Taking a cue from Google's "20% rule" under which employees focus a fifth of their time, or one day per week, on side projects as a way to take full advantage of their staff's skills, many agencies are learning that in the new advertising and marketing economy, it's a shame to let all the talent and creativity they command to be directed solely toward creating for the client.

At last week's Creativity and Technology conference, Ad Age's Kunur Patel sat down with Chris Vance, Managing Director of Zag, BBH's IP subsidiary; Ed Brojerdi, Chief Creative Officer at kbs+p and their own IP group, Spies & Assassins; and Michael Lebowitz, CEO of Big Spaceship, to discuss the different models their agencies have adopted for channeling that energy into generating their own intellectual property, and with it, new revenue sources, operating models, and a portfolio of innovative work to expand their expertise and client offerings.