15 Best Examples Of Crowdsourcing

The benefits of Crowdsourcing cannot be understated. To be precise, Crowdsourcing refers to obtaining information or other inputs from many people using the internet.  Internet helps to exchange data at the speed of light, which helps businesses be more competitive. 

Some get paid as freelancers, and others perform tasks as volunteers.  Crowdsourcing helps to be one step ahead of others, especially when developing solutions for strategic issues and finding better ways to complete tasks.

The crowdsourcing term was coined by Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson in the year 2005. The widespread use of the internet helps people from all walks of life and backgrounds share their inputs on a project. 

Here are the best examples of crowdsourcing:

1- Dell Social Innovation Challenge

Under the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, students are encouraged to develop ideas that have a world-changing effect.  Students at the University of Texas have been crowdsourcing solutions for almost seven years.  At the start, there was a contest with $50000/- as prize money.  Today the award money has gone up to $350,000/- and extended to multiple winners.  Participation in this content is straightforward.  All you need is to submit either an idea or a program.  The details should be submitted by creating a page on the Dellchallenge.org site.  The members and visitors are asked to vote for the best idea, and then winners are chosen.  Some of the winning projects are:

• Solar Conduction Dryer
• Recycling old tires and making rubber shoes for the needy
• Providing food dehydrators using solar power

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2- General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-win)

General Mills has identified the benefits of Crowdsourcing and has openly asked for ideas.  General Mills always seeks new ways to improve its business by employing cutting-edge technology, from packing to new product ideas.  It even seeks improvement in technology and making its digital presence felt.   The benefits of having the G-Win are that it has helped in bringing new products to the market.  The suggestions for ideas are open to all, and anyone can access them by logging onto the General Mills website.

3- Anheuser-Busch (AB)

The name may sound very unfamiliar. However, everyone has heard the name of ‘Budweiser’ brand of beer.  Anheuser -Busch is the brewer of Budweiser brands and is considered the leading brewer.  Before developing craft beer, the company took inputs to form a group of taste-testers.  Taking results from the competition with brewmasters, tastings, and consumer ideas all amounted to more than 25,000 collaborators.  The result was the golden amber lager named Black Crown. It did not stop there. In Brazil, the AB company opened a video production company through Crowdsourcing.   Almost 35,000 videographers from around the world signed in. This helped the AB company open innovation opportunities so that its products could be marketed freshly and innovatively.

4- Mit Climate Colab

Another best example of Crowdsourcing is the Climate CoLab housed at MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence.  It received 10,000 plus users to its crowdsourcing initiative for climate change solutions.  The award went to Dr. Geoffrey Hay and his team from the University of Calgary.  They received prize money of $10,000 for their HEAT proposal (Heat Energy Assessment Technology).   It was a tool wherein homeowners can quickly identify areas of heat loss in their homes.

5- Zooniverse

As the name suggests, it is a study of the universe.  It launched the Moon Zoo crowdsourcing project with about four million lunar images. In this crowdsourcing project, ordinary people were able to study and organize high-resolution lunar images.  Using the Zooniverse crowdfunding project, an overwhelming amount of data was analyzed by all and sundry.

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6- Mymachine

Another great crowdsourcing project is the MyMachine.  Herein small primary school children were asked to participate. They had to create a dream machine.  College design students then vetted these concepts.  The result was that prototypes of all the dream machines suggested were made. These included everything from a self-made bed to a recycling robot.

7- The Cairo Transport App Challenge:

This Crowdsourcing was a little bit different. It was open to all the citizens of Cairo.  They had to design solutions for traffic congestion and traffic safety.  In other words, it was an open innovation competition.   The prize winner was Beliaa, an app.  This app sends GPS data automatically of the breakdown to the nearest road assistance center.

8- McDonalds

Who hasn’t heard of Mcdonalds’?  You will be surprised to know that Mcdonalds’ also ran a successful crowdsourcing program.  In 2014, they asked customers to submit ideas about the type of burgers they would like.  They had to create a perfect burger online, and then others would vote for the best one.  Once the winners were decided, Mcdonalds’ prepared the burgers,  sold them along with the picture and a short bio of the creator.   Not only that, in Germany, Mcdonald’s went ahead and encouraged many to create their campaigns through viral videos and other content marketing.  This, in turn, helped McDonald’s publicity without costing anything. Please note that this scheme was not created to generate serious revenue. But instead, it was a perfect market research tool. Also, it helped in the public social campaign. With Mcdonalds’ crowdsourcing acting as a product development tool, it helped them gauge the customer’s appetites and develop custom-designed food items.

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9- My Starbucks Idea

Not to stay behind, Starbucks too, has made its strong presence felt in the field of Crowdsourcing.   Starbucks continuously encouraged its customers to submit ideas, give mutual feedback, discuss, and collaborate using social media and networks. The ideas were then discussed with various employees of Starbucks.  A separate website was dedicated to catering to this purpose with a leaderboard to track the active customers.  Today Starbucks has excelled as a brand mainly because of experimenting with social media and customer engagement. Through Crowdsourcing, Starbucks increased customer engagements. As a result, it got publicity and generated a flow of suggestions from the customers’ preceptive.

