BRAIN BITESDDB Group Hong KongWhite Paper SeriesIssue 5December 2015

BRAIN BITESIssue 5December 2015 “If in the past, new forms of

cooperation enabled by new technologies create new forms of wealth, we may be moving into yet another economic form that is significantly different from previous ones.”

- Howard Rheingold

This issue of Brain Bites takes a closer look at the practice of crowdsourcing. While it is slowly beginning to mature in a few Western markets, in Asia, it remains to be explored. Here are four reasons for why Asian marketers should seriously consider crowdsourcing and also a few crucial points to watch out for.

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Technology has always been the key to unlocking new channels and methodologies in marketing. Fundamental concepts, such as message broadcasting, transcend time and medium, cascading from cone-shaped acoustic horns, to print, to video, to digital. At every stage of technological advancement, what were once impractical or unfeasible practices of communications, were made accessible, hence ushering in a new meta in marketing. For example, mass printing allowed more consistency in messaging and presentation, and as a result, communications was scalable and mass marketing was born. The internet allowed brands to simultaneously and openly connect and engage everyone around the world, and as a result, social media marketing was born.

Now, nearing a decade since the advent of social media, as we welcome its transition from novelty to standard practice, the obvious question is – well, what’s next?

There has, historically, been another practice that has proven to be quite interesting, but deemed impractical due to the limitations of its time. In the mid-19th century, the Oxford English Dictionary, set forth an open call to volunteers around the region, asking people to contribute and help identify all the words in the English language. The initiative was met with 6 million submissions; however, as they were limited by the technology of their time, the process itself took a period of 70 years. This was the beginning of crowdsourcing.

Fast forward to 1995, programmer Ward Cunningham launched WikiWikiWeb, the first ever user editable software/website. Cunningham believed that the exchange of ideas was the best way to facilitate progress, and understood that the internet was the perfect infrastructure for such a thing. In 2001, what Cunningham had begun, inspired one of the most visited webpages in the world today – Wikipedia. With the dawn of the digital age, accompanied by the accessibility to information across the world, it would seem that the practice of crowdsourcing has become far more feasible now than ever before. However, while the practice is gaining traction in the West, it still hasn’t managed to take off in Asia. Fortunately, with the West acting as trailblazer, Asian brands now have a plethora of examples to learn from, putting them in prime position to come out of the gates storming.

As brands, agencies, and marketers from Asia, now is the time for us to muster up some courage, and as wise captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, ‘Make it so.’

First things first, what is Crowdsourcing?Crowdsourcing is part of a bigger movement that has been developing for the past decade or so. The accessibility to information, and more importantly, the accessibility to each other that the internet provides, has ushered in a new form of collaborative thinking. From the popular rise in open-source computing, to the emergence of co-creation and innovation labs across the world,

Ask and Ye Shall Receive: The Dawn of Modern Crowdsourcing

The dawn of modern day crowd sourcing

by Adrian Ts’o

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At every stage of technological advancement, what were once impractical or unfeasible practices of communications, were made accessible, hence ushering in a new meta in marketing.

Issue 5December 2015

crowdsourcing has, slowly but surely, found its footing in all walks of life. As always, this emergent trend has presented us with yet another medium to help brands grow.

Kickstarter collects funding for ideas. YouTube collects creativity for viewers. Wikipedia collects information for inquisitive minds. Fundamentally, the concept for crowdsourcing in marketing is the same – ‘Ask, and ye shall receive’. Brands already invest so much effort into research, focus groups, social listening, etc. to better understand the needs and desire of consumers. Why not take it a step further and ask for the solution?

Two minds are better than one. The thousands or even millions of Facebook and Twitter followers can definitely come up with more ideas than the handful of planners on a marketing team. Obviously the only difference would be in the quality of those ideas, but beyond tapping into the reservoir of ideas from the very people who embrace the brand; this is an opportunity to genuinely include consumers in not just a conversation, but as part of the business development process.

But why Crowdsourcing? What’s the big deal? It offers ownership – perhaps the strongest of incentives a brand can offerOne thing that is unique to crowdsourcing is the sense of ownership that it offers. Consider the history of marketing; we started with a monologue, where brands spoke and consumers listened.

