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Crowd Control: Three Ways To Crowdsource Without The Chaos

Forbes Agency Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Howard Breindel

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Transparency, engagement and conversation with customers: all are consistently championed by marketers, both business- and consumer-facing. So you might expect that crowdsourcing -- seeking ideas, input or decisions from a large group of people -- is an ideal way to involve customers and/or employees. However, we’ve all seen crowdsourcing go wrong -- very wrong.

Consider the well-known case of the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council, which asked the public to submit and vote on names for an Antarctic research ship. Little did they know the winning name would be Boaty McBoatface. After much public attention and laughter, the Council ultimately didn’t honor the vote, and instead named the ship the S.S. David Attenborough. One might say the contest was a success: It drew worldwide attention to the program. But initial response to the reneging was pretty hostile. A consolation prize -- naming a remotely controlled underwater vessel Boaty McBoatface -- helped to settle things down.

Sometimes, though, crowdsourcing goes very right. Would you believe that there’s a global Fortune 500 company, ranked as one of the best global brands, that was named via an internal competition? It’s true. Accenture was named by a business consultant working for the company after its split from Arthur Andersen in 2001.

In truth, all good names have an element of crowdsourcing in them. In our naming practice, we always start with extensive stakeholder interviews -- a critical step in unearthing the essential value of a brand. Often during this phase, we are able to mine elements and ideas that lead to great name candidates.

Taking crowdsourcing to the next level in a formal process can further engage stakeholders, but how can you make sure you pull an Accenture and not a Boaty McBoatface? At my company, we establish "guide rails" to keep any crowdsourcing in line with client expectations. Here are three of the most important guide rails for making sure your crowdsourcing efforts stay on track.

1. Seek ideas, not decisions.

When you backtrack on a promise, all that you’d hoped to accomplish with crowdsourcing is lost: engagement, transparency, credibility. Make it clear from the outset that ultimate decision making rests with your company. One way to accomplish this without seeming like a killjoy is to solicit ideas rather than votes. Participants can flex their creativity, express an opinion and interact with your company without risk to your brand or reputation.

This is the method Accenture used, receiving name submissions from 2,700 employees. While undoubtedly there were some bad options, ultimately Accenture hit the jackpot. It found an iconic name and built rapport with employees during an intense period of change.

Idea-seeking isn’t limited to naming. For example, SAP has invited the public to participate in its research and development. In 2011, it launched the Idea Place, an online community where registered members could submit ideas for product improvements but where SAP experts remained the ultimate decision makers. In its first year alone, SAP implemented 178 member ideas. In subsequent years, the program has expanded and now includes product influencer opportunities, innovation contests and employee awards.

2. Find an engaged audience.

If someone has no stake in the outcome, it’s hard for them to take a crowdsourcing campaign seriously. Think Boaty McBoatface. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of participants would never have interacted with or even seen the ship in question, so it was easy for them to goof around with its name.

To avoid similar jocosity, restrict your “crowd” to stakeholders: employees, loyal customers, association members, etc. These people care about the result and will offer ideas that are constructive and well-intentioned. They also happen to be the audiences you care most about engaging, the ones for whom a powerful interaction may lead to higher performance, lifelong loyalty or a recommendation to friends.

3. Be transparent.

At a minimum, transparency means stating roles and expectations up front, but it can go much further. Share the process, using the campaign as a content generator, and post regular updates on submissions, reactions and progress. Be in close contact with participants, thanking them for their input and alerting them when their ideas have been reviewed.

When Mozilla rebranded in 2016, it let the internet in on the process, sharing design concepts and soliciting feedback. Although its brand team still called the shots, it provided frequent updates and received valuable feedback -- essentially, a real-time focus group. The initiative was popular with users, garnered considerable media attention and also sparked a content series, “Open Design: branding without walls,” that continues today.

Boaty McBoatface: Redux

So, based on these three tips, how could the Natural Environmental Resource Council have run a more successful crowdsourcing campaign? A roadblock between submission and voting could have gone a long way to control the chaos. After submissions were made, employees and other invested stakeholders could have reviewed the submissions and picked a shortlist of acceptable names. Then, the list could be released to the public for voting.

This added step in the process would have ensured that the vote-winner would be a name that could ultimately grace the bow of the vessel, saving the organization time, money and annoyance -- but also creating trust, creditability and valuable public engagement.

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