Crowdsourcing – Part 1: Your logo, name and anything else?
by Andy Wright
I’ve been fascinated by the emerging trend of crowdsourcing. In recent months I’ve become more of a skeptic though. What started as a trend – arguably on the back of co-creation – is in danger of becoming a fad.
Image source: garrigosyllopis.wordpress.com
A number of crowdsourcing initiatives and businesses have materialised to capitalise on the opportunity for individuals to make a living for themselves, see this list of examples. Designers have greater freedom and an opportunity to develop their own styles and reputation. At the same time it’s lead to a renewed scrutiny of big brands as well as government departments who spend thousands of dollars with brand consultancies developing ‘new logos.’ For example, a heated debate around the Australian State of NSW logo can be found here, but there are plenty of others.
I would recommend that crowdsourcing can’t replace these kinds of projects but can be used effectively in the following scenario’s:
- Smaller businesses creating an identity on a limited budget.
- Large brands with big followings as part of an advertising campaign with added engagement.
- Getting a broad feel and understanding of target audience opinions and expectations.
- Working with leading experts to create innovative solutions.
Crowdsourcing a logo is exactly that. It’s great for small businesses who can tap into a wide pool of talent to create a shop sign, letterhead or basic website. However, for a multi million dollar business or government investment, a logo should never be delivered without customer insight, brand strategy and guidelines for execution. A brand is much more than a logo and therefore deserves investment directly proportionate to the value attributed to it. The top brands in the world attribute a significant amount of value to their brand and record this on the balance sheet.
As Michael Eisner once said:
“A brand is a living entity—and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”
Crowdsourcing can also be used to develop new products, flavours and advertising campaigns. Smith’s chips in Australia are currently asking the country to choose their favourite new flavour (already devised from a number of entries) and of course we know all about Vegemite and their initiative.
When the objective is to generate ideas, buzz and engagement with a target audience crowdsourcing is an excellent way to do so. (My opinion is still waivering on the Vegemite tactic. They’ve come very close to alienating a target audience.) However, you could argue at the same time, this isn’t crowdsourcing, but clever public relations (or dare I say, manipulation).
This also shouldn’t be perceived as a cheap way to generate PR. Many non-marketing directors or exec’s may think that consumers are giving them free word of mouth or advertising content. However, the reality is the dollars invested in media, advertising creative, PR and online marketing are just as significant as a normal ‘branding’ campaign.
Crowdsourcing complete brand solutions is a much riskier proposition. Understanding of the brand, the market, the customer and the competition as well as all the dynamic forces at play will most likely be limited. Instead you’ll receive ‘solutions’ that are much more driven by individual style, experience and perspective. It can be used though to garner a sense of opinion, or even feedback on work in progress as long as the direction is set by the experts. Some more thoughts on this argument via comments on Seth Simond’s blog.
Co-creation (the original form of crowdsourcing or another element – you decide) has been successfully used to drive innovation and market growth in a number of categories. Many technology / Internet brands are good examples of this. Apple iPhone apps, Mac widgets and the Twitter API add value and take-up of a product. All created by experts that in turn market their creations and grow consumer demand.
It doesn’t have to stop there. Boeing are another fine example of what can be achieved when experts are brought together. Boeing facilitated a process that brought their best suppliers together to collaborate on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The result was a feature rich, faster, more sustainable solution, but due to the nature of collaboration it wasn’t without its challenges.
In conclusion, crowdsourcing is certainly a hot topic at the moment but ultimately, like many things in life you get what you pay for.
I didn’t feel that I could write about this subject (like many others) without actually having experienced the process for myself. Look out for Part 2 of this post which describes my personal experience with crowdsourcing.
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