Friday
May072010

Crowdsurfing Crowdsourcing

DateFriday, May 7, 2010 at 11:07AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

Fundamentally, the act of crowdsourcing is instead of hire a singular firm, agency or consultant a challenge is put to a group of people. Those people work individually or as a collective to accomplish overcoming that challenge; therefore, you harness more brainpower around the project. Additionally, people/firms that participate are often experts in unrelated things to your challenge and therefore bring a fresh and untainted viewpoint that you might not get if you hire a shop that specialized in "X."

Jeff Howe in 2006, a writer at that time for Wire Magazine coined the phrase "crowdsourcing." If you think of the what it means – getting/creating something from mass opinion/expertise, there's a lot more than this term that you can point at. Reviews, ratings and even your works suggestion box could theoretically apply as well.

You've seen crowdsourcing in effect for years and you've probably not realized that (by definition) that's what it was. Websites like wikipedia, flickr.com, and TripAdvisor are all types of crowdsourcing. Clearly, not all crowds are right for all challenges. While the crowdsourcing is a type of mass collaboration, it is also done typically within a given interest. What, again, makes this powerful is on both sides of the fence. It allows people that may or may not be within your perceived needs working on your challenges, but often it's FAR less expensive.

Many crowdsourcing companies have adopted a loose model that goes something like:

  1. A company (ACME) needs an advertising campaign to successfully launch product "X"
  2. ACME does not have the money to hire a BIG agency
  3. ACME reaches out to a crowdsourcing firm
  4. ACME posts it's needs, notes and direction to the firm
  5. People/Groups/firms return to the post with a possible direction
  6. ACME chooses five to pursue their thinking (these five get paid a small amount for making the cut)
  7. The Five turn in more refined creative and possible directives
  8. Two or Three are chosen to refine the thinking/budgets further  (these three get paid a larger amount for making the cut)
  9. A finalist is selected making the most as a project is there's too develop

What this allowed ACME to do is not only see a lot of great thinking for a reasonable expense, but it kept everyone in the process honest as the reward was there until the end. It also gave ACME a better understanding on what and how people price various techniques and thinking. The fact that crowdsourcing is changing the way we do things is simply an education in the online process where people of all kinds "like" certain things, "follow" other things and communicate their ideas and emotions utilizing various technologies.

What you're also seeing are smart companies letting their customers or their "crowd" participate in the development of their product and or services. You see threadless.com asking for customers to the vote on the t-shirt designs they like the most. Ergo, that is what is ultimately manufactured, which in turn is someone self-fulfilling for threadless as the people that voted for a design are predestined to want or consider purchase. We can even go as so far as to look at American Idol as entertainment crowdsourcing. You vote for the singer you want to stay and don't for those you want to go.

The mighty wiki says: "Crowdsourcing is a neologistic compound of "crowd" and "outsourcing" for the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task (also known as community-based design and distributed participatory design), refine or carry out the steps of an algorithm (see human-based computation), or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data (see also citizen science).

The term has become popular with businesses, authors, and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals."

What business models can we anticipiate it effecting? Probably more than you think: 

Advertising:
http://adhack.com/
http://www.geniusrocket.com/
http://zooppa.com/

Great Links:
http://www.innocentive.com
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://www.crowdsourcing.com
http://www.suggestionbox.com/

Usability & Testing:
http://www.usertesting.com
http://www.goosegrade.com/
http://www.utest.com/
http://www.ideascale.com/

Graphic Design & Writing:
http://www.crowdspring.com/
http://99designs.com/

Market Research:
http://www.mob4hire.com/

Predictive Modeling:
http://inklingmarkets.com/

Naming:
http://namethis.com/name_this/

Ideas submission:
http://www.quirky.com/

For Video Creators:
http://www.poptent.net/

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Wednesday
May052010

What Creative Dreams Are Made Of

DateWednesday, May 5, 2010 at 11:27AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

It's funny when you have the perfect storm of client and creative willing to swim in the deep end. Such is the case with Google. I did an early post on the product of these shoots and how it embraced the power of campaign like Honda's "The Cog" and kinetic art as a whole. But any creative will tell you that involvement in creative such as Google's "The Speed of Chrome" would be heavenly. Enjoy!

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Wednesday
Apr282010

My Name Is Justice & I'm Addicted To Fonts

DateWednesday, April 28, 2010 at 8:52AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

Courtesy of FranSchroeder.comMy love for fonts goes back to my childhood when my mother would hand letter everything. She still does when she's not on the computer Skyping friends in the UK or designing spots for the local paper. She even has a degree in 'Sign Making', which admittedly is almost entirely a thing of the past now having been rolled over by vinyl cutting machines and printers that are capable of printing to outdoor canvas. But there is a beautiful truth in the hand-painted letter that I still tip my hat too.

Here's to you "BONELESS CHICKEN ON SALE!" on the grocery store window.

Here's to you "SPRINGSATIONAL BLOW OUT!" car sale.

Here's to you "Orange County Fire Fighters, Station 18" - in golf leaf no less ;)

Here's to you Rock-A-Billy pinstriping dude!

