During 2011 blog page views across blur Group’s network more than doubled. We know that they’re a sought-out information source for those working in the creative industries, those using them and people looking for that different perspective on new startups, the latest art, marketing must-haves, design desires and a view on the latest trends. At the [...]

  We’ve already shared with you blur Group’s review of 2011 and our vision for creative services in 2012. But as it’s that time of year when we dust off the crystal balls, run riot with our runes, draw lines between planets, here’s our thoughts on what different areas of the business might see in [...]

Today, we’re taking a look at the organizations using crowdsourcing to solve really knotty problems. Crowdsourcing has been disappointing when used for projects like My Starbucks Idea and Dell IdeaStorm. Customers were invited to submit their solutions to product problems, and vote for the best ideas. The companies implement the best ideas, hopefully saving time [...]

This week the number of creatives on blur Group’s Creative Services Exchange will pass the 13,000 mark. These 13,000 are a mix of creative independents, many of them who’ve worked for the ‘big boys’, and those small to mid-sized agencies who recognize that there’s value in being part of a creative crowd. Yes, there is [...]

At blur Group, social media is the sea in which we swim. We recruit creatives, engage with potential customers, promote our blogs, share interesting content and we’ve found that Twitter is the most effective platform to do all that, and more. Here’re the tools, initiatives and people impacting Twitter today. Users were outraged by the introduction [...]

Creative is a very broad term. In the land of marketing it is both a noun and an adjective. See what I’ve done in the title. As a noun it works in two ways, covering both the deliverable and the deliverer. “The creatives are working on the creative. Let’s hope this creative is really creative.” [...]

We recently talked about how using the Creative Services Exchange is the ideal solution for getting out of a marketing fix. It’s certainly why many brands use it first, even if they come back for more under, shall we say, less pressured circumstances. And while we stress the additional benefits of greater efficiency and greater [...]

It seems clear to most in the advertising industry that change is desired and is, indeed, afoot. But there doesn’t seem to be a consensus as to what this change might be. There are some common factors:  increase in use of social and digital media, cutting into traditional ad-spend budgets; general reduction in budgets – [...]

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Creative Services Exchange has come to the rescue of more than one CMO since its launch. We show time and time again the great benefits of giving CMOs great value,  immense choice with the 11,000+ creatives available to pitch and efficiencies in terms of process and timeframes. But on [...]

Crowdsourcing went right to the top of the agenda again thanks to discussions at Cannes this week. We’ve blogged about how the expert version of Crowdsourcing can bring significant benefits to creatives and CMOs. Now let’s look at the prequel: the different types of Crowdsourcing and why they are valuable in building the movement, but [...]

It’s been a while since we’ve considered Crowdsourcing in this blog. This week saw the appointment of Jeff Howe, who coined the term and defined it, to crowdsourcing.org. Yesterday blur Group  presented to CMOs in the MENGonline network on how Crowdsourcing is helping to disrupt Madison Avenue with a new model for Creative Services.  It [...]

Crowd control, crowd management, crowd curation – whatever you want to call it, we’re seeing a definite shift away from the traditional concept of Crowdsourcing to a better-managed model that cuts out all the crap but keeps all the good stuff. Anyone who has launched their own company in recent years has probably encountered the [...]

The Creative Services Exchange™ (CSX) concept is built on the trading of briefs. And Crowdsourcing is a technique used to meet the creative demands of these briefs. This is what blur Group is about – facilitating the trading of these briefs is our raison d’être. It’s a new approach to the sourcing and delivering of [...]

Last Friday’s blur Group blogs retrospective covered everything from the Super Bowl to Google Killers. Life on blur Group’s blogs was no less varied this week, with Big Society, Francis Bacon, MWC 2011 and some of Earth’s greatest innovators all getting a look-in. So if you’ve not managed to read any of our blogs this [...]

When something truly new and innovative comes along, it can be easy to dismiss it as a fad or something that’s already been done before. And even if something has been done before, it’s worth considering why the concept hasn’t taken-off and become ingrained across society. Much has been written about Facebook and how it [...]

Would you read Oliver Twist or Animal Farm over and over? If you’re a fan of Dickens or Orwell, perhaps you would. Would you read blur Group blog posts over and over? Well, we think the more appropriate question would be why wouldn’t you peruse our prose again and again and again…just in case you [...]

It’s the Christmas period and we at blur Group are feeling a bit merry. So here’s a fun story showing there’s more to Crowdsourcing than just revolutionising your business. You can revolutionise your underwear drawer too… Bjorn Borg is a tennis legend. Far from being content with that accolade, Bjorn decided to try and take [...]

The Mini Feeds of Facebook pages up and down the country have been awash with animated faces over the last few days. This weekend saw an NSPCC campaign urging users to change their profile pictures to one of their favourite childhood cartoon characters. The campaign has seen huge press, the Facebook group attracting almost 90,000 [...]

At Cloudmade, as providers of mapping technology, we deal in models of the real world. We also support one of the worlds leading Crowdsourcing initiatives – Open Street Map. We provide mobile/Web sdks, tools, web services and applications that use these data models to create customized maps views, routes, relevant search results and other location based [...]

The recent publication of a FastCompany piece “The Future of Advertising” has seen the online platforms abuzz with ideas. The #adfuture hashtag generates tweets aplenty and theories abound covering everything from new payment and reward models, to technology-driven, totally-automated agencies, like a manufacturing conveyor belt with campaigns rolling off on to the palettes. In trying [...]

In 2006, Jeff Howe, a writer at Wired magazine, came up with a new concept for the Internet and he called it Crowdsourcing. He defined Crowdsourcing as the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call. Crowdsourcing [...]

There’s something going on in agency land. The tectonic plates seem to be shifting. Some say a revolution is under foot. Clients are looking for something new. Big brands are voting with their feet and backing the Crowdsourced Creative Agency.

Yo! As many of y’all know blur Group just hit da Campaigns listing of Top 10 Creative Agencies worldwide. That’s right. That’s wild. That’s RAP! And that’s one milestone a down bros. So as yo next gig we produce’d this worlds first Crowdsourcing Rap. Ja homies. So here goes – dig:

Crowdsourcing has officially moved from Web fad to Web trend. Which means that in a couple of years everyone will be doing it. There are 7 secrets to really successful Crowdsourcing. Or at least we think there are. 1. Understand clearly what Crowdsourcing is. Start with Jeff Howe’s definition (after all he coined the term).

Campaigns Top 10 Creative Agency Ranking has just been released and blur Group debuts at No 7. We’re flattered. To quote: “… most of the creative agencies in our 2010 Top 10 are smaller than they were two years ago. Only one breaks the mould. And they were not even around two years ago.