From the website Victors&Spoils.com a new corporate video explaining their process...
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Showing posts with label victors and spoils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victors and spoils. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Future of Advertising
by John Winsor
The traditional advertising model is broken, argues John Winsor of new-model agency Victors & Spoils. It's time for the old guard to wake up
"The question for creative agencies is whether they can wake up, react to what's going on, engage the crowd, and make themselves a part of the new reality."
I posed this teaser in a Businessweek.com article published just over a year ago. At the time, the question was purely rhetorical. But in the ensuing conversations it quickly became obvious that the answer was a resounding "NO."
Realizing this inspired me to quit my job as executive director of strategy and product innovation at the advertising agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky to co-found Victors & Spoils, an advertising agency based on crowdsourcing principles. Now I find myself at the center of the debate about the future of advertising, design, and marketing—even the future of work itself.
Seven months in, we've had the opportunity to work on everything from TV and radio to brand strategy, including digital and social media, product design, service design, and graphic design. We've done projects with clients including Dish Network (DISH), General Mills (GIS), and Virgin, with confidential clients in financial services, quick-service restaurants, and packaged consumer goods. As we continue to explore uncharted territory, we're learning every day. Here are some of the most important insights we've gleaned to date:
The Model Is Broken
Advertising is all about relationships, and at the heart of the client/agency relationship is trust. That trust has been eroded by a lack of transparency and, often, resistance to change. Over the past few months, I've spent a lot of time with the chief marketing officers of Fortune 500 companies. The theme is consistent. They tell me stories of being charged $10,000 per second of video editing for clips to go on YouTube, $1,000 for a single foamcore presentation board, and $25,000 for event banners; an unwillingness to collaborate; and myriad indirect charges for parties and travel.
Somewhere along the way, the big-agency business became a lifestyle. But clients, who want the best creative work, don't want to pay for it anymore. And they're figuring out that they don't have to. Smart agencies need to adapt their business models and fast, or they won't have the opportunity to rebuild these relationships.
The World's Your Creative Department
The old system of agencies employing a few creative teams to come up with agenda-setting ideas simply doesn't make sense in a digital era where ideas can and should come from anywhere. Digital tools can be used to tap into the wider world of creativity, and can do so with a lean infrastructure. It's a win for the client, who gets access to a diversity of ideas. It's a win for creative talent, who aren't bound to work on the particular accounts held by their agency.
Pick the Right Crowd
Mass collaboration, co-creation, and crowdsourcing are becoming increasingly important vehicles for clients looking to engage the voices of consumers with brands. At last count there were more than 100 crowdsourcing platforms available for some kind of design or marketing work. Picking the right one is key. There are many factors to consider, from who is in a particular crowd to how talent is paid or how intellectual property is handled. Many times success will come from breaking a project into smaller pieces and tapping different crowds for the various different elements. In general, it seems it's best to combine small private crowds (these days known as "expertsourcing"), where everyone working on the project signs a nondisclosure agreement, with bigger, more public crowds (crowdsourcing) to generate more ideas.
Stay Involved
In any management role, the key is to be actively involved. It's even more critical when directing a digitally distributed workforce. These days, people no longer have to move to the right city or work for the right company to participate. They can work where they want, with whom they want, and how they want. When harnessing the crowd for creative work, every participant deserves feedback and direction. That's easier said than done. But it's a big reason people get involved—and managing both expectations and rewards is the only way to see this type of business into the long term.
Help Clients Face the Challenge of Innovation
Clients need solutions that allow their brands to engage with their consumers and that get the results they need to move their marketing strategy forward. However, crowdsourcing platforms have proven unruly for many clients. In a recent corporate identity project we ran, we received 3,300 designs. The number of possible solutions created and the effort to keep things on strategy for a brand can be overwhelming. Curation and creative direction is the key to helping clients innovate.
