Nice post!

Awesome to see that technology brands that are the early adopters here - even more interesting how many car manufactures are getting involved.

Also completely surprised at how many of the platforms are US based - one of the big criticisms of crowdsourcing is that it is exploitative and as such one would expect people who live in countries with general lower incomes to be the first adopters.... so maybe the American public dont feel that exploited at all.

Posted by Dan on 2010/01/29

There seems to be an underlying thought (especially from digital companies eager to establish themselves in the marketing mix) that crowdsourcing is taking over from traditional ad agencies - witness a recent comment from Quirk that Unilever was 'looking to ditch their ad agency' or words to the effect.

The fact is Unilever employs more than one ad agency along with some specialist agencies and those ad agencies are responsible for very much more than coming up with a once off creative concept.

To name a few services they supply - brand positioning, qual and quant research, account planning, account handling, international co-ordination, creative strategy, creative concepts, execution of the concepts, media planning, media buying, print production, TV & Radio production, promotions, design, web design and execution, CRM, direct response etc etc etc.
The ad agency is by no means dead. In fact it is alive and well and clients know this - especially major international players like Unilever.

Crowdsourcing has its place for one offs but thats about it. For now.

Posted by Paul on 2010/01/29

@Paul

Valid points - I would like to point out that Unilever did not drop its agency (as you pointed out they have many) but they did drop the agency that was specifically responsible for the Peperami brand. This, I think is a very significant thing. More: http://econsultancy.com/blog/4502-unilever-drops-agency-crowdsources-tv-ad

In this case we saw a brand that was already established move away from the traditional way of doing things towards the the crowd sourced model. I do agree with you when you say that a brand needs much more than just one big idea - like you mentioned there needs to be a coherent brand identity and strategy in place for any brand to work. BUT this is exactly what allowed Peperami to make use of crowdsourcing so effective. They already had a strong brand identity and strategy which made it possible to maximise what they could get out of throwing out a wider net to source creative ideas without running the risk of getting back ideas that were not 'on brand'

Once more they ended with just an idea which still needed to be fully executed into a campaign. This means that if an idea needs a bit of tweaking to make sure it is fully inline with the brand it can be done - and why not by the agency themselves?

Idea Bounty has never claimed it is here to do away with agencies - infact we have turned away clients who we thought would be better off going to an agency. There is always going to be a need for the agency, no one is denying that. Infact even Noam Buchalter from Unilever said the same thing in this interview - http://econsultancy.com/blog/4511-q-a-unilever-s-noam-buchalter-on-crowdsourcing-peperami-ads

What I dont understand is the massive amount of resistance towards crowdsourcing from the agencies themselves. Why dont they embrace something like Idea Bounty as a tool that they can use for their own clients? Using a platform like Idea Bounty would allow them to keep hold of the strategy and identity of the brand as well as pick the right ideas and execute them. There is also fantastic consumer insights you can gather from crowdsourcing and the engagement with people who are more than likely a brands consumer base too is invaluable.

You are right when you say agencies are not dead - we dont want them to die! I just think that agencies need to start embracing crowdsourcing as a tool very soon or risk having clients dump them. Think about it - if Lowe (Peperami's agency) had pushed forward the idea of crowdsourcing them selves they would have A) had control over the brief B) had a hand in picking the winning idea C) gained a whole bunch of insight that they might not have had before D) executed the idea and kept the complete control of the brand image, E) Made money out of allot less effort than before and most importantly would still have Peperami as a client.

Crowdsourcing is not for every brand - but it is effective for those brands that are established and for this reason it is not a once off thing. Yes brands can use crowdsourcing for every campaign but those that they can - they will.

Posted by Dan on 2010/01/29

Dan, the point I was trying to make was that creative stratagies are the forerunner to creative concepts which are in turn followed by creative executions all of which are prepared by the ad agency. In this case crowdsourcing came up with a selection of new executions of the original animal concept.

In the Pepperami case Lowes came up with the strategy, then the concept (1993) and for 15/16 years came various executions - they came up with the original concept of the animals and they built the brand internationally which made Levers millions of pounds profit

The way the original article was worded gave the impression that the crowdsourcing submission was a substitute for the agency's thinking when in fact it wasn't. Crowdsourcing simply supplied an execution.

