Crowdsourcing is becoming a popular option from marketers, with entire companies being set up around the method. At a panel at the 4A’s Transformation Conference, the consensus was that the movement is here to stay.
“The crowdsourcing model is very young but also very exciting, said Tim McClure, co-founder of Omnicom’s GSD&M and founder and CEO of Mythos Legends, a branding company, and the MindMeld Alliance, virtual crowdsourcing agency. We have to overcome the fear of it because it’s changing.
“What we’re beginning to see across our brands is that we have to accept reality that the brand isn’t controlled by a few people,” said Charles Chappell, digital and e-commerce leader at P&G. “There are thousands of people who like our brands and have conversations about them. For us, crowdsourcing touches everything we do.”
Chappell noted that P&G has used crowdsourced ideas for several of its brands, including a new Hugo Boss fragrance, enlisting students and design schools for concepts surrounding the new perfume. “We’re trying a lot of things, but at the end of the day what hasn’t changed is that we’re looking for the best ideas, said Chappell. What has changed is where those ideas will comes from.”
For Chappell, the biggest fear is the loss of control. P&G has been executing a push to leverage online consumer ratings and reviews for its products. “If the products reviews are good, they will help the brands’ images, said Chappell. But if they’re bad, the marketer could run into problems trying to manage any potential control it had over badly reviewed products.
It’s a risk using those reviewers as brand ambassadors. It’s an experiment,” noted Chappell. “We don’t know if it’s going to work.”
“The spirit of competition makes the work better. Crowdsourcing makes us all nervous but it makes the work better, added McClure.
Source: AdAge
