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BlogCivilized Crowdsourcing News & Views

Kansas City Business Journal Raises Awareness of Crowdsourcing

By News

Wherever you look in business today, you’ll see conversation around “cultures of innovation.” Brands languish without new ideas — and new ways of generating them. Idea categories include process, product development and certainly marketing.

Marketing teams are being challenged to find new ways to keep the brand fresh and engage consumers. More organizations are starting to consider crowdsourcing as a way to meet the demand for ideas and content. The recent crowdsourced spots from Doritos aired during Super Bowl XLIX and other advertisers in the past, solidify the promise of such a model.

However, creative crowdsourcing goes far beyond commercials. The model can be used for creating branding, logos, naming, direct mail, landing page design, social copy, video, any marketing communications element.

The Kansas City Business Journal recently interviewed Boom Ideanet about this trend, and touched on further insights into how the approach can benefit companies by saving time, money, team stress, and more. Boom Ideanet members shared their perspective on where crowdsourcing may be headed.

Check out the article on the Kansas City Business Journal here.

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Super Bowl Advertising – Crowdsourced Creative Among Top Spots

By News

As you know, there were many themes apparent in the SuperBowl XLIX commercial portfolio.

There was dad-dom (Nissan, Dove Men+Care). Puppy-dom (Budweiser). There was overcoming-disability-dom (Microsoft, Nissan). And scantily-clad-dom (T-Mobile. Victoria’s Secret). There was also borrowing celebrity-dom. (Kia. Snickers. Wix).

Plenty of “doms” to go around.

But the surprising results from the night belong to Doritos. According to Ace Metrix research, Doritos’ crowdsourced spot appears among the year’s Top Spots. AdMeter seemed to agree, ranking Doritos’ crowdsourced creative in the top 5. Yes, it’s fan-based creative. And not every company is in a position to turn its brand over to its consumers. But the Doritos fan crowd does suggest that there is certified creative power in the crowd.

In light of this, if your CEO is asking you, “Should we be doing this crowdsourcing thing?” you’ll want answers.

We can help you with answers. We can help you decide if a crowd can work for your brand. Even if you aren’t airing a Super Bowl commercial! And suggest how you can test the crowdsourcing waters.

Visit this link and download our free eBook about “Everything You Need To Know About Crowdsourcing Before Your CEO Asks.”

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It may just come in handy!

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

By News

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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?”

28 Creators. 100+ Ideas. Back-To-Back Campaigns. Boom.

By Blog, Marketing Proof, News, Showcase

Sergeant’s Gets More For Less With Boom.

Sergeant’s engaged Boom Ideanet to develop broadcast advertising for its Fipronil® flea & tick products for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The network generated dozens of ideas against both the 2012 and 2013 briefs. Sergeant’s internal brand team reviewed the ideas, narrowed the set down to three finalists, which were tested, then a winner was chosen.

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AdAge & Ace METRIX Recognize PetSmart Holiday TV Created by Boom Ideanet

By News

It’s one thing to make a top ten list for entertaining creative. It’s another thing entirely to make a top ten list for effectiveness. Both the left brain and the right brain can celebrate!

“It’s not what the brands are trying to communicate, it’s how they communicate,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, which tracks ad effectiveness based on metrics like “likeability,” “attention,” “relevance,” and “desire,” or purchase intent. “A lot of these brands, especially on the retail side, are very good examples of using a story to spread their message.”

The brief came from PetSmart. The ideas for campaign concepts and production came from Boom Ideanet. And the results came from pet parents everywhere. Check out spots and the story here: Watch The Holiday Season’s Most Effective Ads.

See the PetSmart ad below, and read more about the PetSmart campaign at this earlier Boom Holiday TV blog entry.

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

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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.

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