The nature of an account defines whether crowdsourcing is viable or not so I presume that in the penultimate line of your response you mean 'can't' as opposed to 'can' . If that is the case then I agree with you. But what I think is a wee bit iffy is the fact that clients only pay a few thousand dollars for an execution which presumably they hope will make them millions. On the other hand a few thousand dollars could come in very handy for a bit of moonlighting.

Your point re agencies not embracing crowdsourcing it is interesting but unfortnately agencies don't work in a vacum and therefore do not have'control' over the brief. I guess there was alot more to the decision to drop the agency than simply not coming up with a suitable execution. As I'm sure you are aware the client/agency/agency employees reationship is one that is comlex and embraces more than creative executions. As they say 'you win the account on creativity but you loose it on management'

Having said that crowdsourcing is a good idea. But who makes the decision? If it is the agency's management then this is a kick in the crutch to the existing creative team. If it the client's then it shows little faith in the agency and that, of course, is the client's call. Either way all the relationships are on rocky ground. And you know as well as I do the relationship with 'creatives' is critical. How would your web designers feel if you said 'sorry chaps but I don't think your design submissions are up to scratch so were putting this brief out out' and the client is aware of this. I think I know their response.

So, yes the idea of crowdsourcing is good but if one values the wider input of the agency or digital company or whomever then one should tread carefully. On the other hand if human relationships mean nothing then what the hell.

Paul

PS Believe it or not I don't work in an agency!

- 25 August 2009 - Campaign , UK

So Noam takes the line that like the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals, the solution will be out there for $10K. It cost way more than the price of a nearly new Skoda to built the foundations of almost 20 years of brand growth for what is an extremely lucrative piece of nigh on inedible crud for Unilever. Regardless of the sometimes extravagant Lowe-related costs, what a terrific return on investment and what an incredibly shabby way to treat what was one of the elite creative and planning agencies in the world. Is it any wonder that Lowe's morale will be hitting an even deeper pit of despair?

Still, when Noam is replaced by a CRM program, I shall be laughing my butt off. Rest assured though, I certainly won't be offering him my Big Issue pitch on my days off.

Posted by Paul on 2010/01/29

Very nice insight guys!

I tend to agree with you both in terms of the creative power crowdsourcing offers. This is ever so important for big brands who want to engage with their customers. Instead of promising a two-way relationship and relevant brand messages, so often these companies execute irrelevant campaigns. I happen to feel this way with a few brands, where I have witnessed many adverts and campaigns targeted at 'relevant' markets, while actually the message makes no sense to my profile and needs...

Customer loyalty and engagement are the backbone to any effective CRM program, and are instrumental in determining profitability. Fair enough that creatives are getting upset as their ideas are thrown out for those of some person across the globe. But, the positive side is that the client is able to get their message well aligned with what the customer actually wants!

I love the fact that crowdsourcing has shaken up the industry and potentially serves as a middle man between client and agency, especially with the notion that strategic decisions can be branched out to millions of powerful minds. Instead of leaving the important creative decisions to a few top-level suits (who may have reached their expiration date, creativity wise), crowdsourcing allows for the actual customers to put their feelings and ideas forward and hopefully be heard.

Yes, human relationships are very important, but they are still being nurtured with crowdsourcing initiatives. Nevertheless, the 'rocky-road' between client and agency creatives is one which needs to be worked on as business systems change. I believe that all parties will eventually find a way to work in unison.

It is also true that not all businesses can benefit from crowdsourcing, however those which do do not only help themselves, but also the community at large. There are countless, dynamic minds around the world that can contribute to any business problem - be it software development, creative/design or simply a general idea! Years ago people were constrained by borders and finances - but with the power of crowdsourcing, they now have the ability to gain recognition for their skills.

Times are changing and it is evident that companies have started moving away from traditional business systems. Just take a look at how many are shifting their marketing spend to online. I fully support crowdsourcing and its potential to change the very essence of business.

Who moved my cheese?

Posted by Grant on 2010/01/30

HI Grant,

Great post and all that.

Just a suggestion when choosing your chart - avoid the Pie chart! Use a Horizontal Bar chart in stead (or anything really!!!). It removes the distortion affect and makes the numbers more readable.

http://flowingdata.com
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/yikes-another-pie-horror-show

John

Posted by John on 2010/02/02