For a while it seemed that crowdsourcing was destined to be 2008′s Second Life (or is Second Life 2008′s Second Life?) – shine brightly, but fizzle out quickly. By the time marketers thought they had unlocked the key to their online Walhalla, consumers had already moved on swiftly. The net result? Empty virtual banks that couldn’t even interest Ma Baker and tumble weed filled shops.
But it appears crowsourcing is blessed with more longevity, particularly among the marketing minded. The basic concept of crowdsourcing is that a company outsources part of its operation to the crowd. Really, it IS that simple – ’cause Jeff Howe sayd so. And he invented the term, so we’ll take his word for it. For anyone that prefers a slightly more academic and intelectually pleasing definition we’ve lifted this from Wikipedia:
“Crowdsourcing is a neologism for the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call.”
So after a period of hibernation crowdsourcing has returned with avengance. Particularly Unilever’s decision to part ways with their agency Lowe and crowdsource the next ads for their Peperami brand has gained a lot of traction in the marketing blogosphere.
But they are far from being the first. Over a year ago Doritos decided that their fans were perfectly capable of producing a TV worthy ad, so they wrote out a contest. The winning video clip got such an overwhelming positive response Doritos decided to air it during the SuperBowl.
Unilever’s reasoning to crowdsource the ad is that “it is difficult to keep him ( ‘Animal’, the brand’s signature character) fresh with the limited number of people working on the ads” and that it will “attract more ideas from creative people” (Hat tip: Econsultancy)
The important question is ‘how will this effect the advertising industry?’ According to Noam Buchalter, marketing manager at Unilever and responsible for the Peperami brand it’s not a thread, but something that needs to be embraced:
“I don’t think agencies should be worried about the threat from crowdsourcing, they should embrace it. More forward thinking creative agencies may well embrace this in future and use the model for their clients’ campaigns. It is a new and emerging model which offers opportunities for both clients and agencies.”
The Doritos and Peperami initiatives are very similar, but there is also a key difference. Doritos was looking to engage their most loyal fans, not only by asking them to create the clip but also by asking the community to decide which was best. The Pererami campaign is different in the sense that they seem more focussed on luring in creative types by dangling a carrot in front of their faces. It’s essentially a pitching process, where the creative is given away for free in the hope of winning a prize.
Personaly, I feel the Doritos route is more interesting. It engages fans and give the brand a real insight into how they are perceived by consumers. That information is invaluable. It also gives them the opportunity to reward fans for the their loyalty and show the wider fan community they are open to their suggestions, which can drive even more involvement.
However, it may be tempting to think it’s a cheap solution which will save a lot of money and attract some buzz along the way. But this is simply not the case. Whilst Doritos offered money as an incentive for people to get involved, I doubt that was the main reason for these people to enter the competition. Feeling connected to a brand and the opportunity for a lot of people to see what you have created is much more likely to drive adoption of such a campaign. Which means you need a strong brand to which people feel, or want to feel connected – and not many brands are blessed with such loyal fans.
Additionally, where is the limit? It’s one thing to ask people to create a 30 second video, but could you crowdsource an entire website? How about a campaign strategy? It is unlikely, which means advertising agencies will fight to live another day.
We are interested to find out how people feel about these recent initiatives and how they may impact on the industry, so please join the debate in the comments below.
