The Power of the Crowd

More and more companies these days are utilizing crowdsourcing to bring in more customers. In an article entitled "5 Brands Winning at Crowdsourcing" author  Giselle Abramovich describes how Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co., Oreo, Patagonia, and Budweiser have all recently utilized a form of crowdsourcing. Abramovich mentions that Coca-Cola started crowdsourcing because they wanted to be more open as a company.

This bring up a great benefit of companies utilizing crowdsourcing. In order for the crowd to be involved with the company, the organization needs to be more open with those involved. It can be a little scary for companies to open up and share secrets that only company executives know about. However, this allows the consumers of your product to get involved in making those products better. If the customer feels that they have given input into a product, they are more likely to purchase that product because they know it is what they are looking for. Most of the companies that Abramovich mentioned got the crowd involved through social media sites. They were able to submit ideas and vote on different products through those media outlets. Oreo's Facebook page increased by 4,000 percent during their crowdsourcing campaign. This in itself shows the customer interest when a company is more open.

This is also a great marketing tool. Not only does the company allow customers to contribute to the new product, but it also provides a means of advertising that new product. If more people get involved, then they are more likely to tell their friends and family about the product. Companies do not have to spend millions of dollars on advertising, they have their customers to do it for them.

These are some of the benefits that have been found from utilizing crowdsourcing within a company. Can you think of any cons or negative repercussions from companies being more open and utilizing crowdsourcing to market a new product?