Less than a month after release of Best Buy Blue Label, a crowdsourced PC programme created in conjunction with HP and Toshiba, Intel and Asus have launched WePC.com, a…well…crowdsourced PC programme.
It feels kind of awkward, like when you get two movies about animated bugs, exploding volcanos, Wyatt Earp, or collision course asteroids coming out at the same time.
Unfortunately for Best Buy, in terms of current implementation, WePC.com’s web 2.0-tastic site is definitely the blockbuster to Blue Label’s straight-to-video forums.
In terms of how this has come about, as in Hollywood it’s fair to assume there’s some idea appropriation going on in Silicon Valley.
However this is also a manifestation of two important trends in marketing being seized upon by companies in a very competitive market, who are hunting for an edge of differentiation. Like most brands, really.
Crowdsourcing as a key tool in product innovation
Crowdsourcing is increasingly being explored as an important tool for innovation in areas as diverse as book publishing, science, and product design.
Apple might disagree, saying innovation is giving the customer what they want before they know they want it. This sentiment was expressed most famously by Henry Ford, who said “If I had asked people what they had wanted, they would’ve said faster horses”.
There’s definitely truth in that, and companies will obviously continue to innovate from within, using their best and brightest to push the edges of their industries.
But many organizations, even at the leading edge of their industry, suffer from a degree of homogeneous and insular thinking. Outlier ideas can prove to be valuable, and to get those you need a variety of different points of views from different sources.
Quantity is also important — it might give you a better shot at stumbling across something new, but it also also gives you an aggregate view of what people want and where their interest lies that can be useful in itself.
Crowdsourcing as a core component of product marketing
Crowdsourcing as a core component of product marketing was the theme of my recent post about Mountain Dew Dewmocracy, Walkers “Do us a Flavour”, and Best Buy Blue Label.
These campaigns and initiatives are using crowdsourcing not just as a source of product and service innovation, or even as a way of engaging consumers around the brand. They are using crowdsourcing to sell product back to consumers.
In this case WePC.com follows down this road, but unlike Best Buy they’ve not launched with crowdsourced product in hand, though there’s the hedged promise of something that “could” come of all the ideas in the future. Instead they will recommend you the “Dream PC’s of today”, and let you know what influencers from various hardware sites would put in theirs.
I think as a consumer it’s still an interesting and novel thing to be asked by big monolithic corporations to participate in product design, and the chance to have your ideas come to life is intriguing. However Intel and Asus need to keep on the right side of the line on this one, as right now some aspects of the proposition feel like a bit of a bait and switch.
Where product and marketing crowdsourcing is going
With all the product design crowdsourcing initiatives going on out there, from Nokia to Starbucks to Muji, it seems like this is the next wave of UGC. We’ve moved a little ways on from “create an ad for me” to “create and market my product for me”.
It’s a potentially powerful way to engage consumers and harness their creativity to create real value. But just like the legions of lame user-generated content initiatives brands have choked the web with, it’s entirely possible that crowdsourcing will become trivialized by brands and used as a marketing gimmick before they even begin to explore it’s real potential.
In a post in the near future we’ll have a look at who’s doing this right, and try and distill some principles for success. If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them in the comments.
Technorati Tags:
co-design, crowdsourcing, innovation, trend
Subscribe to *supercollider for original research and insight goodness
Hi Geoff, thanks for the post. I’m particularly interested in how crowds and crowdsourcing can be utilized in both product development and marketing. It appears to be early days yet but there are plenty of examples with RedBull, Starbucks, Scion, P&G and others in youth marketing out there that I’ve blogged already.
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any techniques to help reduce content from being ripped off? I’d certainly appreciate it.
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I know it was my choice to learn, however I really thought youd have one thing fascinating to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you might fix in the event you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.
The following time I learn a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I do know it was my choice to read, however I truly thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you can repair in case you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.
I found your blog site on google and verify a couple of of your early posts. Proceed to keep up the superb operate. I just further up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Searching for ahead to reading extra from you afterward!…
Good short post! Off topic but with all the rain we are having, my septic system here in Portland Oregon is having problems. If anyone has info on this company good or bad let me know. Septic Portland Services AOS 818 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204
This web page can be a walk-by for the entire information you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and also you’ll undoubtedly uncover it.
Can I simply say what a relief to search out someone who really knows what theyre speaking about on the internet. You undoubtedly know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. Extra people need to learn this and understand this facet of the story. I cant imagine youre no more well-liked since you positively have the gift.
This site is mostly a walk-by means of for the entire data you wished about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and you’ll positively uncover it.
This was a really excellent post. In theory Id like to create like this also - getting time and real work to make a great content but what can I say I procrastinate alot and by no means appear to get something done.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new feedback are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the identical comment. Is there any approach you’ll be able to remove me from that service? Thanks!
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything like this before. So nice to seek out any individual with some authentic ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is something that is wanted on the internet, somebody with a bit originality. useful job for bringing one thing new to the internet!