Crowdsourcing in the Idea Mosh-Pit

Sometimes, the internet reinforces my belief in humanity because of the vast amount of creative energy and raw intelligence that I see while surfing. Everywhere I look, there’s an idea being hashed out, a hilariously unexpected joke created, and something new being created. There are people with great ideas all over the internet, but the only place they are able to express these ideas is in the comments section of blogs or on their own blogs and social media accounts.

Advertisers and creative think-tanks are providing a new arena in which people can let their creative juices flow: crowdsourcing.



Regardless of what you call it (apparently it’s now called “creative collaboration”), crowdsourcing aims to take the creative energy of the masses- the “crowd”- and focus it on brainstorming, innovation, and other projects. Think of it as mass freelancing, with even less commitment. Basically, crowdsourcing is outsourcing a project to a large amount of people through an open invitation to collaborate (often on the internet). Crowdsourcing is a major trend in advertising and marketing, and I think it can be beneficial for both parties. Here’s how.

Agencies:
Crowdsourcing can be a valuable and worthwhile practice for agencies. Don’t believe me? Here’s a snippet from the website of a crowdsourcing ad agency in Boulder, Victors and Spoils:

“Current factors such as radical transparency, the consumer’s demand to be more involved and a growing cost consciousness regarding clients’ budgets have all made crowdsourcing especially timely for today’s marketers”

Let’s touch on each one of those points:

-Radical transparency, as I’ve talked about before, is really popular with my generation. We as consumers want to know what is going on with the brands we buy. What’s more transparent than consumers actually having a part in creating the ad? Brands can gain consumer’s trust by using crowdsourcing principles.

-Because we want greater transparency, we want to be involved. Consumers just like to have a say in things; for evidence, just look at how many people vote for the next American Idol every year. People want to participate. Again, this allows the ad agency and brand to gain the trust of the public.

Individuals:
Crowdsourcing can also be beneficial for people wishing to get their ideas out there. As I said before, people just want to participate and help out, and crowdsourcing allows individuals to let their voices be heard. Here are some other reasons why I think the masses want to join in:

-Foot-in-the-door: It’s a tough job market out there. Anything an individual can do to stand above the clutter is great. Your chances of being noticed in the ad community would definitely increase if you showed off some of your work in a crowdsourcing contest.

-Practice: Participating in crowdsourcing also allows you to hone your creative skills. If you join in, you can work on many different projects; use this to your advantage. Play around with different writing/design skills. You know you can’t get fired, so you can really go big or go home. Practice working on real brands and products with real briefs is important, so you should take any opportunity you can to hone your craft.

-Rewards: Sometimes, brands will crowdsource ideas through a contest. Netflix did this about a year ago when they wanted a new recommendation algorithm. The prize was $1,000,000! Crowdsourcing can be quite lucrative for the winners of these contests. Even if you don’t win, you still get some practice in your field and some notoriety in your industry for trying.

Counterpoint:
Of course, there are going to be some horror stories. Vegemite tried to crowdsource a new name, and the crowd picked “iSnack 2.0” as the new name (seriously). Agencies can’t let the crowd do everything; copywriters and art directors are hired for a reason, and many in the crowd simply aren’t as good as agency staff. Crowdsourcing is great for brainstorming new concepts, ideas, and rough drafts, but agencies probably shouldn’t crowdsource an entire project. Brands still want an agency’s expertise.
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Crowdsourcing obviously isn’t the solution to every brand’s problem, but it is an interesting new way to think about innovation and brainstorming. Once we learn how to effectively tap into the internet for ideas and we learn how to incentivize those participating in crowdsourcing, I see it becoming an even bigger trend. Ideas are all around us; it’s just up to us to find out how to use them.

Written by Tom Miesen, tmiesen.com

by ClickFire Admin 08.18.2010

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