Standing out from the Crowd

by Charlene Brisson, MAPC Marketing & Communication Specialist, @charlenebrisson

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new term being thrown about in the internet marketing community. Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine coined it in 2006 as “putting a problem out there to have it solved independently.” The Urban Dictionary describes it as “the practice of outsourcing a job or task that is traditionally performed by employees or a contracted company to a non-organized, usually large group of people, generally in the form of an open call or competition” (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crowdsourcing).

Doritos “Name a Flavor” and “Create a Superbowl Ad,” or Queensland Tourism’s “Greatest Job in the World” contests may come to mind when you hear this buzzword. Yet, as author, entrepreneur and professor Rick Goossen (@make_good) explained to the March 10^th IIMA event, crowdsourcing is hundreds of years old. One of the first recorded concepts is from 1714 when the British Parliament posed the problem of how to measure longitude. Cabinet maker John Harrison, answered the call and won $5 million for his solution. The point? Goossen highlights two:

1. Well established principles of entrepreneurship and innovation have worked for hundreds of years. It’s just that technology allows us to be more efficient.
2. According to James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, groups can often be smarter than the smartest person in the crowd. Particularly when acting separately but apart from each other – so there’s no collusion or swaying. No one told John Harrison he couldn’t do it.  

Of course, the key is to actually have a crowd. Goossen uses Fluevog’s Open Source Footwear as an example (http://www.fluevog.com/files_2/os-1.html).  After 30 years of building up a following, Fluevog came up with the crowd sourced shoe.  They ask site visitors what kind of shoe they’d like to see. Site visitors vote and the winning shoes are produced by Fluevog. Right now, there are hundreds of hand-made designs waiting for votes (click on RESULTS after clicking the link above). A quick look at the site is an example of how to engage customers. In addition to Open Source Footwear, customer Flueshots are posted (photos of feet in Fluevogs); they run contests like win $1,000 in shoes for an ad design; give away random prizing and solicit ongoing customer input. As a result of these initiatives, Goossen shares that Fluevog’s website makes more money than any single retail bricks and mortar location in the world. Crowdsourcing is an add-on to their existing success.

On the other hand, although much riskier, there are successful companies where crowdsourcing is their entire business. Goossen discussed NowPublic.com as such an example (http://www.nowpublic.com).  As crowd powered news organization with 150,000 non-professional reporters from 160 countries filing stories, they reach 5 million readers each month.  It’s the whole crowd that determines what goes onto the site, not professional journalists.  NowPublic.com is experiencing this success because of the credibility we give to eyewitness accounts.

Here’s Goossen’s recipes for crowdsourcing success:

Appreciate these three principles first:

1. Crowdsourcing has a long history – well established principles of entrepreneurship and innovation that have worked for hundreds of years.
2. Understand generational context – all generations have to work together. If you break it down, Traditionalists/Boomers have money; Boomers/GenX have business practice;  Gen Y/Z can run circles around technology.
3. Understand change context – change is happening FAST, for example it took Coke 100 years to build its brand where it is today – yet YouTube launched in 2005 and is already a global brand.

Six Principles of Crowd Power:                                                                                                     –

1. Good Drinks – Jeff Howe said if you want to be the room where the conversation takes place, serve good drinks. Give people a reason to come to your website.
2. Vetting vs creating – don’t tap into a crowd to do the hard work, tap in for easy things.
3. Recognition system – give credit to people who ARE the experts. Give more status to people who make extra effort. 
4. Cheers! – People want to visit a place “where everyone knows your name.”
5. Rewards – If you want to tap into crowd power and you’re not paying, give some other kind of reward. NowPublic.com pays if stories get picked up by AP, etc.
6. Not 18^th Century French Court – write in engaging, friendly, entertainingly down to earth language.

Business Model Value

1. Reduces Risk – by giving customers what THEY WANT.
2. Expands Resources – NowPublic have 200,000 people recording stories – for FREE.
3. Fosters Brand Loyalty – Fluevog already had loyalty.  By engaging, fosters MORE loyalty.
4. Generate Sales – Fluevog sells more on their site than any of their stores. 

Goossen suggests when exploring crowdsourcing, ask yourself what you can do to make something interesting and engaging – so much so that they’ll contribute.

There were many valuable examples shared during this presentation which members can research in greater detail in the interview with Rick found here http://www.iimaonline.org/harnessing-the-power-of-the-crowd-with-richard-j-goossen/. In addition, Goossen mentioned the titles of several entrepreneur books.

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