This document discusses the rise of crowdsourcing and how it is changing innovation and problem solving. It argues that while many companies have experimented with crowdsourcing, treating it as a one-off initiative often leads to mixed results. To fully leverage crowdsourcing, companies need to develop structured, repeatable crowd processes similar to traditional brainstorming. The document provides examples of how to design an effective crowd process, including asking the right question, offering fair incentives, recruiting talent, and executing multiple rounds of feedback. It also presents a case study of how Jovoto developed an end-to-end crowd process using technology and a professional creative community.

1. The Future of Innovation,
ideas and problem solving
Shaun Abrahamson
Peter Ryder
Bastian Unterberg
February 3, 2014

2. 157,34
5
Join the Conversation…
#SocBizBooks

3. AGENDA
• Background and Context
 What Have Crowds Been Doing
• What’s Next
• Why Process (And Technology) Is Important
• Case Study
 Jovoto’s Processes, Platform and Community in Action

4. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

5. “Re-Imagination of Nearly Everything – Powered by New
Devices, Connectivity + UI + Beauty”
“Magnitude of upcoming change will be stunning”
“Re-Imagination of R&D …
Minted: 85K Designs Submitted, 4MM Monthly Visits
Quirky: 87K Designs Submitted, 365K Registered Users”
Mary Meeker, partner KPCB
Crowds in the “Re-imagination” landscape
Analysts See Crowdsourcing Trending Based on Connectivity

6. “…thanks to the merger of globalization and the IT revolution
… which is radically transforming how knowledge and
information are generated, disseminated and collaborated on
to create value … the high wage, medium-skilled job is over.”
“To be in the middle class you may need to consider not only
high skilled jobs, but also more non-traditional forms of
work… a form of entrepreneurship. This could be leveraging
your skills through Task Rabbit … or your spare bedroom
through AirBnB.” (Quoting McKinsey Global Institute)
Thomas Friedman, NY Times, Nov 10, 2013
2013
Crowds in the “Re-imagination” landscape
Analysts See Changes In The Workforce Environment

7. “Given that production could be carried on without
any organization that is, firms at all, why and under
what conditions should we expect firms to
emerge?”
Ronald Coase, About 75 years ago
WHERE HAVE CROWDS COME FROM
Firms Before Crowds – A Function of Transaction Costs

8. Experimentation, New Technology/Business Models and …
CROWDS ARE HERE
BRIGHTIDEAS

9. Labor
Capital
Assets
Influence
Data
Sharing, Commenting, Reviewing
Open Innovation, Co-Creation, Micro Tasks
Crowd Funding, Crowd Lending
Collaborative Consumption
Collective Intelligence,
Analytics, Algorithms
New Buzzwords Based on Lower Costs/Broadband/Markets
PUTTING CROWDS IN CONTEXT

10. Source: Mary Meeker presentation at All things D.
Disruption to existing business and …
Wikipedia Peer Production

11. COMPLIMENTING/CHANGING EXISTING MODELS
- Increase Product Throughput – Getting Ideas
- Shift from Internal to External: 90-10, 50-50
- Speed to Innovation
- Engaging Nimble Partners – Finding Talent
- Harness Corp. Assets, Reduce Time-to-Mkt.
- Empower/Transform Internal Organization
- Improve Return on Investment
- Evaluating Ideas
- A New Business Model
Global Companies and Startups Using Crowds to Unlock Value

12. Many Organizations Try Crowdsourcing With Mixed Results
BUT NOT EVERYONE IS SUCCESSFUL

13. Alex F. Osborn (the O in BBDO)
“when it comes to thinking, let’s try to act
as if we were two people – at one time, a
thinker upper, a producer of ideas; at
another, a weigher of ideas”
About 65 years ago
Lower Costs + Internet Scale +Brainstorming = Crowdstorming
A SOLUTION: BRAINSTORMING TO CROWDSTORMING

14. NEXT STEP: SEEING CROWDSTORMING AS PROCESS
Structured and Repeatable

15. What’s Next: Process

16. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Asking a “Virtual Community” vs. Issuing a RFP

17. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Source: Business Model Canvas, Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur
Outcome: What Should We Innovate
+ working with
local governments
on recycling
+ working with cup
manufacturers on
recycling cup
materials
+ working with
leading academic
institutions to find
new solutions
+ can we make it
easier to reuse
cups and reduce
the need for
recycling?
+ can we make it
easier to recycle?
+ can we ask
customers to help
us to encourage
behavior changes?
+ can we reward
“good” behavior?
+ can we efficiently
generate
awareness and
ultimately
participation?
+ can we find
additional partners
by looking to our
customers?
(designers,
engineers,
marketers, artists,
analysts, etc)
+ can we build on
the success of
programs like My
Starbuck Idea?

18. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Story and Inspiration: How ShouldWe Ask

19. MoneyExperience
Attention
Good
Stuff
FAIR INCENTIVES
“GAMES” Motivate the Crowd

20. Financial Reward Good, Money, Attention
FAIR INCENTIVES Good: “Ecoimagination helps
our customers save billions of
dollars and reduce their
environmental impact.”
Attention: Media campaign,
website, public announcement of
winners
Money: $500K in prize money;
over $50M in investment
Result: GE has brought over 100
products to market since launch
in 2005

21. FAIR INCENTIVES
Transparent and Delivering on Promises

22. FAIR INCENTIVES
A Little Bit of Alchemy

23. RECRUITING TALENT/BUILDING COALITIONS
Recruiting a Community is a Little Like Marketing a Product

24. Existing
Platform/Community
Celebrity Judges
Media Partners
(15M Media Impressions)
Coalition Partners: Expertise and Media
RECRUITING TALENT/BUILDING COALITIONS

25. Coalition Partners: Existing Crowd and Branded Market
RECRUITING TALENT/BUILDING COALITIONS
Existing Platform
Market Partners

26. HOW YOU EXECUTE
DoYou Want Ideas … Feedback … Evaluation …
Continuum of Community Relationships Patterns

27. CASE STUDY - JOVOTO

28. CROWDSTORM TECHNOLOGY &
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE COMMUNITY

29. CROWDSTORM TECHNOLOGY &
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE COMMUNITY

30. CROWDSTORM TECHNOLOGY &
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE COMMUNITY

31. CROWDSTORM TECHNOLOGY &
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE COMMUNITY

32. END-TO-END CROWDSTORM PROCESS
Idea Creation, Feedback, Evaluation

33. SOCIAL CREATIVEPROCESS
Challenge, Competition, Social,Transparent

34. FINDING THE PEARLS
Multiple Evaluation Layers

35. PLANNING THE PROJECT SET-UP
OPEN SOCIAL CONVERSATION
Turning the challenge into a media event

36. PLANNING THE PROJECT SET-UP
LIMIT PARTICIPATION
To Support Legal Concerns: IP Management, Confidentiality

37. Best Case – Victorinox Swiss Knifes
Selection Process Involved Crowd, Experts and Fans
TASK:
Designs uniqueness „more than a
red pocket knife“ that would evoke
impulse purchases.
SET-UP:
Open, Social Challenge with
multiple evaluation layers.
RESULTS:
1300+ design concepts in
thousands of versions
Best selling design edition

38. The Future of Innovation,
ideas and problem solving
Shaun Abrahamson
Peter Ryder
Bastian Unterberg
February 3, 2014