A few weeks back, I attended a banking conference in Chicago and had the good fortune to go to a session where I learned about Quirky.com. This is a very cool site on so many levels, but it says something to me about where we are going vis-a-vis product development and marketing. At Quirky, inventors or people with a great idea pitch their ideas. They are asked to write a brief summary of the idea, attach a sketch or photo, and pitch it to the others who frequent the Quirky site as well as market it to their friends on Facebook and Twitter. The idea is out there for comment and voting and the staff at Quirky will also review it. If the idea is chosen, crowd sourcing is used for refining and developing the idea further and judging its marketability. If it selected to go further, Quirky puts the idea out for pre-orders and, if enough are sold, then it goes into production and distribution. The coolest part is that everyone who "influences" or plays a part in the final product receives a percentage of the profits from the sales. If you influenced 5% of the final product, then you get 5% of the profits, in perpetuity.
Crowd sourcing as a model for marketing intrigues me. I'm fascinated by the Quirky model and, in fact, am using it to pitch an idea I had of my own - what I call a Patient Poncho (vote for it here: http://www.quirky.com/ideations/125855). I will be watching to see how the crowd sourcing model might be applied to marketing strategy in the near future. And, hoping that my cool idea gets chosen!
Crowd sourcing as a model for marketing intrigues me. I'm fascinated by the Quirky model and, in fact, am using it to pitch an idea I had of my own - what I call a Patient Poncho (vote for it here: http://www.quirky.com/ideations/125855). I will be watching to see how the crowd sourcing model might be applied to marketing strategy in the near future. And, hoping that my cool idea gets chosen!
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