A year after first asking the question above, the answer is still "No." Too many agencies still are not making themselves an integral part of the new reality. As the world becomes more digitally connected, we should celebrate the fact that marketing and advertising ideas are coming from everywhere. For me, it's inspiring to see the radical evolution of an industry and watch individuals take control of a once-closed society made up of Mad Men. The new world can be scary for people who still work in the old model. We get that. Change is scary. But it's also a reality.
John Winsor is author of Spark: Be more Innovative through Co-Creation and Beyond the Brand: Why Engaging the Right Customers is Essential to Winning in Business. The former executive director of strategy and product innovation at Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, he co-founded Victors & Spoils in 2009.
To Learn More Click Here
The traditional advertising model is broken, argues John Winsor of new-model agency Victors & Spoils. It's time for the old guard to wake up
"The question for creative agencies is whether they can wake up, react to what's going on, engage the crowd, and make themselves a part of the new reality."
I posed this teaser in a Businessweek.com article published just over a year ago. At the time, the question was purely rhetorical. But in the ensuing conversations it quickly became obvious that the answer was a resounding "NO."
Realizing this inspired me to quit my job as executive director of strategy and product innovation at the advertising agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky to co-found Victors & Spoils, an advertising agency based on crowdsourcing principles. Now I find myself at the center of the debate about the future of advertising, design, and marketing—even the future of work itself.
Seven months in, we've had the opportunity to work on everything from TV and radio to brand strategy, including digital and social media, product design, service design, and graphic design. We've done projects with clients including Dish Network (DISH), General Mills (GIS), and Virgin, with confidential clients in financial services, quick-service restaurants, and packaged consumer goods. As we continue to explore uncharted territory, we're learning every day. Here are some of the most important insights we've gleaned to date:
The Model Is Broken
Advertising is all about relationships, and at the heart of the client/agency relationship is trust. That trust has been eroded by a lack of transparency and, often, resistance to change. Over the past few months, I've spent a lot of time with the chief marketing officers of Fortune 500 companies. The theme is consistent. They tell me stories of being charged $10,000 per second of video editing for clips to go on YouTube, $1,000 for a single foamcore presentation board, and $25,000 for event banners; an unwillingness to collaborate; and myriad indirect charges for parties and travel.
Somewhere along the way, the big-agency business became a lifestyle. But clients, who want the best creative work, don't want to pay for it anymore. And they're figuring out that they don't have to. Smart agencies need to adapt their business models and fast, or they won't have the opportunity to rebuild these relationships.
The World's Your Creative Department
The old system of agencies employing a few creative teams to come up with agenda-setting ideas simply doesn't make sense in a digital era where ideas can and should come from anywhere. Digital tools can be used to tap into the wider world of creativity, and can do so with a lean infrastructure. It's a win for the client, who gets access to a diversity of ideas. It's a win for creative talent, who aren't bound to work on the particular accounts held by their agency.
Pick the Right Crowd
Mass collaboration, co-creation, and crowdsourcing are becoming increasingly important vehicles for clients looking to engage the voices of consumers with brands. At last count there were more than 100 crowdsourcing platforms available for some kind of design or marketing work. Picking the right one is key. There are many factors to consider, from who is in a particular crowd to how talent is paid or how intellectual property is handled. Many times success will come from breaking a project into smaller pieces and tapping different crowds for the various different elements. In general, it seems it's best to combine small private crowds (these days known as "expertsourcing"), where everyone working on the project signs a nondisclosure agreement, with bigger, more public crowds (crowdsourcing) to generate more ideas.
Stay Involved
In any management role, the key is to be actively involved. It's even more critical when directing a digitally distributed workforce. These days, people no longer have to move to the right city or work for the right company to participate. They can work where they want, with whom they want, and how they want. When harnessing the crowd for creative work, every participant deserves feedback and direction. That's easier said than done. But it's a big reason people get involved—and managing both expectations and rewards is the only way to see this type of business into the long term.