With social media, that monologue transformed into dialogues or even forums, where consumers were encouraged to interact. Naturally, it makes sense that participation would be the evolutionary next step. Whether we are crowdsourcing for content generation or as a part of actual product ideation, as consumers become an integral part of the process, their contribution is then intrinsically linked to the success of the initiative. Subsequently, this endows them with a sense of responsibility and accountability that drives them to voluntarily promote and support the crowdsourcing initiative, ultimately building their loyalty and relationship with the brand, converting them from fans to advocates.

It offers transparency – addressing one of the most prevalent social tensions todayIn this so called digital age, with the rise in accessibility to information comes the rise in consumer skepticism. As the awareness of corporate interest takes over the average consumer’s mind space, brands are faced with an unprecedented breakdown in trust. According to a 2013 survey conducted by marketing research firm Lab42, only 3% of consumers believes what they see in ads. As a result, it comes as no surprise that word of mouth is still considered the most reliable source of information. In the past decade, we have witnessed a rise in user generated (crowdsourced) reviews, posing as a clear indication that consumers value independent sources of information that steer

Brands already invest so much effort into research, focus groups, social listening, etc. to better understand the needs and desire of consumers. Why not take it a step further and ask for the solution?

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The dawn of modern day crowd sourcing

clear of any biased corporate agendas (marketing). The more skeptical the world grows, the more valuable transparency becomes, and with that, the more influential crowdsourcing is.

It realises the talent of the masses – one of the most readily available, yet under-utilised resources in the worldYoutube, Instagram, Kickstarter, if we can learn anything from these platforms is that people are amazing. Whether it’s something as simple as a video or photo snapped from a phone, or something as ambitious as a new business or product idea, literally anyone has the ability to create something inspiring. They don’t need a degree or proper schooling, because the greatest resource in the world has moved from libraries and institutions to a 5 inch screen with a Wi-Fi connection. All they need is a platform for them to express themselves.

In 2014, Pornhub, the world’s largest online porn archive, launched a campaign recruiting anyone and everyone to pitch a SFW (suitable for work) ad idea. While porn as a category continues to be something best left behind closed doors, the campaign captured the attention of the world and was brought into the mainstream media spotlight, while the submitted ideas went viral instantly. Although the subject matter itself generated much of the intrigue from the masses, it was the creativity from everyday men and women that people were impressed with. As creative talent becomes as prevalent in living rooms as they do

anywhere else, brands need to learn to tap into this resource if they want to stay ahead of the game.

Now is the right time – as the technology to share is met with the desire to expressIn 2004, Facebook launched, followed by Twitter in 2006, and Instagram in 2010. Together, beyond kicking off one mammoth of a marketing trend, these three, for better or worse, gave the world the means and encouragement to speak their minds and express themselves. Coupled with the rise of services like Amazon, TripAdvisor, and Openrice, our world of consumers has transformed into a world of experts over the past 5 years. Today, not only are these people encouraged to speak their mind; they are vindicated by follows, likes, ratings and upvotes. Now whether this is a trend, or better yet, a culture, that facilitates or exacerbates human progress is beside the point. What is important is how brands can take advantage of this cultural shift. If crowdsourcing is all about inviting the audience to be a part of the process, then there is no time better than now for brands to start.

But crowdsourcing is not foolproof. So what have we learnt about it so far?Crowdsourcing is not a replacementIn 2010, for the first time in 23 years, Pepsi repurposed its Super Bowl campaign budget and created the Pepsi Refresh platform, crowdsourcing ideas for ‘refreshing’ social initiatives as well as reinvigorating the relevance of the

Youtube, Instagram, Kickstarter, if we can learn anything from these platforms is that people are amazing.

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The dawn of modern day crowd sourcing

brand. The platform not only successfully reinvented Pepsi’s brand image, but at the same time brought to life CSR ideas that the public could stand behind, making their relationship with the Pepsi brand all the more meaningful.

