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Creative Crowdsourcing

In creative crowdsourcing, a skilled crowd performs a creative task. The customer supplies information about the desired design on a specific platform and stipulates the final price. In additiona, the designers accept the contract and the customer selects the winning design that is then paid for. Interestingly, this method is commonly used to create company names, slogans, business cards or web designs. The crowd is usually comprised of people who are skilled and experienced in producing creative and innovative ideas. Additionally, using skilled workers in this instance lessens the risk of ending up with lots of work that you can’t use or isn’t suitable.

Creative crowdsourcing ©   Flikr by opensourceway

What Are the Benefits?

The issuing company benefits in many ways. Obviously, a clear advantage is the ability to choose between a large selection of designs. However, putting all hope into one person or small team will not give the wide range of ideas that crowdsourcing does. Having ideas to choose from means more options and more chances to find that ideal content. The pre-determined price ensures planning certainty and the concentration of designers. Also, this saves the trouble of searching for a suitable designer. In addition, the costs on these platforms are often significantly lower than for designers commissioned individually. Therefore, knowing the price upfront means everyone is on the same page. Above all, this lessens any conflict or issues later in the process.

Learn more about the possibilities of the crowd and how this can support your company!

Effective Creative Crowdsourcing

The crowd must have criteria to follow. For instance, they need to know their audience, the company, the product, what is required and what is a no-go. Therefore, information cannot be vague when briefing creative workers as this leads to designs and ideas that are way off the mark. The offered incentives must be kept relevant to the task. For example, paying workers a low wage for several hours of work will not lead to an excellent final product. By keeping rewards welcoming the best talent possible will be attracted to the company.

Successful Creative Crowdsourcing Campaigns

In 2007 McDonald’s held a casting for anyone in the world. This contest aimed to use the faces of real people on their bags and cups. After 13,000 entries they chose 24 to go on packages worldwide! Similarly, McDonald’s in Australia held a contest for someone to name a new burger and thus the McOz was born. The company was praised for including its customers and for their business acumen. General Electric (GE) launched a project in 2010 to gather environmentally friendly business ideas. They also held a creative project via Instagram, awarding the winner a visit to one of their world-class facilities.