contain a well-
articulated business problem.
°shaper projects fall into the 10% category of
‘doing different things’ (or things unrelated
to the core business, or high risk activities).
This category of work allows the agency to do
technology-driven innovation unrelated to an
existing client, explore new revenue models,
partnerships, etc. By nature °shaper projects
don’t start with a business problem but with a
human problem. At the briefing stage neither
the output or outcome is defined.
The goal of °shaper is to innovate without
disrupting the agency’s core offering (the
70%). By using a little bit of a lot of people’s
time we culturally influence DDB into an
innovative agency by being innovative.
How °shaper is
operationalised
WHAT °SHAPER IS AND ISN’T 06
Division
of work
Expenditure
of effort
Day to day
Doing what we do
Output defined: tasks/deliverables
Doing things differently
Output defined: KPI’s
Tasks & deliverables
undefined
Doing things
differently
Outcome
& output
undefined Tasks
& deliverables
undefined
Bam Process
+ Proactive °shaper
70% 20% 10%
50% 30% 20%

8. .... --- .-- / ... .... .- .--. . .-. / .. ..
This visual illustrates the
relationship between °shaper, DDB
Group, and the wider network.
°shaper can tap into group resources, energy,
expertise, network, and funds, which gives
us an amazing advantage over any other
(independent) design or innovation company
or tech start-up. At the same time °shaper is
giving back to the agency by teaching staff
how to use new methodologies and solve
problems, by exploring new revenue models
(via °shaper-incubated businesses), by building
new relationships and partnerships (beyond
typical agency-client and agency-vendor
relationships), etc.
It is the symbiotic nature of the relationship
between °shaper and the agency group that
makes us unique and sets us apart from
other innovation initiatives in the advertising
industry.
Requirements for success In order for °shaper to be successful, clear
commitment from agency management is
required:
• clear budget allocations
• authority of decision-making
• time protection
• international access
• embedded in the agency but with budget
to break out of the agency for workshops,
inspiration sessions, etc.
• access to group resources
• ability/permission to fail: “If you don’t have
room to fail, you don’t have room to grow.”
– Jonathan Mildenhall
Where °shaper sits
with the group
WHAT °SHAPER IS AND ISN’T 07
Agency resources
Expertise
Network
Funding
Shaper business
Partner relationships
Vendors
Global Network
Partner relationship
Vendors
Clients
DDBInnovation credentials
New revenue channels
Problem solving
New methodologies

9. 3.
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REQ
UIRED
RE
RCE
SOU
COM
ENT
MITM
REQUIRED RESOURCE COMMITMENT

10. ... .... .- .--. . .-. / -- .- -. .- --.
We recommend that the core team
that drives °shaper consists of 4
people. Together these 4 people
cover the following skill sets and
areas of expertise:
1. Identifying needs – Articulates the human
problem/need that we’re trying to solve
through an anthropological understanding.
2. Concepting solutions – Creates the
solution through design thinking and concept
creation.
3. Doing/building – Drives the overall
operations and answers how a solution can
be made and improved through process and
production.
4. Funding/launching – Answers how a
solution can be monetised and taken to
market through business plan creation.
°shaper management tasks include:
• initiating new °shaper briefs
• running workshops
• overseeing °shaper project teams
• liaising with clients
• building external partnerships
• weekly steering meeting
• internal and external PR
• communications with agency management
• running day to day operations and guarding
resource availabilty
With an even distribution of workload this
should take up around 20% of each person’s
time on average.
Following the briefing process
and the first workshop the °shaper
project team is assembled based on
the following criteria:
• Enthusiasm, ambition/keenness to
participate (demonstrated through response
to our brief)
• Mix of skills:
- Personal relationship: at least one
person associated to the problem
- Strategic vision: a strategic mind but
not necessarily a planner
- The do-er: a project manager – the one
to get stuff done and do the money
- An executer: someone who can bring
problems to life but this does not need to
be defined by position. We are all
creative, we can all think but do you take
joy in creating the output and realising the
vision? Or deciding on the vision in the
first place?
• Availability
• Quality of response to problem
• Ability & appetite to work and think in a
non-traditional way
For the duration of the incubation stage of
a °shaper project (8-10 weeks) the average
amount of time the 4 team members spend on
°shaper is around 20%. Project team tasks are
detailed in the process section, please refer to
page [enter final page number]
°shaper management team
°shaper project team
REQUIRED RESOURCE COMMITMENT 09

