Crowdsouring is a buzzword that has been knocking around for a while now. There is a lot of thought, theory and ongoing conversation about it, and we're starting to see brands begin to use it in various different formats. But how does it work in the research & innovation world? 'Journey To The Centre Of The Crowd... And Back Again' explores crowdsourcing from it's definition and gives hints, tips and strategy advice on how you can implement crowsourcing for innovation. Face is the co-creation planning agency. We bring brands and consumers together to co-create insights, innovation and communications strategy. To find out more check out our site: www.facegroup.co.uk

2. Crowdsourcing?

3. Wikipedia, a
crowdsourcing
platform, describes
crowdsourcing as:

4. “a neologistic
compound of Crowd
& Outsourcing for the
act of taking tasks
traditionally performed
by an employee or contractor, and
outsourcing them to a group of people or
community, through an "open call" to a large
group of people (a crowd) asking for
contributions.”

5. So in short…
Crowdsourcing is the act of
outsourcing tasks or problems by
asking a large group of people for
contributions.

6. The most important word being:
“Contributions”
Not Answers

7. Crowdsourcing will not give you a fully
formed answer.
Handing everything over to the crowd
will only take you so far, you still have
to play a role as an expert in this field.
By listening to the crowd &
harnessing their creativity, naivety &
fresh thinking …

8. …you will
find yourself
in places
you have
never been
before…

9. Crowdsourcing will provide you with
hundreds of new thoughts, ideas and
insights.
As professionals and experts in our
fields, it is up to us to see the potential
in ideas…
And to take a crowdsourced seed and
turn it into a reality.

10. Generally in a crowdsourcing project the
journey is a bit like this:
Hundreds, if not thousands, of ideas will be
produced…
Users will rate ideas as they go along…
It is the agencies role to cluster these ideas, noting
themes, insights, the best ideas and the enthusiasm
towards ideas and thoughts…
The best ideas picked out by
both the agency and the brand
will join the ideas that receive
the most votes from the crowd
in being taken forward to the
next stage.

11. Examples of Crowdsourcing

12. Pepsi Refresh Everything
Pepsi are currently showing their philanthropic side by allowing users to
dictate where they donate their cash
The platform uses idea generation and voting, the ideas that gain the
most votes receive funding (from $5k to $250k)
Funded ideas range from providing wounded soldiers with comfort items
($250k) to providing iPod Touches to schools with poor resources ($5k)
It has a great platform & shows crowdsourcing in its purest form, well
worth checking out… http://www.refresheverything.com/

13. Doritos King Of Ads
Doritos have put an open call out to the internet asking for users to
make their next TV ad…
The guys working for Doritos and their agencies will narrow down all
the entries to a final 3…
These 3 go back online and the Doritos community vote for their
favourite, the ad with the most votes wins £££ and their advert is
shown on TV!
Doritos have used this model successfully before in the UK with their
‘You Make It, We Play It’ campaign and have crowdsourced their last
2 Superbowl adverts in the same way.
Check out King of Ads & Crash the Superbowl – http://
www.kingofads.doritos.com & http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com

14. Nokia Design
By Community
Nokia are collecting the thoughts of the crowd ‘to define the ultimate
concept mobile device’
Every week they are asking users to design the specs for a different section
of the ‘ultimate’ mobile device
Currently they are looking at size & shape but they will be exploring
connectivity, design and operating system
Although they are masking it as ‘a bit of fun’, this exercise will provide them
insight going forward about how users want their phones to look and work
Check out Nokia’s crowdsourcing platform here - http://
conversations.nokia.com/design-by-community/

15. How Do You Know If
Crowdsourcing
Is Good For Your
brief?

16. Crowdsourcing delivers its best
results if:
The brief is SIMPLE
The tasks are CREATIVE & FUN
There is a CONCEIVABLE OUTPUT

17. if the brief is too complicated or
wordy users will lose interest
S Crowdsourcing has to be kept simple if you want
lots of people to participate
I
M There has to be one easily understandable
overarching question frames the project
P The question is what the whole project should
L revolve around, users should be able to
comprehend it effortlessly
E All the background information should be
simplified and used as stimulus

18. Allowing users to be creative and have
fun with your brand makes the task more
C appealing & produces better results
R People want to get involved with brands on their terms
E if you want them to get involved you have to open up
A and make the task interesting & fun!
T They will respect you for opening up your brand and
I trusting them to help you move forward
V You cannot police a crowdsourcing brief too much, if
E you do you will stump natural creativity
& FUN

19. If the final output is tangible &
C participants can imagine it existing, the
O easier it is for them to get involved
N Some briefs just aren’t suitable for crowdsourcing
C If the final output is too technical or too specific then
I the general public may not be able to comprehend it
E However if it is something that is already part of
OUTPUT
V their everyday life then it becomes a lot easier
A for users to complete the task
B When crowdsourcing you have to pick your crowd
L carefully, certain sections of people will be more
suitable to answer your brief than others.
E

20. If all these factors are
covered in your brief it
will be perfect for a
crowdsourced
approach!

21. After a crowdsourcing project the best ideas
selected by the brand, agency and crowd, often
go into an…
online community
for refining and testing.
But…
What is an online
community??

22. An online community is a
website in which a group of
people with a common interest
or goal come together to
socialize, interact, voice their
opinions, and complete tasks in
order to gain rewards – both
physical and virtual.

23. Examples of online communities
include:

24. To find out more about…
Crowdsourcing,
Online
Communities,
And
Face
Please check out our site:
www.facegroup.co.uk

25. please fire any questions
to me:
THANK
matthew@facegroup.co.uk
YOU!
@mattsimpson1985
www.facegroup.co.uk