While a debate on the merit of crowdsourcing may not warrant the kind of air-time or personal reflection that say, a debate on gun-control, gay marriage, or the latest layout change to Facebook might, it does make for a good discussion on the relationship between innovation, human capacity and technology.
As far as buzzwords go in the marketing world, “crowdsourcing” isn’t exactly new. First coined in 2006 by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, the word was originally used to refer to “a collective effort to manage an online discussion forum on flickr,” though it is now used more generally to refer to any sort of crowd-based outsourcing, as the portmanteau implies. Crowdsourcing itself is much older, however, and notably, pre-Internet, with examples like the completion of the original Oxford English Dictionary through millions of individual submissions by the community. Most recently, crowdsourcing has found itself above the fold as people tried to help identify Boston bomber suspects via Reddit, an open Internet forum, and less direly, for the selection of a logo for the nascent College Football Playoff. (more…)
Was in downtown Chicago for some meetings a few days ago and got to spend a little time walking the southern part of the world-famous Magnificent Mile, just north of the Chicago River, right near those architectural delights, the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower. By chance, I stumbled upon a Top Chef: The Tour event in progress right there in a little side plaza off of Michigan Avenue.
I took in Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday night. Outside of American Idol it’s one of the few reality shows I can handle watching regularly. On this episode the showcase marketer was Kodak. I will admit that the Apprentice franchise can be a solid product placement play, especially for a brand/sub-brand launches. And, Kodak’s stated goal was for the contestants to create a storefront to help relaunch the “Kodak Moments” campaign. Laudable.
March Madness is upon us. For the true sports fan, there is no better 2 ½ weeks than the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. I know we’re just coming off an exciting few weeks of winter Olympic excitement, but for the more traditional sports follower, this is as good as it gets. And, let’s face it; the Olympics aren’t conducive to office pools.