The first day of Crowdsourcing Week Europe 2014 is brought to a close. We had an action-packed day full of insights on what crowdsourcing can give to companies and why collaboration matters. Crowdsourcing is not only about money. Neither it is for a selected field of business. When crowd is involved, everything – from Lego toys to laws for same sex marriages, gets transformed.
New rules for business
We’re playing a different game and old approaches to business and brand management can hardly bring any new results. Founder of Crowdsourcing Week Epi Ludvik Nekaj opens CSW Europe saying that people want to be free from the corporate world. It is the right time to use the power of the crowd and let them produce.
‘Top secret’ garage ideas cannot blow success out of the water anymore. Young entrepreneurs from Babele Emanuele Musa and Ruxandra Creosteanu say that 90% of them fail. And more than a half of those who survive have to change their business strategy on the path. Advice is simple: get out of the shell, go to the crowds and ask them what they actually want.
Instead of scratching your head at how to market products and get revenues, let customers speak up and make branding work for itself. Bruno Pellegrini, CEO of a crowdfunding video platform Userfarm, recommends making consumers ambassadors of your brand. Give them a platform, collect ideas and articulate them. That is what according to Guy White, Catalyx, is a distinctive difference between old and new branding. Now participation is in the core of every project.
Navigating active citizenship
Today’s panel with top social innovators showed how ideas turn into projects with a power of creativity and support of the crowd. While in Sweden creativity and democracy are merged into Democreativity, Finnish Open Ministry encourages everybody to take part in the legislation process. Spanish Smart Citizen makes “the invisible visible” in the cities whereas Peerby encourages people to knock doors of their neighbours and share items. There is an immense field of cooperation and co-creation. And not only crowd has a benefit from it, your business does as well.
Crowd management: how to make it work
And now a few good tips from our experts how to take the most from cooperation with the crowd.
Shelley Kuipers, Chaordix, says that crowd can bring you ideas and advocate for your brand. Be aware of what you can give in exchange. “Be human centered and provide your consumers with meaningful feedback,” points out Nathan Waterhouse (OIEngine). It is not only about social media. Technology itself is not the only disruptor. There are people behind the software and technologies who can bring fruits for your business.
Troels Lange Andersen from Lego Group shows how Lego Ideas have generated nearly 20 thousand projects for the company and strengthened the Lego brand through collaboration with customers. Yet, when it comes to business, managing the platform is not a child’s play: keep in mind time, trust, crowd trends and competitors watching you.
Millennials to run the future economy
Seven European cities are on top of the crowdfunding search. Yet, at the meantime they face drastic youth unemployment. And in some 10 years these young jobless people will be 75% of the workforce. Today’s unemployed Generation Y has to run economies in a decade. What kind of economies will those be? More creativity? More collaboration? They can change the linear economy with crowdfunding? Day 2 at CSW Europe will give models on how to make it work.
Following on Sean Moffitt’s from Wikibrands spontaneous poll at CSW Europe, tell us what is your position on the crowdsourcing continuum? Is it merely about money, better results for your company or about creating a better world? We’re looking forward to following the next two days of Crowdsourcing Week Europe 2014 to see how to combine these three together.
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