| The debate around crowdsourcing - the | | | | result. The experts call this Engagement. In other |
| outsourcing of a job or problem to a large and | | | | words, while the ROI for most of the |
| open group of people - is heating up again as an | | | | crowdsourcing activities to date has come from |
| increasing number of brands are gaining headlines | | | | the cheaper creative result (and the press |
| by launching design and ad creation contests. | | | | coverage that came with it) - by treating the |
| On one side of the debate are those who argue | | | | process as an interactive and potentially viral |
| that crowdsourcing is nothing more than | | | | campaign, crowdsourcing ROI could come from |
| outsourcing cheap labor and a temporary fad, | | | | both Engagement and the creative result. |
| while on the other are those who believe that | | | | What drove me to contribute the millionth opinion |
| involving large, undefined groups of people can | | | | on the subject is my surprise at history repeating |
| increase creativity and productivity at lower costs. | | | | itself once again - the reluctance of most |
| Critics of crowdsourcing, usually people with an Ad | | | | Agencies to embrace a new model in its early |
| Agency or a professional design background, are | | | | stages. After all, who is in a better place to |
| quick to point out that crowdsourcing is just a | | | | generate the kind of value described above than |
| fashionable term for something that's existed for | | | | those who are experts at client brand strategy, |
| ages; call it freelancing, outsourcing, competitions | | | | campaign planning and insight? The case for |
| or spec-work. The latter, I have learned, is | | | | Agencies to embrace real-time web |
| somewhat of an insult in the design industry which | | | | crowdsourcing seems pretty straight forward: |
| has even taken an official position on the subject | | | | The strength of a Client proposition that combines |
| through AIGA. Probably the strongest point | | | | the Agency's partnership, strategy and direction |
| encountered though, is regarding the sustainability | | | | with the benefits (Engagement, creative and cost) |
| of a model where many spend the time to | | | | of crowdsourcing. |
| produce work but only one gets paid for it. | | | | - Being able to generate more value from the |
| Notwithstanding these points - crowdsourcing has | | | | individual creative contributions resulting from |
| had a growing number of success stories and | | | | crowdsourcing by recognizing broader trends or |
| media exploits recently: Unilever dropping its | | | | individual brilliance. |
| agency Lowe to pursue a crowdsourcing ad | | | | - Extending the life of a creative team on a single |
| campaign for their Pepperami brand. Netflix | | | | client account (one of the issues behind the |
| announcing the $1M winner in its long-running call | | | | broken model of agencies) |
| to improve its recommendation algorithms. The | | | | Looking ahead: |
| impressive growth of services like Crowdspring | | | | Crowdsourcing in the real time web is in its early |
| and Innocentive. Mofilm crowdsourcing video ads | | | | stages and such, is bound to evolve from its |
| for large brands and linking these to the major | | | | current state. For it to become a sustainable |
| film festivals worldwide. The self-proclaimed first | | | | model, there needs to be a way to improve the |
| crowdsourcing Ad Agency, Victors & Spoils. | | | | current "many work one gets paid" issue. As the |
| Across the board, participation in these | | | | software world has been able to teach us with |
| crowdsourcing campaigns has been strong, with | | | | open-source communities, recognition, reputation |
| businesses and brands expressing satisfaction with | | | | and reward (both monetary and non) are an |
| the final creative products received. | | | | important factor. In applying the open-source |
| What both sides of the debate are ignoring, at | | | | principles to an Agency-driven model, I can |
| least in the advertising space, is the potential | | | | imagine a platform that allows agencies and |
| impact of the Real Time Web on the future of | | | | advertisers to rate contributors (reputation & |
| crowdsourcing. With so many available tools that | | | | recognition) and assign a share of the profits to |
| facilitate online conversation and collaboration, | | | | those who had the most impact on overall ROI. |
| there can be as much value (if not more) in the | | | | I for one am enjoying the debate and look |
| crowdsourcing process as there is in the end | | | | forward to its evolution. |