How Crowdsourcing Works In Business?

When applied in a commercial sense there are three dominant ways in which crowdsourcing is used:

1. Product development:

The crowd’s knowledge is used to improve an existing product or suggest new products. The consumer interaction and buzz also provides a valuable branding effect.

Examples include Dell’s Idea Storm and GM’s Fastlane blog (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com).

2. Initiatives and new business:

In this case, crowdsourcing is used to generate business ideas or product concepts, and often funding as well. Crowdsourcing can also connect those who have business ideas with those who can provide the funding to get them off the ground.

In 2009 Fiat Brazil asked Internet users to send in suggestions as to how the Fiat Mio (www.fiatmio.cc) could be improved. The company kept the brief wide, and eventually received more than 10 000 suggestions through social networking sites. These suggestions ranged from giving new car owners manuals on USB flash drives to more outlandish ideas such as funnelling garbage through the engine in an effort to recycle.

3. Communications ideas:

Crowdsourcing in a communication sense is used primarily within the advertising and marketing industry.

It involves the crowdsourcing of ideas for the communication of a brand message, advertising message or value proposition. This could include the crowdsourcing of logo designs, televisions advertisement scripts or new marketing concepts in any shape or form.

A well-known example is Dorito’s crowdsourcing of their Super Bowl advertisement (www.crashthesuperbowl.com). In a much publicised open call to the public, Doritos tasked the community with creating an original, once-off spot – and received hundreds of advertisements.