Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing comes from two words: crowd and outsourcing.

It's defined as a new way to outsource tasks to many persons (the crowd) through an open call, instead of working with contractors or external firms.

The crowdsourcing process groups several steps:
1- the firm has a problem
2- it broadcast it on the web
3- the users try to resolve this problem and submits their work
4- the firm votes on the best work and decide to implement it
5- the user who did this work is rewarded
6- the firm owns several solutions to create many scenarios
7- the firm makes huge profits

Elance is a crowdsourcing website which try to match freelancers with employers.
Freelancers provide their expertise in several fields (web programming ...etc) while employers ask for work to fulfill their needs.
The employer get many requests from many users and these experts start working on the defined task. The employer monitors several projects and decides at the end which one it will implement.
The users whose projects weren't accepted won't get paid while the chosen project's owner will get a remuneration.

Freelancers:
Advantages:
1- earn money
2- improve their work
3- get in touch with employers

Disadvantages:
1- get their work unapproved
2- work on a specific project without the benefits of a long-term career

Employers:
Advantages:
1- get their task done
2- get many projects and choose the best one
3- get their work done the fastest way
4- rely on the work of experts

Disadvantages:
1- the freelancer isn't motivated as the employees of the company
2- the freelancer won't work on the project the way an employee will do it: details might be omitted

Elance:
Advantages:
1- earn from the employers
2- crowdsourcing



Conclusion:

Crowdsourcing aims to provide several solutions, several points of view to the company. It engages the people. It supports the democratization concerning the chosen solutions and it works as a brainstorming session.

Crowdsourcing helps the company get more innovative ideas from the crowd (the consumers) and launch products with less marketing efforts.

Ex: DEWmocracy from Mountain Dew where the consumers worked on the packaging of the product, its taste, its colors ...etc


Please follow the link on Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/wissamelkik/crowdsourcing-4000017

Turning a local mail service into a web-based mail service

Everyone needs to be connected to the world. With the increasing growing internet users, the traditional mail service is becoming less popular. Local-based mail service provides some problems that can be fixed using a new approach: a web-based system. This e-service will help the traditional mail service survive without losing its traditional identity, benefits and advantages.

The local-based mail service has many disadvantages:

- the consumer needs to send the mail physically to the local post (in Lebanon, the mailboxes are rarely used and mostly intended for corporate offices).
- the prices are high comparing to free e-mail services like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- local mail services needs huge logistics and cost a lot for an average user.


The web-based mail service will provide some advantages:

- the ability to send a mail from anywhere at anytime.
- the user can choose built-in designs for several occasions and add them as a background image to the mail.
- the user can choose several writing templates.
- the user can bind to the mail a video, a set of pictures or even a flash presentation.
- the user can choose several animated themes build on Adobe Flash.
- the user can use a mass-mailing feature by adding a database using its address book.
- the user can add a signature using a desktop signing device or using a web-based graphic pen tool.
- the user doesn't need to go to the Post Office (basically in Lebanon).
- the enterprise will need less employees because it's a web-based application and the cost will be less expensive.
- the enterprise will be able to face huge e-mail services like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail with a personalized approach and it could be more competitive.
- the enterprise will print the mail in the delivery region which means there's less transportation fees and the mail will be cheaper.
- the enterprise will be able to build several delivery points across the nation and worldwide depending on the consumers needs to provide cheaper mails.
- there's a crowdsourcing feature to help every user (or graphic designer mainly) upload their design and make money from others using it.
- there's a crowdsourcing event to give prizes to the best designs on the website.
- the user can send a physical package (product bought online. ex: a book on Amazon ...) with the mail by adding the physical package reference into the mail.
- the approach is more personal.
- the user can choose within several types of paper, cardboard ...etc
- the user can buy gift packages for several occasions (done by the mail service team on a limited stock basis to provide originality and a more personal approach).
- the user can send Facebook posts (pictures, video links, Facebook activity ...etc) and Twitter tweets printed in his mail package.
- the user can send Microsoft Office documents, PDF files ...etc
- the user can send all types of files (video, audio recordings, music , zip files, text files ...etc). They will be burned on a CD placed inside the mail package.
- the user can write using the braille language and the text will be translated to english or other languages.
- the user can translate their text online to several languages.

This approach relies on the Long Tail providing to a new type of consumer the ability to use the service in a different way and drive sales much higher to the mail service company. The firm can create many new services that would help the local mail company earn more money outside its main service and face other competitors on the internet. It will benefit from a larger market share and a infinite product/service range to meet the new trends, the technology constant evolution and the consumers ever changing needs.

Ref:
http://www.sendwithpeggy.com/
http://www.postful.com/
http://www.l-mail.com/
http://www.enthusem.com/

Pepsi Refresh: a social project

Back in 2009, Google created a campaign for its 10 years birthday. It was called "Project 10 to the 100" and was meant to gather a maximum of ideas concerning some major categories like: community, shelter, health, environment, opportunity, energy, education etc.
It made a huge success, providing funds (10.000.000 $) to firms trying to implement new ideas.

Few months later, Pepsi Co. decided to allocate all its promotion budget ($20 millions) for a social media campaign called "Pepsi Refresh". Pepsi Co. payed $142 millions on Super Bowl ads during the last decade, and decided this year to stop supporting one of the most-watched television programs. It's the same concept as Google's "Project 10 to the 100". They have obviously used the huge success of Google's campaign to invest in this new kind of worldwide campaign.

Pepsi Co. is trying to reach everybody who is tempting to change the community or the environment, which links to its usual emblem, “come to Pepsi, come to the new generation”.
Indeed, this advertising campaign “Hit Refresh” is trying to focus on everybody who has a dream to change its community, which means that it is trying to reach the new generation, the young people, people who have a different vision of the world and who are going to change lately our new world. Everybody can bring up his idea, which is the base of crowdsourcing, and then every person can vote to help implement any project that sounds fine for him.

Pepsi Co. wants the new generation not only to watch its "Refresh" advertising campaign, but also to share it, to participate in it, and to produce it. In other words, Pepsi Co. wants the people to propose their own projects, to vote on the projects, and to realize them in order to “refresh” the world. This means that it wants explicitly the new generation to watch the world's problems, to think of better solutions and to participate in making a better world.
Pepsi Co. was always been a leader in promoting their shared values, their work towards sustainability, their corporate responsibility and their use of renewable energies.

Pepsi Co. is focusing on the visual communication: It is broadcasting its commercials through MTV channels, and it is launching the biggest billboard campaign in Australia’s history.
On the other side, Pepsi is focusing its efforts on social media (Twitter, Facebook …), obviously in order to reach the young people, or the “new generation”. With the huge growth of Twitter users (more than 1300% per year), Pepsi is taking the lead to spread its message among its consumers (mostly the young generation) using micro-blogging technologies.

Pepsi Co. has proven its ability to keep it with new technologies, to launch new ideas and innovate, and to keep growing and reaching more and more fans.