Help Clients Face the Challenge of Innovation
Clients need solutions that allow their brands to engage with their consumers and that get the results they need to move their marketing strategy forward. However, crowdsourcing platforms have proven unruly for many clients. In a recent corporate identity project we ran, we received 3,300 designs. The number of possible solutions created and the effort to keep things on strategy for a brand can be overwhelming. Curation and creative direction is the key to helping clients innovate.
A year after first asking the question above, the answer is still "No." Too many agencies still are not making themselves an integral part of the new reality. As the world becomes more digitally connected, we should celebrate the fact that marketing and advertising ideas are coming from everywhere. For me, it's inspiring to see the radical evolution of an industry and watch individuals take control of a once-closed society made up of Mad Men. The new world can be scary for people who still work in the old model. We get that. Change is scary. But it's also a reality.
John Winsor is author of Spark: Be more Innovative through Co-Creation and Beyond the Brand: Why Engaging the Right Customers is Essential to Winning in Business. The former executive director of strategy and product innovation at Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, he co-founded Victors & Spoils in 2009.
To Learn More Click Here
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Virgin America Flies With V&S on Web
V&S did not use crowdsourcing to create the campaign -- it crafted the work to enable crowdsourcing
Virgin America has rolled out a Web campaign created by crowdsourcing agency Victors & Spoils. The campaign is a promotion designed to draw attention to the carrier's expansion into Toronto, marking the first time the airline has flown outside the U.S. It is centered on a Web contest inviting users to submit video entries to be named "The Virgin America Toronto Provocateur." Contestants will be evaluated based on whether they have the "creativity, talent and vision" to represent the brand in Toronto. The position comes with perks that include free trips on Virgin America for a year. In a twist, V&S did not use crowdsourcing to create the campaign. Rather, it crafted the work to enable crowdsourcing. V&S co-founder Evan Fry said the shop would work both ways with clients to tap into the power of the crowd. "We're an ad agency built on crowdsourcing principles," he said. "We'll use the crowd to come up with ideas, or we'll come up with something that allows people to create ideas." The Boulder, Colo.-based agency bills itself as the first shop to rely on crowdsourcing to get work done. Earlier this month, it launched a TV campaign for Dish Network. The writer and art director on that project requested anonymity because they have day jobs at other agencies. V&S uses its internal database of over 1,000 creatives as a sort of outsourced creative department. For other work, it uses tools like crowdspring to run creative contests.
Critics claim this approach commoditizes creativity. Fry is sympathetic to those concerns, pointing out V&S prefers to pay all participants for their time and ideas.
"We don't like the work-for-free element of it," he said. I agree with people calling it an evil thing. I don't call it evil, but I see where they're coming from." But, he added, the growth of easy-to-use tech tools makes the democratization of creative services inevitable. "We're seeing a lot of interest from a lot of brands," he said. "We're getting a lot of curious brands who have agencies of record and want to do a project with us. They're interested in whether our approach is more nimble and cost effective." For this project, V&S kept the lion's share of the work in-house, with the concept and strategy handled by V&S staffers. The Web work was handled by an outside developer. V&S shot an intro video showing Virgin Group founder Richard Branson randomly dialing hotel guests, introducing himself and trying to get out his pitch for the Toronto ambassador position. Visitors can vote up or down on entries on the Virgin America campaign site, which V&S built on the Google Moderator platform, a free tool for user-contributed questions, ideas and feedback.
