Crowdiate represents one of the few alternative creative models in our industry – built on the belief that big ideas are the lifeblood of thriving brands. Rather than always having to rely on the same, small handful of people to crack the big idea, we conduct brief-based competitions, calling on a rich diversity of creative voices around the world to bring us their best.
Our project-based model is an effective solution for brands in need of a fresh approach to developing big creative ideas, without big agency fees – ideal for all forms of marketing communications as well as new product innovation and branding concepts.
Our Approach
Our process is underpinned by open concept ideation (i.e. crowdsourcing), guided by world-class strategic planning, creative direction and production management.
The brief is the thing.
Like all fanatical marketers, we begin by sweating the creative brief. In close collaboration with our clients, we work hard to develop a smart, single-minded brief that stimulates the creative imagination.
Crowdiate in action.
We post the brief on our site and invite all or a selection of our community to participate. We typically allow roughly two weeks for creative ideas to be submitted and then a further week for our team to curate the entries for client presentation. We assess every submission we receive and shortlist concepts for client review. The judging criteria are always the same- Is the work on strategy and is the idea insanely great? We then reward and refine the selected ideas, ultimately delivering production-ready advertising creative or research-ready innovation concepts.
Talking execution.
We see it as our responsibility to lead advertising production, bringing together the resources required to capture the full potential of the creative idea. We’re also comfortable handing over implementation duties to our clients’ agency partners or in-house team, while remaining accessible as needed to ensure the safe passage of the idea.
Creative Community
Appreciating the fact that the caliber of our creative community defines the quality of our work, we devote ourselves to attracting outstanding talent, making their experience worthwhile and helping bring out their best through meaningful interaction.
Our talent base includes creative directors, copywriters, art directors and designers at every level, from rising stars to seasoned veterans. It’s a truly global community, located in big international cities across North America, Europe and Asia, as well as smaller markets like South Africa, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Peru and Argentina, among others.
Community member involvement.
We host calls with clients on live projects for our creative talent to ask direct questions about the brief. Personal video chats are available to members who wish to discuss their work with our creative director. Winners of our creative competitions are invited to help develop their ideas where possible. We inspire our community’s creativity via postings on our noticeboard sourced from the industry’s best minds.
And now for the rewards.
Valuing the time and effort it takes to develop strong creative ideas, we pledge multiple cash awards on every project. While we aim to attract a wide range of creative entries, our business really isn’t a numbers game. It’s a quality game, motivated by keeping the best people interested and the best ideas flowing. Ideally, the number of submissions we receive should be abundant enough to assure variety and small enough to ensure that great ideas get recognized.
What winning work looks like.
Our business model may be unconventional, but our creative standards are the same as those of the best agencies in the world. While we care first and foremost about finding the best ideas rather than presentation quality, strong copy and visuals can certainly help elevate a creative concept. This post outlines some key principles for fostering great ideas, as well as guidance for creative presentations, amplified by examples.
Legal Stuff
Who owns the work?
Brands are granted rights to winning submissions when the originators of the idea are compensated. Until then, the ideas are owned by the creative people in question.
Speaking confidentially.
Confidentiality is a high priority for us. All members of our community are pledged to our terms of confidentiality in order to access any brief and where necessary, they’re required to accept a client-specific NDA. When appropriate, we will make a brief private, restricting access exclusively to select creative talent based on their experience, creative expertise, location, etc.