In a recent AdAge piece, resident curmudgeon and truly great media observer, Bob Garfield, discussed a new “expert crowd sourcing” model that is making waves throughout the agency world.
At the forefront is the virtual Victors & Spoils founder John Winsor, who says the concept is to “create a new operating system for the advertising industry” utilizing the skills of hundreds of freelance creative thinkers. Thus, the client comes away with a great campaign or creative idea while paying only a fraction of the price.
We witnessed this first-hand at jacAPPS, our mobile apps division earlier this year. We were in need of a new logo but the last thing we wanted to do was spend thousands of dollars to have agency or even graphic arts company do the work.
So thanks to our tech savvy sales rep, Alex Young, we turned to www.logotournament.com.
For a mere $400 (we could have cheaped out and only offered $275), we had artists from around the globe submitting logo ideas and concepts. We even had the ability to contact designers whose ideas were in the ballpark, but needed a tweak or two, a different color treatment, or images moved around.
At the end of the process, we had more logos than we knew what to do with, and more importantly, several wonderful possibilities without having to spend the big bucks. And we had the benefit of scores of designers working on our “account.”
OK, they’re not all winners, but that’s always the case when you go through this exercise. And the bottom line is that we had a lot of really good ideas to choose from without investing a lot of money.
And that’s the point of Garfield’s article, and virtual agencies like Victors & Spoils, GeniusRocket, Poptent, and GiantHydra. Instead of a single shop attempting to develop an idea or solve a problem, you have hundreds of creative thinkers working on your project. As Winsor points out, “We’re trying to create a meritocracy.”
How can we use that same line of thinking in the radio business? How can we utilize the collective brain power of our audiences – or even the entire industry – to solve problems, create our way to new solutions, and do better work more efficiently?
And by the way, here was our winner – a designer from Istanbul, Turkey who uses the screen name ysonmez. He’s a 45 year-old graphic designer who has worked at national agencies as an Art Director and Creative Director. How would we have ever run into this guy here in Southfield, Michigan?
There’s more to crowd-sourcing than just a catchy Internet name. Let us know your thoughts below.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
- Is It Quittin’ Time For SiriusXM? - November 26, 2024
- Radio, It Oughta Be A Crime - November 25, 2024
- Baby, Please Don’t Go - November 22, 2024
I think it’s a great idea I have used for years. Anytime I have been at a station that has a big anniversary coming up, where we want to do a special “Anniversary edition” logo, I have always gone to the audience. Offering up $500 for the winning design. You get a lot of amateur designs, but there are always a lot of graphic artists that would love a quick $500. Plus if they win they can add it to their portfolio. It has worked every time and we get a lot of great options to choose from. At WMMQ in Lansing we did this every year for our Blues Series logo, always had lots of great options for not a lot of money. Plus we could put the top ten finalists on our website and ask our listeners to pick the one they liked best. It works in so many ways!
Brent, thanks for the story. The listening voting aspect is another way to energize audience engagement. Appreciate the comment.
This is our logo. We love it.
Like you said, the really interesting part of it though, was the process.
Our journey started with big agencies that specialized in logo design. Portfolios rich with beautiful work. We were offered 5 concepts designed by 2 artists with limited revisions for almost $500.00
So we went to a mid/small agency. 4 concepts designed by 1 artist with limited revisions for $350.00
Then we found a company called 48hourlogo. Similar in concept to logotournament.
We received 88 concepts from 26 artist with unlimited revisions.
In the end, we chose a design from a woman in Romania. We paid $150.00, which is equal to a little over $450.00 in Romania. So by leveraging global talent, we were able to achieve senior designer talent at a 4th of the costs.
Industry standard vector logo design files
100% full legal ownership
Competition drives innovations.
That was exactly our experience, Cole. It completely blows up the old business model and in many ways, enhances it.