To Learn More Click Here
Virgin America has rolled out a Web campaign created by crowdsourcing agency Victors & Spoils. The campaign is a promotion designed to draw attention to the carrier's expansion into Toronto, marking the first time the airline has flown outside the U.S. It is centered on a Web contest inviting users to submit video entries to be named "The Virgin America Toronto Provocateur." Contestants will be evaluated based on whether they have the "creativity, talent and vision" to represent the brand in Toronto. The position comes with perks that include free trips on Virgin America for a year. In a twist, V&S did not use crowdsourcing to create the campaign. Rather, it crafted the work to enable crowdsourcing. V&S co-founder Evan Fry said the shop would work both ways with clients to tap into the power of the crowd. "We're an ad agency built on crowdsourcing principles," he said. "We'll use the crowd to come up with ideas, or we'll come up with something that allows people to create ideas." The Boulder, Colo.-based agency bills itself as the first shop to rely on crowdsourcing to get work done. Earlier this month, it launched a TV campaign for Dish Network. The writer and art director on that project requested anonymity because they have day jobs at other agencies. V&S uses its internal database of over 1,000 creatives as a sort of outsourced creative department. For other work, it uses tools like crowdspring to run creative contests.
Critics claim this approach commoditizes creativity. Fry is sympathetic to those concerns, pointing out V&S prefers to pay all participants for their time and ideas.
"We don't like the work-for-free element of it," he said. I agree with people calling it an evil thing. I don't call it evil, but I see where they're coming from." But, he added, the growth of easy-to-use tech tools makes the democratization of creative services inevitable. "We're seeing a lot of interest from a lot of brands," he said. "We're getting a lot of curious brands who have agencies of record and want to do a project with us. They're interested in whether our approach is more nimble and cost effective." For this project, V&S kept the lion's share of the work in-house, with the concept and strategy handled by V&S staffers. The Web work was handled by an outside developer. V&S shot an intro video showing Virgin Group founder Richard Branson randomly dialing hotel guests, introducing himself and trying to get out his pitch for the Toronto ambassador position. Visitors can vote up or down on entries on the Virgin America campaign site, which V&S built on the Google Moderator platform, a free tool for user-contributed questions, ideas and feedback.
To Learn More Click Here
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Jon Bond Joins Victors & Spoils
Jon Bond has joined crowdsourcing agency Victors & Spoils as a strategic partner, the Boulder, Colo., company said today.
In February, the co-founder of Kirshenbaum, Bond, Senecal + Partners left the agency, following the final payout from parent MDC Partners. During his 23 years at his namesake shop, Bond (pictured) was associated with brands like Snapple, Kenneth Cole, Capital One and Wendy's. Victors & Spoils said Bond's "investing" in the six-month-old agency is his first business move since leaving KBS+P.
"Running a traditional agency today is like being captain of the Titanic, and Victors & Spoils the iceberg. As an investor, I stand behind new agency models designed to challenge the 'unsinkable,'" Bond said in a statement.
"Victors & Spoils is already the undisputed leader in helping today's brands navigate the new marketing landscape. Plus, crowdsourcing is building huge momentum."
John Winsor, Claudia Batten and Evan Fry launched Victors & Spoils last October. Winsor is the author of Spark: Be More Innovative Through Co-Creation; Batten is an entrepreneur who has founded companies like videogaming concern Massive; and Fry is a former Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative director who worked on accounts like Best Buy and Domino's.
The agency now claims "more than 10 marquee brand clients" including Dish Network, General Mills, Brown Forman and Virgin America. Victors & Spoils also said it has a global creative and strategic network of more than 750 individuals.
"It is fantastic to have an advertising legend like Jon Bond join our team within our first six months," said agency CEO Winsor in a statement. "There has been tremendous interest among the investment and marketing communities. We believe our model provides businesses with a better way to solve their marketing, advertising and product-design problems using tools based on crowdsourcing principles."
To Learn More Click Here
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Dish Network Looking to the Crowd
By STUART ELLIOTT
An initiative by Dish Network is indicative of how marketers remain enamored of crowdsourcing as a way to generate ideas for advertising campaigns, commercials, logos, packaging and the other trappings of peddling products and services.
The term crowdsourcing refers to open innovation, usually online, that relies on the “wisdom of crowds”— or, at least, their lack of ignorance — to come up with concepts in collaborative fashion. It is an alternative to the traditional model of using an ad agency’s copywriters and art directors.
