It’s been a decade now since Advertising industry first heard something known as ” Crowdsourcing”. But off late the businesses have been keen on capitalizing the benefits which it brings to the table.
Crowdsourcing:
To simply put, the term crowdsourcing means outsourcing the designated task to the undefined, unknown large pool of people, aiming to tap the creative power of the crowd. Crowd refers to the huge count of freelancers which may have expertise as a writer, designer, art directors etc. Companies think of innovative ideas to involve their customers during the process of production and design. Crowdsourcing campaigns aims at seeking regular feedback from their customers, asking their preferences for flavors, color or design and even allowing them to create and submit their own design. This imparts a sense of importance of the consumers as they feel that they are being heard and their ideas are valuable for their brand. In turn, this enhances brand loyalty also. These campaigns provide fresh perspective to the companies in generating authentic ads.
Benefits of Crowdsourcing:
- Provides access to large pool of fresh and creative talent.
- Companies have the luxury to choose among the huge number of available creatives and design.
- People from different locations participate in the campaign, so there isn’t any geographical constraint which allow companies to avail the talent which wasn’t available locally from them.
- Payment is made only to those whose ideas are selected. So, this is cost effective.
- It enhances the reach of brand as people from different locations take part in campaign.
- Reduces the risk of failure as customer feedbacks were taken during production and design which gives better visibility as to what the customers actually want.
Some examples of successful Crowdsourcing Campaigns:
- Lay’s – Do Us A Flavor – Chips company asked the customer to submit their ideas for next chips flavor. This ensured that Lays provided their customers what they were looking for.
- Starbucks – White Cup Contest – Starbucks asked their consumers to decorate their Starbucks cups with creative design and submit the pic. The winning design was printed as Starbucks Limited Edition cups.
- Doritos – Crash the Super Bowl – One the very first Crowdsourcing campaigns which was a huge hit. Doritos allowed people to submit their own 30sec ad and the best one was telecasted.