All that being said I began and continue my obsession with fonts, signage & lettering. I hope the following lists comes as a blessed resource to you and your future designs. I've tried to weed this like of online font sites that just loop you from one to another only then to sell you porn and real estate along the way. If you find on here, tell me, I'll kill it.

Smashing Magazine Articles:

Font Portals:

Font Blogs:

Designers & Foundries (Courtesy of FontShop.com):

Font Styles:

Grunge Fonts:

Graffiti Fonts:

Font Creators/Software:

Font Lab:

Web Ready:

Logos:

Font Tools:

Fun Tools:

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Monday
Apr262010

Making Sure It Doesn't All Go To Hell

DateMonday, April 26, 2010 at 8:24AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

A peer recently spun a tale of the client and campaign that traveled everywhere but to 'Successville'. They started to tell me all the things they went through to repair damage done and get back on track. Then, of course, I was passed the talking stick, which in this case was a pint of Pilsner and we started to compare scars – there were many.

Anyone in an agency -- creative director, designer, photographer, videographer, AE, AD, PM -- ALL have more skeletons on the island of 'Crash & Burn' than we'd ever admit to. Whether it be lost contract, lost relationship, creative never selected or, simply, clients that are so bipolar you can't see how you didn't date them in college. But I digress. There are a million and one things that can go wrong with any project and this post spans far beyond advertising, but I'm going to try to keep the wagons circled here.

Let's analyze, in a vacuum, the key drivers to 'professional doom' in the advertising world:

Poor communication with the client:
The rest of this list is predicated on how well you get this part done. Creative briefs are a must have. Design standards (if any) are a must-have. Client insights and opinions are a must-have. Find out everything you can before you walk back in the door. Furthermore, it's OK to check with your contact person to see if your thinking aligns, prior to showing the fruits of your labor. Trust me, a marketing director doesn't want you showing a photo a frozen monkey paw to their CMO unless it's within the brand vision.

Initial lack of understanding of the project scope:
"We'll build it to your budget!" Yay, that means that you made it cheaper but the client stills wants everything that they asked for. Define the scope with a critical eye for pass-through costs, like freelancers, video and photography shoots and printing. Be sure to cover yourself from the top down. Remember: you should be paid for the work you perform -- keep saying that.

Entering in with inexpensive contracts with the hope to build money into the contract as it unfolds:
"This is the backdoor to an AOR!" I've heard this; I've also become an agency's production house because of it. Remember: if you want the BIG work, you have to show them you're capable of it, even if you begging for table scraps in a crap economy. You'll have to eat some time doing spec and show above and beyond what's asked to get invited to the adults table.

Poor due diligence of what the client really needs vs. what they [think] they want:
Monitor your client, especially those with an agenda. If you have a manager looking to pull an 'Ides of March' on an executive, you don't want to be caught in the crossfire. Make sure you've aligned your creative with more than simply your point of contact's vision. Support any deviation of that vision with case-studies, metrics and A-B testing. Client-side political bloodshed can be the best and the worst situation for an agency dependent upon whom you make look good. Make sure the vision works outside of the bullshit and you might stay regardless of who wins.

Regrettably weak creative briefs:
Just like the SOW, simply undefined creative briefs breed internal resentment with your creative team and typically make AE's lack credibility when they have to go back for further clarification. Build an airtight creative brief template and arrange the proper time to gather the real information from various decision makers on the clients' side.

Strict adherence to the brand standards and related style guides (if any):
Nothing will get you tossed quicker than bringing in (at least one piece of) creative that doesn't match their existing brand standards (those standards that you dutifully collected long before the creative process started).

Thin contracts that don't protect you, your client or the project:
Much like airtight creative briefs, make sure that all assumptions, schedules and legal requirements are out on the table. Make sure the client understands that they, too, can play as much, often more, in the meeting deadlines and coming in on budget.

Contractually limit the amount of rounds of revisions and hours per each round contains (define as not to exceed "X" number of hours):
This puts the onus on the client that they cannot keep going back and forth with revisions without the consequence of a change order (aka: "shock collar").

Not following through with change orders:
This is your own spineless fault. You HAVE to assign change orders right away given that the client has stepped outside the terms of agreement. Remember: if you don't start a pattern of project managerial control, you can never go back and start over to save your skin.

Realistic schedules, milestone and deadlines:
When it comes to traditional advertising, schedules are often more firm than most. When it comes to working technology into the mix, such as developing complex database or tying legacy systems together for final results, the schedule becomes very unstable. Plan appropriately by asking your development staff (or vendor) for a 'pain scale' regarding development. Does it need to be made from scratch? Can you use an 'off the shelf' solution? Is there a CMS? What's monitoring the analytics? Etc. With that pain scale, create days associated to those instances and it will give you a better understanding on when something will truly get done. Gantt charts or project management applications like Basecamphq.com will help you assign and track all the little developmental pieces that come into play with a large-scale project.

Schedules with no room for adjustments:
Locking your schedules in without the inability to move (client notified) deadlines will soon be your undoing. Remember, your contracts needs to protect you just as much as it protects the client. Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance is also advisable when you start getting into any project that could single-handedly destroy your company if you unknowingly make a mistake during the process.

