The Kraft Group have bought a stake in the NAKEDPizza chain of restaurants. NAKEDPizza is a chain that claims to sell healthy pizza by paring it down to the essential and natural versions of the original.

Regular readers would know that we have covered extensively the energy and ideas eminating from New Orleans in the last few years. PSFK has also interviewed many of the people like Jon Guidroz leading the drive to reinvigorate the city and make it a leading creative capital. The New York Times interviews picks up on the story with an article about the thriving emerging business scene focused around a co-working space called Entrepreneurs Row:

Then, last year, Sean Cummings, a real estate developer and entrepreneur in New Orleans, randomly found Free Flow’s Web site and noticed that the company [...]

At PSFK Conference NYC, Danielle Sacks (Fast Company) led a thought-provoking discussion about the rise of the “New Idea Agencies” – companies that are thinking outside of the traditional client-agency model and creating their own products, brands, and intellectual property to launch direct to market. The panel, featuring Robbie Vitrano (Trumpet), Carl Johnson (Anomaly), Bart Haney (fuseproject), and Ben Malbon (BBH Labs), explained how their companies’ unique business models evolved and the struggles (and benefits) of agencies becoming their own clients.
Developing IP rather than just messaging is clearly an attractive idea. Why build brands that, ultimately, you have no stake [...]

We’re looking forward to having Robbie Vitrano, co-founder and CEO of Trumpet, join us at PSFK Conference New York on April 2. Robbie will be part of our panel discussion about the pursuit of intellectual property and how it’s changing the way agencies and new businesses operate, along with Bart Haney (fuseproject), Carl Johnson (Anomaly), Ben Malbon (BBH Labs), and Danielle Sacks (Fast Company).
First, who are you and what do you do?
I’m something of a denter. Perpetually. Kissing cousin of over-earnest and pedantic. I have a goal: to someday be referred to as possessing “divine [...]