The big ideaL™ is Ogilvy’s philosophy on how brands can thrive today.
It was discovered, not invented. Looking at our successes and at other brands we admire, we saw that they all had a higher ideal at their core: a point of view on how the world should be coupled with a resolve to work for it. Big ideaLs can be fun or serious, grand or frivolous, and everything in between.

Over the last four years, we have developed this philosophy into a practical technique to help our clients discover and develop ideals for their brands.

We have also conducted research that has confirmed our belief that brands with strong ideals enjoy greater share of growth. There is real economic value in a big ideaL.

At its heart, The big ideaL is very simple. It has two parts. The first concerns Cultural Tension: to be relevant and important, brands need a point of view on the big and small topics of the day. The second part is the brand’s Best Self: to be valid, a brand must have some authority to be able to hold its point of view. We find this by exploring the brand’s history and asking when the brand was at its best. It is in the intersection where these two parts meet that the magic lies.

The big ideaL
http://www.ogilvy.com/On-Our-Minds/Articles/ThebigideaL2011.aspx