Oh, If Only Crowdsourcing Could Die...

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

There are few activities in AdLand that could disappear without a fight. A certain activity that has continued to rear its ugly head again and again during the past ten years get doesn't get the hint. That activity, ladies and gentlemen, is crowdsourcing.

Why can't our fellow colleagues see that through crowdsourcing, we are making ourselves our own worst enemy? Not only does crowdsourcing eradicate the value of good, professional creativity and production, but it takes ideas from people outside the ad world that have not been properly vetted through Adland's creative process. Now the argument could be made that the "creative process" needs reform, but since crowdsourcing has been resurging for quite some time now, we would argue that crowdsourcing certainly hasn't helped find a solution.

Why is crowdsourcing being brought up in the first place? Because the Chevrolet creative team, along with Microsoft's advertising and "crowdsourcing agency" Mofilm ran out of ideas for a Super Bowl spot and decided to rely on crowdsourcing to make something happen.

At least Chevrolet is shrinking the crowd it is throwing its work to; the company is using its agency to target independent filmmakers to make a commercial based on its "Everyday Hero" theme. Of course there is a huge sharing and viral component to it, and if viewers share the vids the most and answer a question in they way Chevy likes, they could be eligible to win a prize (a call to action too, eh? not bad).

Then, the chief marketing officer started to sing praises about crowdsourcing, calling it a great way to find "creative advertising that resonates with customers."

No, Joel. Hopefully most advertising professionals would agree that good, creative agencies are places where creative advertising that resonates with customers can be found. Pushing the theme that crowdsourcing can make creative advertising is dangerous. First, one is assuming (in this instance) that a good filmmaker can make a good ad, which (believe or not) is not necessarily true. Yes, it can be helpful, but there's more to a commercial that requires attention. Also, when you lose total control of the message you are trying to create, the crowdsourced commercial pick may not represent the brand or product as you wished. In that case, several things can happen. The image the commercial creates would lead to the consumer believing something about your brand or product that was not intended, causing a disconnect. Or, you are then forced to change your other marketing activities to match the thoughts of an eight-week viral-film campaign, causing a lot of money to be wasted.

And again, as we were thinking up a response to the article linked above, we saw in the comments George Parker, from AdScams, calling for the end of crowdsourcing. See his effort here.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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