11. For the duration of the project
the core team is supported by
additional resources:
• Consultants (e.g. social media planner,
creative technologist): 76 hrs per project
each
• Additional resources (developer, designer,
UX): 244 hrs per project
(these numbers are indicative only and will
vary as per the needs of the project)
One of the operating principles of
°shaper is that by using a little bit of
a lot of people’s time we culturally
influence DDB into an innovative
agency by being innovative.
Another operating principle is that °shaper is
open and accessible for lots of people.
Experience has taught us that many people in
the agency want to get involved in °shaper,
but not everybody can be part of a project
team. Throughout the 10 week incubation
period there are plenty of opportunities for the
project team to delegate tasks to others in
the agency who either have some downtime,
or are simply keen to contribute in their own
time.
Typically tasks like research and testing can
take up a lot of time and are easily distributed
to a number of people. This helps to keep the
workload of the core team manageable, and
creates involvement by more people than just
a happy few who get to be part of the project
team.
A budget of $2,000 should be made
available to cover out of pocket
costs in the incubation stage of
each project. This budget should
cover:
• Venue hire (for workshops)
• 3D printing and production of other
prototyping materials
• Hardware components
• Research/testing
• Hype video
• Etc.
Additional project resources
Support from other
agency staff
Hard costs
REQUIRED RESOURCE COMMITMENT
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10

12. ISE
PR
4.
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OM
°shaper is fair and inclusive.
If a °shaper project turns into
a profit stream for the agency,
there will be a financial reward
for individual contributors, at the
discretion of regional agency
management.
°SHAPER PROMISE 11

13. BEN
RES
EFIT/
ULTS
5.
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ROI &
ROI & proven benefits/
results to date
Culture
• We now have a proven way to innovate
without disrupting our core offering. By
using a little bit of a lot of people’s time we
culturally influence DDB into an innovative
agency by being innovative.
• People are now enthused about working
and staying at DDB (keeping good talent).
• New recruits are talking about it in
interviews (attracting new talent).
• New clients are referencing in their
consideration list (attracting new business).
• Diversifying skills and stimulating
knowledge transfer (training).
Education
• Learning by doing, team involved
throughout the constant build/measure/
learn cycle.
• First hand experience with product design
process.
• Lean thinking: finding the most cost
effective way forward, justifying investment
by proving business viability.
• Transferring ownership of project to a core
team.
• Dealing with IP matters in relation to
inventing things.
ROI & PROVEN BENEFITS/RESULTS TO DATE 12

14. NIA
LS
TEST
6.
IMO
Tom Uglow
Founder Google Creative Labs
“It’s increasingly important for us as an
industry to work in a way that showcases raw
talent, retains staff, stretches teams and drives
ideas forward; where your ability to dream
and modern technology meet. It may not be
shaper projects that pay the bills, but they are
the ideas that will broaden the industry and
in doing so cement our place with in it. Every
agency should have a team that can think
big and iterate on issues that truly improve
people’s lives. Work that your agency will be
remembered and admired for when all the
rest has long been forgotten.”
TESTIMONIALS
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13

15. - . ... - .. -- --- -. .. .- .-.. ...
Jennie Ko
Art Director
“I’ve learned so much about user experience/
user journey, branding, and research.
Collaborating with new/other people in
different parts of DDB has also been great.
Working on a °shaper project made me feel
proud to be at DDB. I’ve always wanted to
put my skills to do something innovative
and helpful for the community so working
on °shaper project has helped me fulfil that
personal goal.”
Daniel Ieraci
Art Director
“While collaboration is an integral part of
the creative process, it’s fantastic to be able
to open up the type of people we get to
collaborate with who bring an array of different
types of thinking to the table. Working on
°shaper highlights to me the benefits that
DDB can bring to the day to day work that
we already do. I think it simply highlights that
we have an abundance of talent who are able
to push great ideas forward when given the
chance to and it would be great to see this
mentality applied to our existing clients as
I believe the benefit to both them and DDB
would be enormous. I personally think we
should start creating °shaper-esque briefs for
our existing clients within the agency with the
same open-source-to-everyone model.”
Per Thoresson
Creative Technologist
“I think it’s a great initiative and it deserves
more effort. I realise that time is money and
nothing is free. But I think everyone involved
is learning from working on these projects and
are more motivated/excited about coming to
work when there is a °shaper project going ;)”
Sohail Bhatia
Digital Strategy Planner
“There are a few things I’ve learnt that were
quite good; 1 How to adapt De Bono’s hats
to ideation and creative problem solving.
2. Having a variety of minds in a room, (eg
planner, creative, developers) helps to create
a realistic, doable and creative solution much
quicker. Business Canvas and building a
business case is another thing that would be
a big one for people. It’s great to see these
projects being done at DDB.”
Riley Bachelor
Venture Capitalist / Head of
General Assembly / Board member
Fishburners
“I‘ve spent the last two years trying to connect
and help build the start up scene in Sydney
through General Assembly and Fishburners. In
doing so I’ve seen plenty of businesses set up
and succeed and more fail. What excites me
about shaper’s approach is the blend of your
current strengths with new thinking, processes
and outputs. That could be a potent mix if you
get it right. It’s the first agency I’ve seen do
this right.”
TESTIMONIALS 14

16. ACT
CO7.
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NT
Contact Jeroen Jedeloo
+61 2 8260 2620
jeroen.jedeloo@syd.ddb.com
Daniel Lipman
+61 2 8260 2171
daniel.lipman@syd.ddb.com
CONTACT 15