TBWA/London is trying an interesting experiment. They've set up something called TBWALab, where actual creative briefs will be posted on the site, and anyone is invited to contribute ideas, and other people can comment on them. Anything you submit will become property of TBWA, but if they use your idea, they'll pay you. Apparently the first project is going up sometime this week. This takes co-creation to a whole new level - although I'm guessing many of the contributors will be from the freelance and student ad community, rather than brand users or the person on the street.
It's an idea that's both interesting and highly risky. I'm fascinated to see how they do it, partly because we briefly toyed with a similar idea, but just couldn't figure out how to make it work. Of course, we love open-source ideas, sharing, iterative creative processes, and the generousness of the blogging community. And so we've used this forum to share and get feedback on some of our thinking, or to get some insights for various projects and pitches. But we saw a few huge obstacles to actually sharing a live client problem.
One is how to properly brief people without giving away proprietary client information. Another is that you're potentially letting all of your client's competitors see free thinking on their category, not to mention the germination of a new campaign idea with enough time for them to steal it or react to it. And the third (and I think the most interesting) is how the compensation actually would work.
Compensating people for open-source creativity raises an interesting problem: in an iterative process, how do you judge how much someone contributed? If someone submits a full layout or a TV script or packaging illustration, it's pretty clear whether their contribution is used or not. But what if one person posts a rough idea, a few people comment pointing out a problem with the idea, someone else sees a solution to that problem and takes the idea in a slightly different direction, and then someone at TBWA builds on it some more and the final idea ends up in another place? That seems like the more likely scenario. So whose idea is it? How do you judge the relative value of each contribution? Does everyone who posted a comment on that thread get compensated the same flat fee? Iterative processes are fantastic for generating ideas, but make it hard to quantify who contributed what.
I'm sure there are solutions to those issues, and agencies may very well start doing more of this in the future, so I'm glad someone's trying it (and frankly, I'm glad it's not us). We all need to be trying new things these days, which sometimes means figuring out the details as you go. So full props to TBWA for experimenting. Interested to see how it works.
11/09 Update: they still haven't posted a brief, but they've changed the name of the site from TBWALab to the much odder name "The Big What Adventure."
Still, It seems that no one, in ad business have still understood the media revolution, that internet has gently started already, ages ago.
All professions related to Media, has to adapt in some radical way. ALL OF US from Content, Technicians, Data provider, Artists, all & Everything which flood in data pipes of the web need rethinking ...
We are still at the primary age of this revolution, but blindness due to old habits will hurt sooner.
Creativity should start now to work seriously on this brief.
I am just back from TBWA micorsite TheBigWhatAdventure :) website.
Interesting at 1st sight, but to much self oriented to actual business model.
It looks like a new product launch from TBWA, promoting some clients website.
Briefs are not even briefs> All TBWA at his advantage.
Please open eyes and forget about your ready made presskit you receive from colleagues.
LOOK at STUART from Saatchi, The art gallery, a bit too slow in term of loading, I admit, but faraway more clever tool than ever, the art gallery like no other.
Where ideas remains to their authors, and art, artists, are still respected to inspire & nourish creativity of each others, Saatchi himself. but that's all creatives are naturaly doing but not with such easy tool. hopefully it will stay free.
TBWA is an insulting joke to creative's intelligence, no more no less. Please do not knock at the "worng" door. Let's think at least twice before to jump in such bad & usual advertising behavior, again ranking creativity as the cheap glue to solve their multimillions dollars or euros clients brand.
TBWA seems not to be able to hire anymore any "creatives" then :)
but young GOGOS are everywhere. it says a lot about the situation in the agency then :) a new business model for sure :)
Creation is the only fuel which make media still interesting. Bargain on it, and you can discover fast how poor media can became, & advertising too.
I can't watch anymore the TV.
What about you?
Just tell me how soon I will have to stop to go to cinema?
PS> I have nothing against TBWA, I just make my own critic about this move. And please do not be confused with the last brilliant converse campaign where it happens on client site area, but conceive by its ad agency BSS&P
But i agree Creativity is belonging to everyone, it's just matter of usage. so a tribune for everyone creativity yes, but with it's full respect, creatives or not, pro or not, same power, same respect.
pls read>
http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com/cs/2006/11/a_message_broug.html
thx and amen.
Genius is living in TBWA, for sure:), but economic one.
Posted by: olivier | December 19, 2006 at 08:04 AM
Interesting idea, almost a free way for TBWA to "steal" great ideas.
I much prefer GeniusRocket's version (http://www.geniusrocket.com) where I can get paid for premo content.
Thanks! great post.
Posted by: Dave | January 31, 2008 at 12:59 PM