Farmhouse: Reinventing the Wallet at Chicago Ideas Week

Farmhouse: Reimagine, Redesign and Remarket an Everyday Object

Earlier this month, the HBG team embarked on a journey to experience Chicago Ideas Week with the goal of learning, discovering and focusing our collective Intellectual Curiosity.

At Farmhouse (the innovation and new venture center of Leo Burnett), I teamed up with about 10 random strangers to reimagine, redesign and remarket an everyday object. In our case: the wallet.

We experienced a 3-step process – product, strategy and story – with the goal of developing a new product, solving a consumer problem, and creating a targeted story to bring our new product to market.

Our product – named “The Joey” for its resemblance to a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch – consisted of a wallet that simply zipped into your jacket or pants, providing a secure, hands-free alternative to the wallets currently on the market.

Our target was deemed the “Adventure Capitalist” – the professional who embarks on business adventures, and travels constantly for work. The Adventure Capitalist would love The Joey for its security, ease of use, and the ability to quickly pass through airport security, which is getting more and more difficult by the hour.

To promote The Joey, we considered hosting “business obstacle courses” in Manhattan, where Adventure Capitalists would encounter scenarios in which The Joey would make their life easier, such as airport security, business lunches, and suit shopping.

To bring The Joey to market, we decided to pursue strategic partnerships with companies already known for producing the clothing well loved by Adventure Capitalists.

In doing so, we would benefit from cross-marketing, established brand equity and the ability to tap into an existing, focused target consumer base. We determined J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and several other higher end retailers would be a great start for our partnership endeavor.

The product, strategy and story were born. And, in Farmhouse fashion, they served us delicious Hoosier Mama apple pie!