A Site Revealed

Last September we initiated a Web development project at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) as part of the last step in our repositioning from a public relations firm to a social media marketing consultancy.

Rather than undertake this Web effort by employing a traditional methodology (i.e. design firm, HTML coding, etc.), we elected to:

1) Build and re-architect the site from the ground-up using WordPress to allow for seamless integration of Web 2.0 functionality; and

2) Crowdsource the creative to adhere to a more community oriented approach to the design, at a fraction of the cost. 

In fact, you can revisit my crowdsourcing experience at these two blog posts:

Creative Crowdsourcing with Crowdspring

Holding Off on the Design Firm Deathwatch

So...here's the result to date...the first iteration of Strategic's new corporate Web site.

As with all things social, the site will continue to be a work in progress.  We'll tweak the content and design.  Add new Web 2.0 tools and technologies.  And encourage engagement.

Oh yeah, while I've taken a step back from the typical insight and thought leadership on this blog to be self promotional, I might as well ask for your help with this.

If you tweet "Check out the new #Strategic Web site at www.gotostrategic.com  #pr  #contest" and you may be selected to win an iPod Shuffle.

Holding Off on the Design Firm Deathwatch

After carefully studying the business case for and value proposition of crowdsourcing for corporate design requirements, my initial reaction was this might be the end for creative services and graphics firms.

Six weeks later I'm now through an initial project with Chicago-based Crowdspring and pleased with the result.  The creative option we selected is professional, of the highest quality and right in step with the stated objectives of the project.

However, I am not quite ready to sign a death certificate for design shops.

That's because the crowdsourcing process has inherent flaws that limit its appropriateness for complex creative and design assignments, such as brand advertising campaigns and product packaging.

Here are a couple of observations:

1.  Make the creative brief as clear and concise as possible.  I've spent the better part of 15 years providing direction to creatives, so I felt confident in my ability to define our expectations for the assignment.

I missed the mark as nearly half of the submitted design options failed to follow the basic parameters of the project.  Was my brief unclear?  Or did a fair number of the creatives simply neglect to review it?

2.  Even with clarity in project direction, expect only a third of the proposed creative designs to be viable options.  For this reason, it's imperative that a high number of creatives sign on to participate in the project.  For our effort, we had 72 designs formally submitted for our review.


3.  Be prepared to provide feedback to submitted creative.  Sounds basic enough and it's important part of the crowdsourcing process as it leads to a more polished finished product.  It helps motivate the designers to deliver their best work. 

Yet, when there are more than 70 design options to review it can be overwhelming.  Plus, Crowdspring was quick to fire off a reminder note whenever a day passed without messaging provided to the creatives.

Ultimately, I do believe crowdsourcing will steal away a significant number of assignments that have historically been earmarked for creative shops.

When the stakes with a project are high because of budget invested and/or desired outcome, an ad agency, creative firm or graphic designer remains the way to go.  Crowdsourcing fails to deliver that all important face-to-face interaction and collaboration.