Envision an imaginary world crisis, where there exists only 5 ice cream flavors, all created by the same person and similar in taste. As an ice cream aficionado, you just KNOW there must be more flavor possibilities… but you don’t have the creativity to create new ones. Which option would you choose to save you from the biggest nightmare of all time? Would you ask the same person who invented the first 5 flavors to try to create more, just because he has a solid reputation for making the existing flavors? Or would you approach an exclusive dessert club consisting of 400 food-obsessed dessert chefs from around the world, and ask them to individually brainstorm some fresh new flavors?

Okay okay. That may have been an inane hypothetical situation (and a personal nightmare of ours alone). But if you’re thinking about the best potential outcome to solve your need, you most likely would choose the 2nd option. Not only will you get a myriad of different flavors, there’s a pretty good chance that not just one, but a few or many will meet the expectation of what you’re looking for.

In a completely more intelligent conversation having nothing to do with ice cream but everything to do with making sensible choices, GeniusRocket President’s Peter LaMotte talked to the TEDxWDC crowd about why crowdsourcing is increasingly a bigger player in the advertising world. Peter observes that until recently, marketers were complacent with a meritocracy, where agencies were chosen for their name or because of a certain existing connection. But digitization and consumerism are making information more abundant and accessible for than ever, making the need for creative, fresh new ideas that impact the target customer at an all time high.

Crowdsourcing, therefore, has been a major solution to unleash new strains of creativity that a single traditional agency by itself would not be able to generate. By relying on the power of the crowd, you are tapping into the minds of unique individuals whose creativity have been colored by different innate and environmental influences. The new ideas that spawn from these individuals can be breathtaking.

Peter is quick to mention, though, that crowdsourcing is evolving and that the first form of crowdsourcing was a step towards the right direction, but far from perfect. It appeared in the form of a contest where anybody was allowed to participate and spec-work prevented participants from being fairly compensated for their ideas. Without aligned incentives among the client and the community, crowdsourcing is unsustainable and a far cry from a long-term solution.

GeniusRocket therefore evolved crowdsourcing into a better model- a model called curated crowdsourcing. The agency boosted incentive for the client by only accepting the most talented creative professionals into the community (the current admission rate is 6%). This way, clients would be guaranteed creativity AND quality. GeniusRocket also made sure to boost incentive for the creative community by ensuring they get paid fairly for their work, giving the crowd adequate reason to stay in the community. By nature of balancing incentives, GeniusRocket is then able to improve its operational efficiency, which improves the service to clients and the community even further.

Peter explains all of this and much more in his TEDxWDC talk. It’s worth a watch. While you’re eating some awesome ice cream.

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