In terms of social media metrics, the initiative was a smashing success, garnering over 80 million registered votes, 3.5 million likes on Facebook and 60,000 new Twitter followers, in what was considered at the time to be a staple textbook case study for years to come. However, the initiative was short-lived as it was shut down after only 2 years. While Pepsi’s Refresh campaign was able to generate monumental results in social media awareness, it failed at converting that awareness to sales. At the end of the day it was a socially driven brand building exercise that required a longer period of time to show its effectiveness. During which, with Pepsi’s attention shifting away from traditional forms of communication, it offered a window for Coke to stretch its lead. The last straw came in 2012 when Pepsi Cola dropped so far in sales that it was relegated to the 3rd most popular soft drink in America, falling behind Coke and Diet Coke.

Obviously, there are many contributing factors as to why Pepsi’s Refresh campaign failed to be all that it could have been. It could have been better thought out and executed. It could have used crowdsourcing in an initiative that was more closely tied to the brand. But what we must take away from this is that crowdsourcing is an

option. It is a practice that works, that engages consumers on a more personal level. It helps drive word of mouth, as indicated by Pepsi Refresh’s social media ROIs, but it is not a replacement for other channels of communications.

Just like how social media is not a replacement for traditional media-driven forms of communication, we must learn to incorporate crowdsourcing into the existing ecosystem of communications channels, and not mistake this emergent practice as an end-all and be-all solution.

Protect yourself at all timesDespite the partial success in Pepsi’s refresh campaign, in the past decade, we have also witnessed brands that suffered complete failure as a result of mismanaging their crowdsourcing platforms.

In 2012, Mountain Dew launched its ‘Dub the Dew’ campaign, polling online what the new green apple- flavoured Mountain Dew drink should be named. Due to poor project management and a lack of clear parameters, the contest was met with negative reactions.

The key lies in balance. While the purpose of crowdsourcing is to engage and empower consumers by involving them in the development and innovation process, brands must also retain a certain level of control to ensure that it is a productive and mutually beneficial experience. Parameters must be set and managed in a way

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Issue 5December 2015

Pepsi RefreshImage courtesy Pepsico

that consumers are not restricted from expressing their ideas, while brands don’t suffer from disruptive ones. Mountain Dew, for example, was put in an awkward situation when ‘Diabeetus’ and ‘Gushing Granny’ won out in their soda naming contest.

While it is great to involve and engage consumers through crowdsourcing, with all the benefits this form of collaboration brings, it also brings to the table a fair amount of risk. Reality is, while there are always going to be people out there who are more than generous with their ideas and creativity, there are also those who find pleasure through hostility. The burden falls on brands and agencies to diligently and vigilantly think through their crowdsourcing initiatives, in order to ensure a beneficial campaign.

It is easy to coin crowdsourcing as dangerous or impractical, but as an industry that thrives on pushing the envelope, things seldom come easy.

Give your platform meaningSimilar to Mountain Dew’s ‘Dub the Dew’, Lay’s’ launched their ‘Do us a flavor’ campaign in 2012, challenging consumers to help Lay’s decide what their next potato chips flavour should be. Just like Mountain Dew, Lay’s was met with the same shenanigans, receiving suggestions like the ‘Kitten’ and ‘Despair’ flavours. However, that didn’t deter the campaign from being a great success. What was different? While Mountain Dew’s campaign was purely cosmetic,

asking for nothing more than a name, Lay’s’ campaign was offering consumers much more responsibility in asking for an actual product idea. Furthermore, the campaign was Lay’s strategic response to the brand’s declining market penetration amongst Millennials. This gave the platform meaning and purpose. And while the more destructive ideas were unsettling at first, Lay’s kept its cool and let the campaign run its course, inadvertently making the campaign more fun, giving the brand more character. Ultimately, the level of trust that Lay’s instilled in their fans was rewarded with genuine and constructive ideas.

The success of the ‘Do us a flavor’ campaign was so well received that Lay’s had no choice but to bring it back in 2014, making it a permanent, yearlong activity. Now with more experience and a more streamlined and organised platform, according to the YouGov Brand Index, the 2014 campaign received over 14.4 million public submissions, ad awareness increased by 2% during the voting period, while purchase intent also increased by 1%.

