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Crowdsourcing, Civilized. What’s that about?

By News

Boom Ideanet recognizes that there are elements of crowdsourcing that are controversial: per unit compensation can be low, few or often only one, contributor may be paid, the approach is often charged with inviting “spec-work,” not to mention that it disrupts the traditional ad agency model for creative development. The Boom model is designed to address those issues. We believe that crowdsourcing will only survive if it is ethical in its principles and practices. Our goal is to operate such a platform.

We strive to achieve the following:
1. Award more contributors, in line with the freelance market.
2. Seek a balance between competition and compensation.
3. Protect the confidentiality of the brand, while respecting the intellectual property of the contributor.
4. Mash-up agency-level quality with crowdsourcing agility.
5. Offer a cost advantage to marketers without taking advantage of creators.

So Boom Ideanet is doing more than just challenging the status quo of advertising creativity. Boom is challenging the status quo of crowdsourcing.

MARKETERS: When you issue challenges through Boom Ideanet, you get a volume of high-quality ideas developed by vetted, creative talents at a fair cost. Clients are delivered a wealth of ideas that come from veteran thinkers, as well as from those who bring an utterly fresh perspective. It’s a low-risk, high-reward proposition for both busineses and creators.

CREATORS: When creative people accept a challenge, they always know the compensation structure at the outset. So every participant has a clear understanding of the terms before ever choosing to invest his or her time and energy and to enter ideas. Many crowdsourcing models operate on a “winner-takes-all” basis. Boom distributes award dollars more equitably. We typically offer compensation for finalists, as well as winners. In many cases, we diminish the degree of “spec” work by assigning creative talent and offering compensation to multiple creators.

NO SURPRISES: At Boom, that’s our goal. The only surprise should be the spontaneous reaction to a great idea!

Of course, in all scenarios, we want to charge fairly and pay fairly. A more rewarded “crowd” delivers more rewarding work to the client.

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:  Every member of the network is vetted and signs a non-disclosure agreement. We want to assure the confidentiality of the client’s business information, which is crucial to setting the stage for productive thinking.

As a creator, almost every other crowdsourcing business requires you to give up your intellectual property at the time of entry. When you participate in a Boom brief, your retain the IP until purchased.

Boom is doing everything in its power to respect creative work and to operate ethically, advancing the principles and the practice of crowdsourcing. Here on the frontiers of crowdsourcing, Boom Ideanet intends to be a civilizing force.

Peter Drucker: “Take Control Of Your Career”

By News

BN-FZ134_bkrvdr_FR_20141211133246rMatthew Rees, of Geonomica, reviews what is likely the next must-read “business” book in The Wall Street Journal today, 12/12/2014. (Here’s a link to the review, but WSJ is fiesty about allowing non-subscribers access, even temporarily). The title: A Year With Peter Drucker, 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello.

From the review: “In one chapter—titled “A Major Period of Transition for Society and Individuals”—Mr. Maciariello highlights Drucker’s views about an era marked by “enormous uncertainty and danger”: Drucker was speaking in 1992, but his descriptions ring true today. He emphasized the need for workers to “manage themselves,” given that they are likely to outlive the organizations that employ them. “Take control of your career,” writes Mr. Maciariello in a kind of paraphrasing epigram, “while developing your own human capital.”

It might be said that Mr. Drucker set the stage for a theme that Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) would one day echo with his expression, “Be the entrepreneur of your own life.

We like to think that Boom Ideanet offers creative free-agents, opportunities to engage in work on their terms — and build their human capital. Not to mention currency capital. Which suggests another Boom theme: A more rewarded network generates more rewarding work for our clients.

Could indeed be a worthy read for solo entrepreneurs as well as the “corporate.” We’re sure you can find a copy – possibly even at one of the few bricks and mortar book entrepreneurs remaining.

In-Source: Managing Change With In-House Creative Departments

By News

In-source_Signature_Event_Image

Boom Ideanet sponsored the In-Source Theory+Practice event on the evening of December 3, 2014, held at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. The topic was MANAGING CHANGE, addressed by Jeni Herberger of The Fulcrum Agency and Bob Calvano of A+E Networks. In a unique format, the two speakers shared observations, insights and guidance to the nearly 100 attendees.

Jeni shared that “companies are looking for greater control over the creative process, turning to their corporate creative teams because they understand the business, the industry and the culture of their organization.”

This theme was echoed by Bob in his persuasive case for how in-house agency teams can define a true value proposition to their company: quality work, dollar savings, the ability to leverage institutional knowledge, established relationships with the other disciplines, convenience, sharing the same goals, and establishing trust and transparency. Many of those values represent very real challenges for outside agencies to deliver.

Bob went on to show how he assembled a scalable organization that relied on trusted outside resources for much of their work, with the core leadership and functions handled by his on-staff team members. That’s precisely the kind of working model Boom Ideanet could align with.