Minimal vendor and or talent network:
If you deal in consultancy, then you are typically only as strong as your network of talent to accomplish your claims. Don't get me wrong -- consultants and project-based firms are indeed allies you should have at your disposal; remember: it's your job to have your own network, as well. I suggest making a comprehensive database of talents, pricing and results, should you have used them previously. Believe it or not, your network could very well be your most lucrative asset if used correctly.

Too many creative versions and not enough client feedback:
Creative that sits inside an agency being beaten between AE's, AD's and CD's that don't see the client light of day are "time sucks." The longer creative remains in the walls of your agency without real feedback, the more money you will lose!

Creatives that think they can create a revision-proof masterpiece:
It's not going to be perfect the first time -- get over it or get out of this business. There is no perfect idea. Show and tell, gather intel (that means actually having to talk to your client), rework – rinse and repeat. There's a term that I've also learned over the years called "pixel f•••••g." This is when someone (either internally or client-side) is so indecisive, they talk themselves in and out of their own thinking. Do your best to manage this adversity without hitting them in the head with a tack-hammer.

When it's approved you move to the next square on the board:
It's your duty to have the client approve your work. If you leave projects undone, they will affect all of the work that is done beyond that point. Create a document that outlines that milestone, a description of work completed and their acceptance to its completion.

Leaving projects open and subject to being viewed prior to completion:
Look -- Dr. Frankenstein didn't do tours or alpha testing. If you start allowing your client to hang out and change their thinking mid-stream, you will inevitably lose money over and over again. If you have approval, create a 'production lockdown,' which is defined as a period of time for work to be completed without the distractions of potential revisions. After such time, the client can beat it all to hell (given that they have enough time allotted in the revisions) without consequence. Rinse and repeat.

Creating an out-clause or "kill fee" to your contracts:
Lastly, provide a way out. This is something that small firms never think of. You should have just as much a right to terminate the relationship with the client as they do of you. Agree to an allocated amount or hourly summarization of work performed as a 'kill fee' so you both can walk away civilly. Yeah, I know, this sounds great on paper doesn't it?

And for every client gained, there's more than likely one leaving or one you'd like to fire. The key to understanding this balance is "consequence interpretation." Much like chess, the move you make now will bring about many other scenarios that you can control and others that you cannot.

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Friday
Apr232010

Why Jesus Is My Homeboy

DateFriday, April 23, 2010 at 9:09AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

As many of your know, I'm a die-hard Denver Broncos fan – like bleed the colors die-hard. So last night in a wild turn of events we got Tim Tebow in the 25th overall pick in first round of the draft. Tim Tebow, arguably one of the greatest college Football players of all time has had it anything but easy. Now I'm not going to blow smoke up your butt and tell you he's been pal from way back, but I've liked his intensity, and he's solidified 'The Swamp' as a place you fear for another ten years. And as am an Alabama College football fan I can tell you that I've never looked forward to playing him.

That being said here's why I'm glad he's a Bronco:

  • He's a clean-cut kid that (at least by every indication) won't go around snorting coke off of a porno star while shooting guns in the locker room.
  • He's passionate. Like it or not the kid's got heart and doesn't act like he's in it to get paid.
  • He's religious. And while I'm not openly religious I don't think this is a negative as long as he doesn't pander someone else's beliefs.
  • He wants to play. I'm tired of watching player after player complain that the stacks of money that they sit on are not high enough, and I have turf toe. Oh, and BTW LeBron YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL! Unfortunately right now you're only modeling you're doing is turning the future kids to look at basketball as a way to "get paid." Leave the 'thug life' to the gangsters – they're better at it than you – ass.
  • Tebow will be good for Denver as a community leader. Sell tickets? That remains to be seen. But Denver will live and die by players that 'believe in Colorado.' Otherwise (Cutler, Marshal, Portis) you can take the next train to Get-the-hell-out-of-dodge-ville'.
  • Josh McDaniels makes great quarterbacks.
  • Tebow may not be a puritanical quarterback but there's no denying that he's extremely versatile and could be a difficult player for opponents to plan for.
  • He's big and he can run. Never hurt.

Go Broncos.


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Thursday
Apr222010

Avatar Game Banners – Kinda' But Not Really

DateThursday, April 22, 2010 at 8:29AM | Print ArticlePrint Article |

I'm always very excited to see what agencies will do for major launches like the DVD release of Avatar. So when I saw the complete ad domination on ESPN this morning I was giddy to see what they had done. The concept is simple, a little too much in my professional opinion. It gives you the ability to pan and zoom into a trailer that have 'hot spot' nodes throughout. Those hot spots by the way give you a nanosecond to click on them, and while the intent I feel to act like 'game play' it comes across like a bit of a lame old puffed up banner.

As much money as this movie's already made BEFORE DVD sales it seems to me they missed the mark on the launch. The claim that the movie is like 'nothing you've ever seen before' is in many respects true, too bad the interactive advertising agency didn't get that creative brief. Tell me your thoughts.

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