I have a slight problem with the word innovation.

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It’s become one of those words agencies chuck into credentials decks alongside agile, disruption and a photograph of somebody writing on a glass wall.

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So we decided to actually do some.

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Every six months at PASHN, we run an internal competition called Rocky.

The premise is deliberately simple: find a problem.

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It can be a problem for PASHN. A problem for our clients. Something irritating, inefficient, expensive or just unnecessarily difficult.

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Then work out whether technology can solve it.

And don’t just come back with an idea. Build a proposition around it. What does it do? Who is it for? How would we build it? What value does it create?

Then we pick the best ones, put our money where our mouth is and build them.

The first Rocky produced Adriaaaan.

Yes, there’s a theme.

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Adriaaaan is our proprietary box-office prediction tool for UK film releases, combining data and modelling to help us make better decisions about campaigns before the opening weekend tells us whether we were right.

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Today we judged the latest Rocky.

And, somewhat controversially, we had a dead heat.  Rather like the Creed/Balboa final in RII

Rather than inventing a tie-breaker involving running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we decided to build both.

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The first is a cross-channel reach and frequency optimiser, designed to help us understand how different media combinations work together and where the point of diminishing return really sits.

The second is a broadcast attribution tool, giving us another way of connecting advertising exposure with actual outcomes.

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Both are now going into production.

But the bit I love most isn't actually the technology.

It’s that the whole PASHN team gets involved.

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Innovation isn't something confined to the leadership team, outsourced to a tech company or added to a PowerPoint presentation three days before a pitch. Everyone here is being encouraged to spot problems, challenge how things are done and think about how we can build something better.

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Because proprietary technology is going to become increasingly important in differentiating agencies.

Not technology for technology's sake. And definitely not sticking AI on something and pretending we've reinvented advertising.

Useful technology.

Technology that helps our people make better decisions, helps our clients invest money with greater insight and expectation and, where appropriate, becomes a product we can take to the wider market.

Rocky will be back on TV in six months and this time with one of the greatest theme songs ever...

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In the meantime, we've got two things to build.

Adriaaaan!