Long Tail Approach or Short-term Gain Leading to Long-term Loss

There’s a delicate balance between encouraging participation and surrendering control. Managing crowdsourced contributions not only takes considerable resources, it’s unlikely that the ideas submitted will be “on strategy” or “on brand”. Engaging consumers has always been paramount to building strong brands, but allowing the crowd to curate your brand is another thing altogether.

Arguably, crowdsourcing has been around for a long time. In fields such as chemistry, astronomy and other sciences, crowdsourcing has made large-scale projects feasible. Over the years many amateurs have made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy and space science. Comets, for example, are often discovered first by non-professionals.

However, in June, 2006 a Wired magazine article sparked a heated debate. In this article Jeff Howe first proposed the idea of “Crowdsourcing.” Whether you believe crowdsourcing is a gimmick or the next big thing, it’s important to note that the idea is still in its early, some would say idealistic, years. How it was proposed and what it may become will be largely based on how it is interpreted.

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Call it music branding, mnemonic branding, acoustic branding or sound design, brand sonification is an integral part of the brand experience, yet is often overlooked. It adds yet another opportunity for the brand to interact with people. Sonification cannot only improve a product’s usability, it can become a primary brand signal, connecting people and brands.

Much like visuals, sound isn’t restricted by the limitations of language. Sound is a metaphor for emotion, one that as humans we are pre-wired to understand. Our brain is registering sound 24/7. It never turns off that sense. The sense of sound triggers memory, second only to that of the sense of smell. Sounds, songs and jingles time stamp our memories. Sound takes us back and helps us to make sense of our world.

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Change is inevitable. The question is, how do you make it work in your favor?

Early on in our business a client gave us some brilliant advice. He stated “If you find yourself in the same business you were in ten years ago, you’ll soon find yourself out of business.”

His words are amplified by the fact that technology is eroding entire industries only to create new ones. This has, now doubt, caused everyone to re-evaluate who they are and where they stand. As you do so, we suggest that you ask yourself some questions:

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