What we must learn from both Lay’s and Mountain Dew’s divergent experiences, is that while crowdsourcing is a new and exciting channel for marketing with much potential, it is not a bandwagon that we can simply just hop onto.

Like any other channel of communications, results only come with a thorough

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Lay’s Do Us a FlavorImage courtesy Pepsico

understanding of what the platform can do, and more importantly, what the brand is trying to achieve.

Blurring the lines between branding, marketing and businessSimilar to how crowdsourcing signifies a new way to collaborate, we must also consider a new way to look at marketing and how it relates to business. As we have seen with Lay’s, beyond the more cosmetic approaches to crowdsourcing like product naming, photo or video submissions, there are also more elaborate approaches that blur the lines between marketing and business development.

Lego Ideas (formerly Lego Cuusoo) is a great example of a brand that has managed to blur that line. A major success, Lego Ideas allowed fans to submit new Lego model ideas with the goal of making them actual Lego products. Not only was this an innovative platform that allowed fans young and old to showcase their creations with the world, it was also an initiative that greatly helped Lego communicate its core brand purpose - sharing creativity.

While the platform encourages fans to submit anything they want, the approval process was also closely monitored by Lego to ensure that any idea that qualifies for production is not only a fan favourite, but one that possesses qualities that align with the values of the Lego brand.

Today, as our understanding of brands become increasingly sophisticated, no longer can we afford to consider marketing, branding, and business as separate entities. More than ever, the lines are blurring as we see decisions from one facet influence everything around it.

As marketing agencies, we must better understand the business challenges and opportunities; and as business owners, we must take into consideration the influence that brand and marketing has on not just business growth, but business development.

ConclusionCrowdsourcing is a relatively new concept; while it is slowly beginning to mature in a few of the Western markets, in Asia, it remains to be explored. Like the beginning of any other era, there will be casualties, but as the saying goes, ‘the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.’ Asia is in an advantageous position to learn from the mistakes and successes of the first-movers in the West.

Crowdsourcing represents a new phase of social engagement and a new form of collaboration that would further the relationship between brand and consumers. All we have to do now, is remember to say please.

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Lego IdeasImage courtesy Lego

Sources:

TED - Howard Rheingold: Way-new collaboration

Wired.co.uk - How the Oxford English Dictionary started out like Wikipedia

Artima developer - Collective Ownership of Code and Text

Forbes / Entrepreneurs - Transparency And Crowdsourcing Are Reshaping

Customer Support

Lab42 – Does it really ad up?

AdWeek - A few strokes of genius

Advertising Age - A Teaching Moment: Professors Evaluate Pepsi Refresh

Project

Time - Mountain Dew’s ‘Dub the Dew’ Online Poll Goes Horribly Wrong

Lonelybrands.com - Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Campaign is Out of Control and It’s

Awesome

Forbes - Crowdsourcing campaign appears to boost brand perception for

Lay's

Lego Ideas – How It Works

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DDB Group Hong Kong DDB Group Hong Kong (DDB and Tribal Worldwide) is united behind our founder, Bill Bernbach's belief, that creativity is the most powerful force in business. Today, we use that creativity to develop ideas that people want to play with, participate in, and pass on. We call this social creativity. DDB Group Hong Kong is one of the most awarded agencies in Hong Kong, leading in creativity and effectiveness. At Marketing’s Agency of the Year Awards 2014 we were named Creative Agency of the Year and Integrated Agency of the Year. The agency was most recently named as Warc’s #10 smartest agency in the world. We were leaders at Cannes Lions in 2012, and 2013 and the Hong Kong Effies in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

DDB Group Asia Pacific DDB Group Asia Pacific is cohesive collaboration of global businesses, including DDB (advertising), Tribal Worldwide (digital) Rapp (data-driven marketing and analytics) Interbrand (brand consultancy), DDB Remedy (healthcare and medical), Mango PR (PR and experiential) and Tracey Locke (shopper marketing). Comprising of 33 offices in 14 countries DDB Group Asia Pacific is part of the DDB Worldwide communications network and Omnicom Group.