The $50 logo experiment.
Clients are always looking for more bang for less buck, and that’s never been more true than in today’s economy. That’s why sites such as Adhack.com, Bootb.com and Crowdspring.com have been getting more and more buzz recently. But can you really get better advertising through sites like these?
My first inclination was “Hell no!” You get what you pay for and by farming your advertising out to some random hacks (read: mediocre ad school students with time to kill) you’re doing your brand an incredible disservice. And on the flip side, anyone participating in these spec pitches does nothing but sell out the value of advertising for the chance at some quick bucks.
But does every business needs a “real” agency? Not everyone buys Sony TVs – plenty of people are happy with a Westinghouse or an Olevia. Maybe it’s worth it for the pizza shack down the street to have any logo rather than none at all. Well over the past year, Jim Wall decided to try 50dollarlogo.com and see if you really get what you pay for. It’s a hilarious read and should make any business considering these sites want to go hire a good agency ASAP.
Filed under: Are you kidding me?, Commentary, Crowd-sourcing | 1 Comment
Tags: advertising, Commentary, crowd_sourcing
Hi Matt,
Thanks very much for mentioning AdHack. Not so much thanks for generalizing our creative community as ‘mediocre ad school students with time to kill.’ Ouch. I’m sticking up for them and saying that your comment is more than a little unfair.
We’re all for great creative work and not devaluaing great work. We just have a different approach.
Who’s to say that all the talented people work at agencies? And who’s to say that the agency a client chooses has the best fit to work on that account? And do agencies serve those talented people anyway?
What our clients have found is that they get great work from our creative community, when they need it, without big overhead costs like they find with AORs.
But our clients aren’t just bottomfishing on price. Buying “Westinghouse or an Olevia,” as you say. They’re seeking more effective ways to use their budgets. They’re seeking more authentic ideas. To them, this means sourcing their advertising creative in a collaborative way.
They find that by opening the creative process to participation, the creation of their marketing becomes marketing. They get high engagement and investment that lasts.
We’re not perfect and we’re not right for everyone. It’s unfortunate that Jim Wall had a lousy experience with 50dollarlogo.com. But dig a little deeper and consider what we’re proposing. If you have questions or comments, please ask me.
Because we’re here to stay we and we’re getting better at delivering great work all the time.