Crowdsourcing: What's your take on it?

by Craig Otto

I was just catching up on some reading. I came across an interesting article in a recent Adweek about crowdsourcing. The article describes how it’s being used by large corporations to solicit creative thinking on logos, packaging and marketing campaigns.

Supporters of the idea say that it’s better than responding to RFPs, because participants get to compete head to head purely on the basis of their craft. Detractors say it’s nothing more than a fancy word for getting speculative work, and paying little if anything for it.

What I find interesting in these creative crowdsourcing shootouts, is that no crowd is invited to decide which idea is best. This it would appear is the work of a select few.

To my way of thinking, having only a few decision makers pass judgment on the work of many flies in the face of crowdsourcing’s most fundamental tenet -that a large group of people is better than a single expert.

Thoughts?

The Pittsburgh Arts Challenge

by Craig Otto

Last week, I was “back home again in Indiana” to visit my dad and go to the Indy 500.

One night the two of us went out to a bistro just around the corner from where he lives. The seating is tight, so I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation at the next table.

What caught my ear, was two couples were talking about a need to brand the arts. Naturally, I couldn’t help but barge in and introduce myself.

It turns out that one of the men I was speaking to is President and CEO of the Indianapolis Art Center. His name is Carter Wolf.

I talked about how Dymun + Company was able to get the Heinz Endowments to fund a Z-Met study on the arts. I also described “The Arts Bring Life to Life” marketing campaign that we created (consisting of two TV spots, Metronome and Singer).

Everyone at the table was aware that Pittsburgh has a vibrant arts community, and expressed some interest in seeing it firsthand. Carter Wolf seemed interested in seeing a link to our work, so I sent it to him this week.

I also offered to help introduce him to our arts community.

He e-mailed me back, thanked me for the link and wrote “I have always had a fondness for the city, but would like to hear more about their arts community.”

Well, I don’t want him to “hear” about it, I want him to experience it.

So, here’s my challenge to you: IN ONE WEEKEND, HOW WOULD YOU INTRODUCE A COMPLETE STRANGER TO THE PITTSBURGH ARTS COMMUNITY?

Thanks for your ideas.