Web Business by Ken Burbary

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Community sourcing evolves to the brand level

November 19th, 2008 · Comments · Branding, Community

I’ve lived through many movements on the “web” since I began my career. Along the way there have been a countless number of trends, both successful and not, that have impacted how individuals and companies operate online. Two trends that emerged and have been adopted across the globe are outsourcing and crowd sourcing. I’ve separated them into the two major web eras to easily look at both trends.

Web 1.0 = Outsourcing                   Web 2.0 = Crowd sourcing

Outsourcing was/is mostly about saving cash.  Why try doing something in-house that isn’t a core competency? Instead go buy that product/service from the outside (Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency).

Crowd sourcing is different. The basic premise of crowd sourcing can be best described as the trend of leveraging mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. Smart professionals have been crowd sourcing problems to the communities they participate in for awhile. Like Chris Brogan. When asked, he was unable to pinpoint his first use of crowd sourcing, but responded that he has been successfully practicing it for over 2 years.

Recently Warren Sukernek, creator of the Twittermaven blog, wrote about the the growing interest in crowd sourcing on Twitter. His post provided several examples of individuals using crowd sourcing to solve both personal and professional problems. Example:

As Laura Fitton said in Clive Thompson’s great Ambient Awareness article, “I outsource my entire life,” she said. “I can solve any problem on Twitter in six minutes.”

The benefits are many. Increased innovation, productivity, new & stronger relationships, etc.. One could argue that some businesses are being built by effectively leveraging crowd sourcing. Whether you agree with that or not, there is a large body of evidence that demonstrates its value.

Interestingly enough, Crowd sourcing has evolved into a higher level of sophistication, called Community sourcing (coined by Zena Weist). Community sourcing differs from traditional crowd sourcing in one key aspect. Its purpose is to direct the efforts and collective intelligence of the community, for the benefit of the community. Now this may be true in some cases of crowd sourcing (both parties benefit), but not always. In the case of community sourcing, it is the primary focus.

Individuals tapping into crowd or community sourcing is one thing, but how are progressive brands using community sourcing? The most widely known use is the Dell Ideastorm. However, it is far from the only example. Brands big and small are jumping into the community sourcing pool hoping to do with the help of the community, what they cannot on their own. Two examples I’ve seen recently are the NBC4 news team in central Ohio, and the Detroit Red Wings.

Ryan Squire, Managing Editor of the NBC4 news team, wants to connect with his viewers throughout central Ohio. He asked them, “What Would NBC4 2.0 look like?” on the corporate blog? His viewers have an unprecedented opportunity to establish a personal relationship with Ryan, and provide  feedback that will influence, and in some cases direct shape what the future of NBC4. How many times have you watched your local news and thought, I wish they did (fill in the blank), or I wish they would stop doing it that way? Here’s your chance to let them know.

The Detroit Red Wings are a dominant brand among NHL teams. They have loyal fans in every city, who are passionate supporters of their team. Last week, Shannon Paul (the Red Wings new media guru), led the NHL franchise into community sourcing territory by tapping into the fan base with this question: “How should the Red Wings use social media to strengthen relationships with fans?”. Have ideas on how you would like to see your favorite team engage with fans online? Exactly, we all do. What sports fan hasn’t said to themselves, it would be great if my team did this new thing, or why aren’t they doing that online? This opens the door for the Red Wings to go in a direction they aren’t capable of doing without the fans. Because in community sourcing, ideas come from everywhere. And each idea exchange, discussion, and interaction strengthens the relationship one has with the brand.

Why aren’t more companies/brands doing this? Why not tap into the customers you know for collective widsom? It’s not always going to give you the answer, but it will always show your customers/fans that you’re doing one VERY important thing, LISTENING.

What brands do you see engaging in community sourcing? What tools are they using to engage? What social networks are they leveraging? Please share your findings in the comments, and I’ll update the post to include new examples.

Most importantly, are these brands backing up the listening with changes in behavior? Are they adopting the suggestions and implementing them?

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Viewing 5 Comments

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    Thanks for expanding on the community sourcing concept, Ken. You tapped a key differentiation point for brands that understand community sourcing - both parties benefit.

    We are all connected, we all gain by lifting each other up.

    When brands really get community sourcing on the social web, their brand ambassadors do the heavy "source" lifting (provide ideas, promote/WOM, help other customers, SEO love, etc.) for them.
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    Zena, you nail a great point that I overlooked. Brands need to facilitate and organize the discussion, not do the heavy lifting themselves. Another great reason to engage in community sourcing if you're a brand.
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    Well done on effectively communicating -- and highlighting -- the benefits of crowd sourcing for companies and brands. I agree with all of your points, but think that most companies don't engage in this activity for a few reasons:

    (1) They are stuck in an old one-way sales paradigm, maintaining the stance that they are the 'experts' forcing their message onto users instead of allowing them to help define it

    (2) They have concerns about opening the proverbial floodgates with potentially negative information, and don't know how to effectively engage users to address negative information and/or do not have the infrastructure in place to do so

    (3) They think that they will have somehow have to implement every crowd sourced idea or opinion into their initiatives

    I think that #3 is one of the main deterrants. Companies are concerned that if they open up a 2-way communication channel that they will have to act on EVERYTHING that comes through. What they fail to realize is that the most important thing is that they LISTEN, and demonstrate that they VALUE their customers and CARE about their opinions. No one expects that all of their feedback or ideas will be implemented, but having a forum to voice them where they can be heard -- and acknowledged -- is key.

    Operating in a vacuum with no connection to the community only shows that companies think they have all the answers. But what appeals to the marketing execs in a conference room is typically NOT what resonates with customers.

    So, brands need to step out of their silos and get more involved with their end user. The cost of entry is little to nothing, and the benefits far outweigh any investment of time or money on their part anyway.

    Plus, tapping into an open, real world community yields far more actionable results than behind the closed walls of a focus group where participants tend to go along with just about anything as they watch the clock tick by in anticipation of their incentive.

    The moral of the story: Tune in, listen, acknowledge and act. If you do that, you'll cultivate brand ambassadors that will happily spread your message and build a living, breathing brand that represents the people -- not to the shareholders.
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    Great piece, Ken. I have been forwarding this to people that I feel need to wise up and start taking social media seriously.

    Gennefer hit it right on the head, especially when it comes to reason #1. I find it interesting that even people my own age (twenty-something) don't see the possible benefit when they are subject to changes made via community sourcing every day.
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    Nice post, Ken. Brand community is a key asset that not enough companies leverage.

    One guy who did a lot of great pre-Internet thinking about brand communities is Tom O'Guinn (whom I know well). Good guy to get to know:
    http://www.news.wisc.edu/13705

    Also, I did an interesting post on how companies can stay in touch with their 'mobile' brand communities a few weeks ago:
    http://propellingbrands.wordpress.com/2008/10/2...

    Important topic, and one that I think is critical when you think about the sociological/cultural anthropological view of your customer.

    <abbr>Adam Needles’s last blog post..Who’s Propelling Ideas … Hayes/Malone on Marketing 3.0</abbr>
 

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