They Have A Winner. Victors & Spoils Logo Launched

 

Victors & Spoils, the worlds first "Crowdsourcing" advertising agency launched there logo this past week. And it's a winner!

After reviewing 1,120 entries from around the world it came down to this unique and wonderful design. Simple, clean and  memorable. What gets my attention is the power of the typography and details that play into the exact purpose and culture that V&S is all about:

"Power The Brand"

"Power To The People"

"Solving Problems with Communal Creativity"

It certainly does send that message clearly. A message that is all about being empowered. You can love or hate (lots of haters out there) the idea of "crowdsourcing" is here and will likely grow.

This logo was designed by Andrea Bigiarini who lives just outside Florence, Italy. Imagine, the message of how small and perfect the world is. Would Andrea be able to sell his design from Italy to the world without the "new model". Of course not. This isn't about "spec" work, this about new opportunities. We are living in a new world and that is a fact. Choose your side, but choose what will get better and smarter work. Spend some time and see the other entries.

When he was asked about if "crowdsourcing" is bad for design, seeing that there is myriad of reasons stated in the "no-spec" movement, he simple answers “I think that competition is part of human nature and competition makes things better. Crowdsourcing is the future and is a good way to work during a global economic crisis.”

On the V&S website, it is stated that they feel lucky enough to find a talent like Andrea via "crowdsourcing" and that it illustrates perfectly that for those who wish to embrace this inevitability, it can work beautifully. V&S found it poignant, magnificent and heartwarming that a man with the utmost of traditional design backgrounds has chosen to give this "newfangled" and much deliberated creative platforms a shot. Yes, instead of lamenting the evilness (the word commonly used on many blogs and websites have written), "Andrea came with an open mind and heart, and simply decided to jump in and give it a try". 

Sadly after the launch too many critics have crawled from under their rocks to hate! From blog to to blog it's the same old same old. This whole concept will undermine the integrity of our business. Here are a few comments posted:

"Crowdsourcing so far has undervalued our industry. It would be different if the concept paid standard logo rates instead of the $1000 I’ve seen on various "crowdsourcing" sites".

"A 100 monkeys typing on 100 typewriters for 100 years, will not produce a work of Shakespeare. Personally, I’d rather hire 1 big brain and skip the 100 monkeys hoping to strike it rich... "crowdsourcing" encourages solutions with the highest probability of being chosen. In other words: safe solutions... So go have your 100 monkeys. I’ll take the 1 big brain".

"How many people spent hours working on something for this project and didn’t get a dime, didn’t get a mention, and didn’t get anything but a “sorry, try again”... Thanks for opening the next digital sweatshop. Enjoy your profits.

Here's hoping that more talented people embrace his mindset.

See other designs not selected but also received acknowledgment.

Victors&Spoils - If Pictures Are Worth A 1,000 Words

Yesterday I posted about the launch of Victors&Spoils a new model agency and today a few readers sent me links that told bigger stories and details of the the plans and the future of this new venture.

But non spoke to me like these two images.

Like the saying goes... "If a pictures worth a thousand words...". then these speak volumes.
The fun ahead. The personality of the agency.

Left to right; Claudia Batten, John Winsor and Evan Fry

On a side note, at the time of posting this the "crowdsourcing" model that V&S has posted for the design the corporate identity there were 131 potential designs. The best part was reading the direct feedback offered by Evan Fry.

Here is a sample of a design submitted and the feedback.

Submitted by: fluiditystudio

What I'm liking here is the start feels like something aggressive. I think it's cool that it's embracing the spirit. I think these kinds of instincts, if pushed more elegant now, a bit more understated, could create a stream of options that could get closer to the right spot. I like the black and white and the basic direction of the font. I think probably that if we end up using things like skulls or swords they would end up being very understated and need to be married to more elegant, confident-but-reserved font/feel.

Please keep going.

And thank you for going for it.

- Evan

Additonal noted news stories:

Ad Veterans Start New Agency  Boulder County Business Report 
Ex-Crispin Porter Duo Launch Crowdsourcing Agency Brand Republic
Victors & Spoils Launches First Advertising Agency Built on Crowdsourcing Reuters
OMG! Newsflash! Agency Launches With New Model! Adrants
CP+B Alums Launch Crowdsourcing-Based Agency mediabistro.com

Brilliant Minds Attract - New Agency Victors & Spoils

Brilliant minds attract.

I was blown away by John Winsor (co-author of Baked In) when I met him at the Alex Bogusky Baked In book launch in NYC and now and ex-CPBers Winsor and the ubber creative talent Even Fry have teamed up with former Massive (a advergaming company) founder Claudia Battens started a new agency, Victors and Spoils.

Created as the world’s first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles, the goal is to provide businesses with a better way to solve their marketing, advertising and product-design problems by engaging the world’s most talented creatives. Simply check the involvement any creative mind can engage.

What is Crowdsourcing? The consumers and clients demand transparency.  The consumer’s demand to be more involved in a brand and its authenticity and clients’ budgets have all but made the need for effectiveness and authenticity part of the message and the brand. Crowdsourcing gives both a clear voice and dialog to insure communication and rapid change. In fact ownership.

The crowdsourcing is not for most clients because the number of possible solutions created and the effort to keep things on strategy for a brand can be overwhelming.

Victors and Spoils will work like a crowdsourcing platform. At the core of the agency is the creative department. A creative department made of everyone from art directors and copywriters to strategists and producers who come together to solve strategic problems. A global digital community that will not only be rewarded for the solutions they develop (both individually and as a group) but also for participating in the community itself. Total democracy. Again cehck how you can get involved in the process.

Taken from the V&S website explains:

It’s “Victors,” plural, because we never reward just one winner. And we always have multiple ways to win. So not only do our monetary “Spoils” always go beyond first place {we award for 2nd, 3rd, etc}, we also reward for participation. All of which will build each creative’s V&S Reputation Score - which will help determine a share of the revenue for each project. It’s a model we’re building every day. And it’s a model we believe in. One that combines the best of what a creative agency can do and the best of what crowdsourcing can offer to arrive at solutions for your (any) brand that are strategic, forward thinking and most importantly, effective. Let’s work together.

John co-authored Baked In with Alex and is a major force behind the concept of "crowdsourcing", a basic concept of empowerment of the audience and their relationship with brands and at the core of Baked In.

Evan Fry was VP/Creative Director at CP+B on some of the biggest and most interesting brands, Best Buy, Domino’s, Alliance for Climate Protection. Shimano and Giro and Nike. Evan recently started a social network all on his own called  befuckingawesome.com a wonderful site for anyone to act and live by sharing their "awesomeness" with the world.

Claudia Batten was a founder of Massive – a  company with enough vision to see video gaming as more than an entertainment medium, but turning it into a full-blown advertising network. In three short year Massive became the industry leader and made "advergaming" a part of intelligent media integration.

All the best to V&S, and I have already registered. One of the first assignments offered on Twitter was to design the V&S logo. 

Follow the link to get involved.


View full story from the New York Times by Stuart Elliot