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 may not be long-term business-enablers.

First of all we should probably accept that in social media, Crowdsourcing often simply means posing a question to the ecosystem of that medium. However, moving on from deciding what to call the new gerbil, here’s a summary of the different types.

Crowdsourcing competition sites. These have developed a mass following from smaller brands and a mass rebellion from professional designers. They typically offer one or two design type services for a very low cost. With no management layer, the person submitting the request gets back unqualified results which may be great, or may be too much to deal with. The designer has to produce a deliverable that may not even get viewed, let alone used or paid for.  It fulfils the basic principles of Crowdsourcing but doesn’t deliver a sustainable and scalable method to change the way things get done and by no means a fairtrade for either. The logo may seem like a bargain when you’re starting up, but may not prove so economical when you try to build a brand around it. And for a student designer it may be fun entering and winning a competition to practise your trade, but not when you look at your relative hourly rate.

Customer Crowdsourcing. This really extends the competition idea but is a more focused effort by brands to involve consumers. There are countless examples, from the Doritos superbowl ad to Lego bricks. Some specialist web companies have come into play to operate these activities. They have enormous PR value as they show direct engagement between brand and customer. The customer is often rewarded with a prize. However for all the good value, it is really thought of as a very supplementary activity to mainstream marketing.

Crowdfunding. This has been a great source of funds, particularly post credit-crunch, for those companies that didn’t seem to have the right investment profile. Kickstarter has helped some creative projects get off the ground and the beauty of the model is that it is all about getting projects supported without the classic investment worries of equity splits and dilutions.

Innovation and ideation. Enlightened companies have realised for some time that new product development sometimes needs that little extra help. Similarly many innovators may realise that their IP is never going to see the light of day without some very hefty support. So step forward the perfect Crowdsourced matching service. Procter and Gamble, Dell with Ideastorm, Unilever have all run very effective, and – that word again – very managed programmes. This isn’t about the idea for having a new flavoured chocolate sweet; this is about a patented process which will stop that sweet getting sticky when it’s left in the childseat.

Professional Crowdsourcing. And so we arrive at those companies which have built their business on Crowdsourcing principles, by recognising it as a technique not as the business itself. Threadless isn’t a Crowdsourcing company, it’s a fashion company. blur Group isn’t a Crowdsourcing company, it’s a Creative Services Exchange. The reason that businesses like ours can thrive is because we recognise that the most important thing about our expert Crowdsourcing, or Crowdsourcing 2.0 movement, is that used correctly it’s a great technique. But like all the best techniques, what really makes it special is how the infrastructure around it evolves and develops. Crowdsourcing 2.0 is the best way to deliver the benefits of the technique – but it needs the platform, like the Creative Services Exchange to be effective. It’s really Crowdsourcing as a Service (CaaS). Find out how it can benefit your business – submit a brief now.