Crowdsourcing: The Future is Now
Website and logo design can be a time-consuming and lengthy process, especially if your company doesn’t know exactly what you’re looking for. In an ongoing project with a client we participated in a very creative and unique process, called crowdsourcing. Basically, we held an online contest for web designers to come up with new logo ideas for their business. If you’ve never heard of this up and coming marketing phenomenon, listen up!
Jeff Howe, who coined the term originally, states that crowdsourcing is, “the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call.” What’s so unique about this concept is that you can essentially crowdsource anything, from ideas, to web and logo design, to business cards, to brochures, advertisements, and even clothing designs.
The Benefits
So what are the benefits for businesses looking to crowdsource? You receive designs from a wide variety of professionals and members of the community that you can pick and choose from. These designers provide you with a fresh set of eyes, creative ideas, and a finished product that you will likely be happy with for a relatively minimal investment. Is there a certain amount of risk involved? Yes, but you might just realize that a million heads is better than one. And the benefit for the great thinkers and designers out there? You can submit ideas to an as many projects as you want, and if yours is chosen, you get paid!
There are several great websites out there that will host your crowdsourcing contest and provide a platform linking businesses and artists. Our favorite is 99designs, based in San Francisco, CA. 99designs makes a crowdsourcing contest easy to set-up and monitor, and offers a wide-variety of projects and pricing options. As of right now, 99designs has 863 open projects listed, with an average of 83 submissions per project. The company also paid out $629,610 to designers last month alone, and is quickly becoming the number one design marketplace out there.
How it Works
If you’re a business looking to crowdsource, you simply submit your initial outline and project description, and choose a package that makes sense for you. Designers then collaborate and begin submitting ideas to compete for your prize. An important piece of the crowdsourcing process is the delivery of continual feedback to these designers so that they can deliver a concept that you’re looking for. At the end of the contest, you choose which idea you like best and award the prize to the person who submitted it. In return, you receive the final design as well as the copyright to the original artwork.
Crowdsourcing is a very unique concept that will only become more and more widespread. Businesses receive creative ideas and designs from the community for a relatively small investment, and a community of artists can contribute ideas to an unlimited amount of projects and get paid for their work. It truly offers a win-win situation for everyone, and we anticipate that more businesses will begin taking advantage of this great concept moving forward.
Although many marketing firms offer in-house design services, crowdsourcing should definitely be on your radar. Marketing firms can even provide assistance with getting a crowdsourcing campaign up and running for you, and can help you choose a final design that will bring out the best in your business offering. Next time you’re looking for a fresh look or design, give it a try! You might just realize that collaboration can transform your business.
Hide & Seek Media is a creative marketing firm with locations in Boston, MA and Park City, UT. If you’re interested in learning more about developing your own creative marketing strategy, shoot us an email and tell us about your business and current marketing goals.
Cheers
– Joe from HSM
