Okay, we’ve written quite a bit about the Creative Services Exchange (CSX) over the past month, starting with our introductory piece, followed by a little further explanation a week later. Workforce scalability within the CSX model also got a look-in.

And with both TechCrunch and The Next Web covering the CSX in recent weeks, the next obvious step is to look at why this business model is one we’re likely to be seeing more of in the months and years ahead.

Firstly, let’s get to the crux of what businesses want. Even the biggest of companies have budgets to adhere to and if we’ve learnt anything from the financial crisis, it’s that money most certainly doesn’t grow on trees.

Of course, most business people understand the ‘false economy’ concept, which is why some may be wary about cutting corners on their creative services. The last thing they want is to source some cut-price logo designers through an uncontrolled Crowdsourcing platform, only for the final delivery to fall well below the standards to which they’ve become accustomed. And they’ve lost a week from their schedule too.

No, what businesses want is value for money, but this shouldn’t be confused with cut-price/low-quality. They don’t want to pay over the odds, and they generally only want to pay for what they need. But this shouldn’t hide the fact that they also want quality.

The CSX: fast and cost effective

The Creative Services Exchange streamlines the whole creative process from start to finish, cutting out much of the time-consuming and costly middle part, leaving the client and creatives to work towards the final goal. Facilitated, of course, by the Brief Brokers from within the CSX.

Additionally, unlike traditional client/agency models, blur Group doesn’t decide the costs. That’s for the client and creatives to decide among themselves. However, clients have reported saving anything from 25-50% on their standard creative services spend.

Choice

With the CSX, there’s a near endless supply of creatives to tap into. The sourcing of creatives isn’t reactive to increasing requirements, it’s proactive. So this means that supply is always at least one-step ahead of demand.

Although blur Group narrows down the brief-responses to the three best submissions, if the client doesn’t like the options, it’s easy to put an additional request out for further submissions.

Crucially, the CSX enables the segmentation of individual creative tasks that constitute a larger creative project.

For example, a web-design project will have different design elements. There’s the technical ‘behind the scenes’ side of things, and then there’s the visual ‘look and feel’ side. And depending on the content of the website, there may be a need for multimedia producers and professional copywriters.

So in this scenario, the CSX model would allow a business to source four different creative services, from four different providers located in four completely different parts of the world. And this is where Crowdsourcing as a technique is at its most potent. It sources the best creative minds from within each discipline and enables them to collaborate towards the same end goal.

And the client can control each creative element, and decide who gets to work on the coding, the design, the writing…whatever’s needed to see the project through to its conclusion.

Gala Coral: a case-in-point

By way of example, Gala Coral – Europe’s leading integrated betting and gaming group – has been using the Creative Services Exchange across a number of its projects.

And Chris Edgington, Group Marketing Director at Gala Coral, has commented that the CSX enables them to “submit exactly what we want, when we want it, get the best choices and treatments in return and at the best value”. And Gala Coral is using the CSX for its latest rebranding project too.

This level of choice can’t be easily replicated by any means other than through the CSX.

The CSX: leading the way for change

Through providing optimum value, a streamlined workflow and a scalable pool of creatives across multiple disciplines, the CSX model can challenge the long-standing Madison Avenue agency model. Times have changed, it’s time for creative agencies to change too – guided, of course, by The Creative Services Exchange.