Jeni also shared six steps for how a design approach can help manage change in the in-house agency model: Step 1. Understand the goals, what do you have to offer that can help drive the business? Step 2. Know thy “real” self; including the why, not just the what. (She invoked Simon Sinek’s’ “Golden Circle” talk.) Step 3. Develop partnerships; ask how you can make them successful. Step 4. Run a sustainable organization; align by function. Step 5. Perception is everything; create an inspirational space; motivate with respect. Step 6. Scales & Measures; build for scalability; know what’s important to prove.

The two speakers reinforced and augmented each other’s material in affirming and enlightening ways. The result was an inspiring presentation that will contribute to the growing presence and stature of in-house creative teams.

Boom Ideanet is pleased to have sponsored the event — and hope that their remarks support the case for how in-house agencies can turn to a resource like ours to help manage not only changes in work flow, but also to navigate the changing in-house agency landscape.

 

Boom Puts A Furry Spin On Black Friday TV For PetSmart

By News

The PetSmart 2014 Black Friday spot leverages a little charm to create a Black Friday spot that should stand out from the rest. The spot also takes license from the week’s shopping urgency to break the mold of PetSmart’s on-going Thank You Notes Holiday Campaign. (See earlier blog entry.)

Selected from over 200 ideas, the PetSmart Black Friday TV concept offered a unique and captivating spin on Black Friday. Boom Ideanet handled not only ideasourcing, but also produced the campaign. The production company was Daily Planet, out of Phoenix, with Jerry Brown as director. The spots were edited at 19Below in Kansas City, Joy Moeller, editor. Licensed music: Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis.

1 Great Brief. 150 Ideas. Top 10 Holiday Campaign. Boom.

By Marketing Proof, News

Boom Takes #inspiredbypets To Heart For The Holidays.

Ideasourcing model produces endearing “Thank You” to pets for PetSmart’s 2014 Holiday TV Campaign. For retailers, getting attention on the air can be as competitive as getting traffic to your storefront or site. To generate creative that would help the brand standout, Fortune 400 retailer, PetSmart turned to the unique spin on crowdsourcing offered by Boom Ideanet to develop its 2014 Holiday campaign.

Read More

How In-House Creative Teams Can Break Out Of The Routine

By News

The 2015 marketing calendar is staring you in the face. And you’re thinking that it looks a lot like 2014, which looked a lot like 2013. How do you bring a fresh mindset to projects that cycle through year after year?!

You plug into the Idea Energy of Boom! Challenge our vetted network of creators to generate fresh, disciplined thinking. We’ll help you with the brief, engage the network and turn over the ideas to you.

You’re in control. You decide what works. You determine how to move forward. We can throw in raw concepts or refine as needed. You can even turn to Boom to execute if that makes sense.

We’ve done tons of broadcast. We’ve conceived, scripted and produced web video. We’ve helped with campaign concepts, direct mail, promotional theme-ing, naming, design, visual assets, copywriting and more.

Boom can be your go-to resource when calendar fatigue sets in, work load peaks, or you need special skills or experience in a category or channel.

Boom! That’s how you break out of the routine.

Q: How Does Boom Differ From An Ad Agency?

By News

A: With an ad agency, an agenda just comes with the territory. They say, “We put all our best creative minds against your challenge, generated dozens of ideas, and here are the best three.” They filter what you see and press you to follow their lead.

Whether you ask the question or not, you always wonder about the ideas you didn’t see. You always wonder what you – or even they – might have missed.

Boom shares everything. And you spot the hidden nuggets of brilliance, as well as the fully-formed concepts. Of course, if you want our opinion, we’ll share it.

With Boom, here’s what you get:
You’re in control — skip the layers of approval; no agency agenda or pitch to endure.
You get quality — the Ideanet is populated by disciplined, energized creative talent.
You see all the ideas — You’re the judge; no ideas are filtered out; you make the call.
Your budget goes further — you only pay for the creative resources you need. No idle, expensive FTE’s in stand-by mode.
You get results fast — Most projects turn in 48 hours to 10 days, once brief is posted.

That’s different. Even disruptive.

Idea Energy Sparks New Website

By News

 

What do you get when you smash the disruption of crowdsourcing into the convention of the ad agency? Boom!

You also get a new website! Here at BOOM Ideanet, we’ve been harnessing the energy that results from the collision of these forces for three-plus years.  So when you visit our site now, you’ll see that we decided it was time to reflect that energy in the look and feel of our brand.

We invite creators from around the globe to apply their idea energy against the hardened challenges of marketers of all kinds.

And we invite marketers of all kinds to challenge us: Brands. In-house agencies. Production companies. Startups. Fortune 400 retailers like PetSmart.

You get the quality you’d expect from an agency, ramped up with the energy of a distributed workforce.

Get started here.