Crowdsourcing = Compromise

The notion of crowdsourcing marketing ideas or actual creative concepts intrudes very rarely, thank heaven, on the world of B2B.  But this critique of democratizing innovation — throwing responsibility for cutting-edge leadership to the Eloi, so to speak — is worthwhile no matter what category you compete in.

If you’re looking for innovation, entrust it to innovators.   Put mechanisms and protocols in place that encourage risk and adventurism and groundbreaking thinking.  Because what a crowd — or a committee, for that matter — approves are those things that, well, tend to be palatable to the crowd.  Which is a guarantee they won’t be breakthrough, creating the kind of buzz and design gravity that draws customers.  The only standards a committee-driven or ‘non-professional’ solution satisfies are the standards of that committee.

There’s an eternal dialogue – and balancing act – between clients and agencies about trust.  Can I trust an idea that makes me uncomfortable to be really successful in the marketplace?  You can either act from the standpoint of being a member of the prospective audience, or act as an innovator who’s hoping to veer that audience down a fresh path.  Which you choose is obviously dependent on your specific situation.  But remember that if you come down on the side of innovation…be prepared to go outside your comfort zone to locate it.

Trust innovation leaders, and you’ll get work that explores new ground and breaks through the clutter.  You can always go out on a limb and then retreat — but it’s always best to find out just how far you could go.