Dish Network has an agency of record for crowdsourcing, Victors and Spoils, a new shop in Boulder, Colo. Victors and Spoils was asked to manage and curate a crowdsourcing exercise in creating a possible new logo for Dish.
Victors and Spoils is working with a company in Chicago, CrowdSpring, which says it has access to 58,000 designers and writers for its crowdsourcing projects.
The logo competition drew 3,175 entries, says Ross Kimbarovsky, who co-founded of CrowdSpring with Mike Sanson, from 559 participating creative types. There are to be $10,000 in awards in the form of four prizes of $2,500 each.
Ira Bahr, chief marketing officer at Dish in Denver, said he expected to choose the prize winners this week. The winning entries will not necessarily result in a new Dish logo or logos, Mr. Bahr emphasized, adding that to him crowdsourcing projects provide ideas and suggestions rather than mandates.
Crowdsourcing is a valid way to develop marketing concepts, Mr. Bahr said, because “there has to be a massive resource of great creative talent available through the Internet.”
Ad agencies “can get exhausted on particular assignments,” he added, “whereas the crowd doesn’t get exhausted, bored, burned out.”
CrowdSpring also has a competition going to write a script for a 30-second commercial for Dish. Mr. Bahr said it was not something he had commissioned.
To Learn More click Here
An initiative by Dish Network is indicative of how marketers remain enamored of crowdsourcing as a way to generate ideas for advertising campaigns, commercials, logos, packaging and the other trappings of peddling products and services.
The term crowdsourcing refers to open innovation, usually online, that relies on the “wisdom of crowds”— or, at least, their lack of ignorance — to come up with concepts in collaborative fashion. It is an alternative to the traditional model of using an ad agency’s copywriters and art directors.
Dish Network has an agency of record for crowdsourcing, Victors and Spoils, a new shop in Boulder, Colo. Victors and Spoils was asked to manage and curate a crowdsourcing exercise in creating a possible new logo for Dish.
Victors and Spoils is working with a company in Chicago, CrowdSpring, which says it has access to 58,000 designers and writers for its crowdsourcing projects.
The logo competition drew 3,175 entries, says Ross Kimbarovsky, who co-founded of CrowdSpring with Mike Sanson, from 559 participating creative types. There are to be $10,000 in awards in the form of four prizes of $2,500 each.
Ira Bahr, chief marketing officer at Dish in Denver, said he expected to choose the prize winners this week. The winning entries will not necessarily result in a new Dish logo or logos, Mr. Bahr emphasized, adding that to him crowdsourcing projects provide ideas and suggestions rather than mandates.
Crowdsourcing is a valid way to develop marketing concepts, Mr. Bahr said, because “there has to be a massive resource of great creative talent available through the Internet.”
Ad agencies “can get exhausted on particular assignments,” he added, “whereas the crowd doesn’t get exhausted, bored, burned out.”
CrowdSpring also has a competition going to write a script for a 30-second commercial for Dish. Mr. Bahr said it was not something he had commissioned.
To Learn More click Here
Friday, November 13, 2009
Victors and Spoils the new crowdsourcing ad agency gets a crowdsourced logo from crowdspring
Victors and Spoils, the new crowdsourcing agency has chosen its final logo from its crowdsourcing competition on crowdspring.com. Onward and upward! I kinda liked the pirate one with overtones of Empire of The Sun meets Somalia pirates...but this looks great...power to the people, no kidding...
To Learn More Click Here
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Crowdsourced: Who's on First?
Crowdsourcing agencies didn't seem at all flummoxed when former Crispin guys John Winsor and Evan Fry and Massive founder Claudia Batten announced that they'd launched the "The world's first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles." Probably because they all do different things, and being "first" isn't important, unless you're America and the year is 1969. But various commenters and blogs have bemoaned the agency's "first" claim. Naturally, we're hopping on board to list a bit of what we know. First, a short list of companies operating on the crowdsourcing model:
To Learn More Click Here
To Learn More Click Here
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