Every crowd has a…
Agencies have been doing their own versions of crowdsourcing for decades by, for example, scouring colleges for fresh talent and ideas with graduate schemes. When appropriate direction is given, such initiatives can generate innovative and bountiful ideas.
Yet although crowdsourcing techniques can deliver on volume in the short term, they may not be sustainable. I’d question how deep the talent pool in the crowd actually is and – by extension – when will it run dry?
At what point will the crowd start to heckle or disperse, having not been adequately rewarded?
As a brand, will it concern me that the source for my ideas will be the same source for my competitors?
As a creative or consumer “face in the crowd”, you are unaccountable for the success or failure of your idea and the relative return on investment it creates. So what becomes of values such as creative integrity and loyalty?
What I have noticed so far with crowdsourcing is how the crowd naturally defaults to working in small collectives when generating ideas. Maybe this is an embryonic sign of agencies forming? Now that would be an ironic paradox.
Beri Cheetham, Executive director, Billington Cartmell