10- Lego

Another successful and best example of Crowdsourcing is the Toy company Lego.  Users can design new products, and which later are tested for their demand.  When a user submits a design, users can vote for it. The idea with the most votes is moved to production, and the creator of the design idea gets a percentage of royalty from the net revenue.  There is a two-fold benefit. This type of engagement generates a buzz for the brand, and secondly, since the creator takes it upon himself to promote the idea, he ends up promoting the company as well. Lego DesignByMe is the downloadable design software that runs on the customer’s devices.  They can, in turn, design and build their own Lego online.  Lego has successfully gauged the customers’ needs by engaging them side-by-side with their in-house creative department. Also, it can spot the trends and judge the size of the market for each product.  Because of Crowdsourcing, their design costs have been reduced drastically, and at the same time, their customer satisfaction has reached 99.9%.  Their business model is straightforward. Firstly, a user submits a product design. Other users vote for it. When it gets 10,000 votes, the product receives a formal stage-gate review.  All legalities are cleared, and after that, the product is moved to production.  The creator of the product gets a royalty on the net revenue.  

11- Samsung

Samsung has made the largest crowdsourcing facility in Palo Alto.   By employing this facility, they are seeking innovative solutions for their existing electronic products and technology.  In addition, Samsung is also actively seeking collaboration with other interested individuals and companies.  For instance, Samsung partnered with product Development platform Marbler in 2013. The objective was to crowdsource ideas on how best newly discovered patents from NASA could be used.  In addition, they offered users an opportunity to create new products for the company and, in return, get a share of the revenue.

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12- Lays 

The Lays company started a crowdsourcing program which was for ten months.  The name of the crowdsourcing campaign was ‘Do us a flavor,’ and the topic was local foods.    The consumers were asked to create their own desired chip flavor, and like other crowdsourcing campaigns, other users had to vote for their favorite.  Since every city in America has its staple food item, Lays wanted to shed light on these traditions and allow participants to share their hometown’s pride. The submissions were narrowed down to 4 finalists, and the unique flavors were sold across the country. The winner was ‘Cheesy Garlic Bread.’  Other finalists were kettle-cooked Greek town Gyro, Wavy West Coast Truffle Fries, and New York Reuben. This new flavor caused an 8% increase in sales.   The winner will receive a percentage of the flavor’s net sales or % 1 million, whichever is higher.

13- Airbnb 

The complete business model of Airbnb is based on Crowdsourcing.   Airbnb is a travel website wherein individuals can let out their homes for visitors from all over the world. An apartment for a night or villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences in more than 34000 cities and 190 countries. In 2013, Airbnb had asked its users for shots from all over the world.  They put the clips together under the name Hollywood & Vines and made it into a TV ad. The success made them go a step further.  Airbnb has teamed up and started a crowdsourcing project wherein filmmakers worldwide had to create video content about places they call home. The videos needed to be a minimum of 60 seconds long and be authentic and fresh. The winner would get about 20,000 euros. These successful campaigns have ensured that Airbnb receives millions of unique content and saves them a lot of money.

14- Greenpeace 

Greenpeace started a contest for its followers.  They had to get controversial, sarcastic, and satirical quotes that targeted an oil company.  Greenpeace later used these quotes on ads.   Their Shell Oil ‘Let’s Go Advertisements turned heads in 2012.  What Greenpeace showed to the rest of the world is that crowdsourcing is ideal for sourcing ads.

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15- Pebble 

The Pebble company grew from a simple idea that started on the fundraising website Kickstarter.  It used Kickstarter to raise funds for developing its technology.   Today, Pebble Smartwatch and Pebble Time steel is a brand that has reached rivals like Apple and Samsung.  Pebble’s smartwatch is Kickstarter’s most significant crowdfunding success.  They also encouraged other people to share their knowledge and talents.  In return, they got the products at discounted prices or before the rest of the world.

Crowdsourcing FAQs

Is crowdsourcing a type of cheap labor?

No. it is a mistake to think like that. Crowdsourcing is the creation of a community and gives a sense of belonging. All participate equally.

What is the best example of crowdsourcing design?

LegoDesignByMe- Lego is the best example of crowdsourcing design.

What are some examples of crowdfunding sites?

Kickstarter and Indiegogo are the best examples of crowdfunding sites. Herein people can share ideas and raise money to bring those ideas to life.

Which is the largest crowdsourcing company in the world?

Samsung has the largest crowdsourcing facility wherein they seek collaboration with other firms and interested individuals.

Conclusion

Today’s companies realize that a wealth of ideas and opinions can be easily unearthed utilizing crowdfunding.  So, they are ready to listen.  Successful websites such as IndieGoGo and Kickstarter are proof of that.  Crowdfunding provides collaborative ideas and civic innovation, which can resolve business and other societal issues. Same time it gives a platform for many voices to be heard.  The motto of all companies today is ‘When in doubt, ask for lots of input.

In the end, even if a lot of moderation and feedback is involved, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of Crowdsourcing.  In short, it reduces costs and increases the options for creativity. Each industry is different, but organizations can accomplish and reach greater heights by utilizing crowdsourcing to their advantage. The above-mentioned 15 best examples of crowdsourcing are proof of that.