Crowdsourcing Creativity

The following is also my column this week on AdAge.com...

The phrase outsourcing is not one you hear discussed often in the advertising industry. It's largely taboo since it generally refers to the decentralization of more routine work. In our business, most of us are paid to be creative  - and we're proud of it.

However, a fundamental shift is taking place in where creativity originates. No longer is it centralized. It's decentralized. The masses now have access to the same distribution channels that we do and they're using it to flex their creative muscles. Therefore, it is critical that the advertising community embrace crowdsourcing as a model for the future. Can we? Only if some of us check our egos at the door.

Crowdsourcing was first coined by Wired Magazine earlier this year. It's a process where businesses faced with tough challenges don't try to come up with all of the answers themselves. They tap into the collective wisdom of millions of amateurs around the world to come up with a solution. Naturally, this is enabled through digital technology. For example, Procter and Gamble researchers post about their particular research challenges on InnoCentive.com, offering rewards to hobbyists and amateur scientists who come up with the best solution. And they do.

In the creative disciplines of advertising, marketing and public relations, however, we're just beginning to see the fruits of such collaboration. Crowdsourcing is one reason YouTube was such an attractive acquisition for Google. Marketers by the boatload are rushing to launch campaigns where consumers, not the advertising agency alone, determine what goes into a television ad. The TV nets have been at it even longer. Reality television and text-message voting for American Idol are at their heart, crowdsourcing.

All of this is just a start. Now is the time for the industry to commit to crowdsourcing as not a nice-to-do but a must-do that permeates the bloodstream of our business. It needs go go beyond "upload your video here and maybe we'll let you into our hallowed halls" to a process that that is far more strategic and integrated. Give individuals the creative brief. Let them guide you.

Comments

[Dennis D. McDonald in Alexandria, Virginia USA]

It' good that you point out the Procter & Gamble example since their process includes serious review and evaluation. Not all examples of "croudsourcing" are destined to generate great or creative ideas, which may just be another example of Sturgeon's Law in action.

[David Burn]

Great piece of thinking here, Steve. Thanks.

[Jon Cronin]

Steve,
Just as life swirls and swirls so do the people that create. Our life on this earth is sparked by ingenuity and creativity and it is up to us to harness the wisdom of crowds. I recently was a consultant at an amazing company that understands this a very basic level. http://urbis.com is a place for creative people to share their work, get collective feedback, and then compete for paid opportunities with publishers like Random House. This is the future of crowdsourcing and community.

[Lionel DAVID]

Look at our initiative which is the first "commitment" from industry ;-) (http://cecrowdsourcing.blogspot.com/). Launch of an official website very soon.

[Joseph]

Dennis makes a good point. I agree, Steve, that crowdsourcing can be a powerful technique for culling great ideas. That said, the questions/challenges must be targeted in focus, and the answers/results strongly vetted, for the process to consistently achieve quality results.

[Robby Ralston]

I guess you'll be interested in checking out www.holotof.com : globally crowdsourced advertising creativity.

[Bram De Maesschalck]

We had the same idea a few months back.
The Platform is online since yesterday.
http://www.socialpitching.com/
Greetz,
Bram

[Robby Ralston]

www.holotof.com launched it's first global pitch last week.

Un abrazo,
Robby!