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Crash Course: Everything You Need To Know About Crowdsourcing … Before Your CEO Asks.

By January 30, 2015March 10th, 2017News

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This weekend, its the Super Bowl® and The Ad Bowl, all wrapped up in one super-hyped package of anticipation. Regardless of how the game goes, the advertising will stir attention and conversation. And maybe even drive some business! Doritos®’ “Crash The SuperBowl” campaign will be part of the conversation, in particular because it is “crowdsourced.” And Doritos is not alone. Lincoln, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Pizza-Hut and others are spinning crowdsourcing, too.

Could your company use crowdsourcing? How did Doritos do it?

Fortunately for you, today, there are platforms out there that can serve as your short-cut to crowdsourcing. And we’ve prepared an epaper to help you prepare. But Frito-Lay® had to invest a great deal of time, money and operational structure to mobilize its fan base.

Beginning in 2006, Doritos established a contest for a “fan-made” commercial that aired in Super Bowl XLI. They used advertising and other channels to assemble the crowd, which is renewed each year. Crowd members are self-selected. Fans invest not only an idea, but a finished video. An even larger, secondary crowd of voters determines how far an idea goes in the contest.

In year nine, “Crash The Super Bowl” is far more a marketing strategy than a creative strategy. The brand likely spends as much assembling each contest’s crowd as they do in airing the winning-spot. Not only is Doritos paying $4.5M for a :30 spot in Super Bowl XLIX, they are promoting participation in 29 countries, hosting a website, polling and paying out prize money and benefits totally over $1M for 30 finalists.

Chances are, your company doesn’t have those kinds of resources to apply to one advertising event. Even one as “commercially” relevant as The Super Bowl.

But this “crowdsourcing” thing appears to have legs. You hear the term more often now. You think, “Our company will never do a Super Bowl spot. Maybe it works for Doritos, but can it work for other brands, retailers, even B2B companies?” Or you ask, “Do we really want our users creating our advertising? Are there crowds that aren’t “fan-based?” What kind of challenges can we give a crowd? Is it a good thing to “get one great idea from hundreds of entries and just pay the winner?” Can crowdsourcing really produce useful results, or is it more trouble than it’s worth? Why would I share my business challenges with a bunch of people we don’t even know?” Wow!

But you do know that on the Monday morning after SuperBowl XLIX, your CEO may ask, “What is this crowdsourcing thing? And should we be doing it?” Are you prepared to respond?

Check out this eBook to be ready with all the answers:

“Everything You Need to Know About Crowdsourcing Advertising Before Your CEO Asks.”

Doritos has been tapping the crowd for years. But it’s still anyone’s game out there in crowdsourcing country. Read the paper. Be the MVP. Or at least be ready to play when your CEO asks, “Should we be using “the crowd?”