We all know the food in our fridge has an expiration date. In fact, milk has the expiration date printed right on the carton. After that date, you drink at your own peril.

Ideas expire, too. But they don’t come with a fair warning. They just expire because something better comes along. Somewhere, a box of 8-track tapes gathers dust. Somewhere, another pay phone becomes dismantled. Somewhere, a brand of breakfast cereal gets taken off the shelf and replaced with a new one.

We all know the food in our fridge has an expiration date. In fact, milk has the expiration date printed right on the carton. After that date, you drink at your own peril.

Ideas expire, too. But they don’t come with a fair warning. They just expire because something better comes along. Somewhere, a box of 8-track tapes gathers dust. Somewhere, another pay phone becomes dismantled. Somewhere, a brand of breakfast cereal gets taken off the shelf and replaced with a new one.

Every idea has an expiration date. What worked yesterday may not work today.

It’s been written that the world will change more in the next five years than it has in the last 50. Technology changes. Media changes. Culture changes. And of course, people change.

At Barkley, we never rest on our laurels. It’s vital for us to stay in touch with where the world is going and to be inspired by the world around us. Every year, we host a two-day Creativity Symposium featuring some of the most creative minds inside and outside of our industry. We never stop filling the creative well.

We are in the idea business. Ideas go stale just like bananas. We need to constantly reassess the way we communicate – what we say and the way in which we say it. We need to engage your customers in relevant, meaningful, unexpected ways.

We believe every idea has an expiration date. That’s our philosophy. That’s our mindset. That’s how we’re wired. So, not surprisingly, we’ve built Barkley in a way that produces fresh ideas and keeps them fresh. Silos and egos would just get in the way. There’s no rulebook. Just the relentless pursuit of fresh ideas.

At Barkley, we don’t adhere to traditional creative briefs. Or traditional creative teams. We put our best thinking on every project. We include people from many disciplines, not just the creative department. We call them Idea Teams and they’ve developed everything from Blue Bunny ice cream boats (instead of the neighborhood ice cream truck) to putting Sonic cups on the hoods of cars to promote the Ultimate Drink Stop. (That stopped some traffic.)

If it’s a fresh idea, we will find a way to bring it to life. People gravitate toward fresh. Fresh has momentum and vitality. Fresh reflects our views, our passions, and our lives. Fresh ideas are right for today. Fresh brands are the brands that customers can’t live without.