DISQUS

Sharlene King · 4 months ago

If you look at all the submission for Brammo's logo, the vast majority of them contradict points in the brief. Most of these logos are put together in an hour... like the purchase of a lottery ticket they hope to win the jackpot for 1 dollar (er 1 hour).


Some entries are pretty good. I actually jumped in myself with something that only took 1 hour.

The joke really is on Brammo though. They spent how much money? Yes, they wasted the time of many "designers" (I have a hard time calling many of those entrants designers), but they are in fact spending $1000 on a 2 hour piece of shit either way.

From their recent behavior, CP + G, they're just not the agency to hire.

More people should be talking to Brammo:
@brammosay
@brammofan
@brammodesigner

Let them know how social media works and it's not something to just weasel in on.

Brammofan · 4 months ago

It's CP+B, not CP+G. I do not work at Brammo, but I think it's pretty safe to say that the joke is not on Brammo. From the moment the Ebay auction of interns was announced until today, the day the first Brammo Enertia appeared on the sales floor at Best Buy, Brammo has been playing the market like the pro it is. The great thing about them is that they have an excellent product to back up all the hype that is getting generated by the various antics. The few examples of excellent design that they are getting from the crowdsourcing (I count about three out of the 700+) are just icing on the cake. It's a pretty tasty cake.

David · 4 months ago

Now that's the problem.

Being uneducated in why good design works, and the fundamentals of it...who is to protect you from bad design?

Good luck.

You think design is easy for any 18 year old kid...no skill necessary, just some photoshop and some fonts? Just wait until you need to adapt and reproduce your logo. And 2 years from now, when you need to do a major overhaul. Just because it looks easy to you (though you can't do it), it's not. Try to foxtrot sometime.

Brammofan · 3 months ago

In Brammo's case, it appears that Bogusky is going to protect them from bad design. But I'm still not convinced that Brammo or CP+B is using crowdsourcing to find "good design." Perhaps they're just doing it for pure PR? I honestly don't know, as I am not an insider.
David - I don't know if you're a designer or a dancer (try doing it backwards and in heels) or what, but you sound passionate about your work and your industry. I hope you will use that passion to adapt to a changing marketplace. Even if crowdsourcing turns out to be a flash in the pan, we can all learn from it: be sensitive to change, adapt, and thrive. Look at your small corner of the world with the eyes of an outsider - it will help you in your journey.
Someone down the thread there said that people are talking about Brammo, but not in a good way. Seriously? The only folks I hear complaining about this crowdsourcing are the creatives in the agencies. Oh, and the PR guys who are smacking their foreheads wondering why they didn't think of this first.
I think that there will always be enough work for ad agencies and PR folks... who adapt. Y'all have to venture out of the circle of the like-minded and look at the world of Joe Sixpack. Or, in Brammo's case, Joe Treehugger/Commuter/frustrated-former-or-wanna-be-biker/gadget-geek.
Anyway, I don't think design is easy, David. My hats off to you.

Noah Robinson · 4 months ago

I imagine CP+B used Crowdspring to test the concept and potentially generate positive press coverage. Maybe I'm wrong. It's a bit ironic because CP+B itself refuses to pitch at all for existing or new business. I doubt this is really a new way of doing business for CP+B or @bogusky.

Bottom line, if a designer doesn't want to participate in the contest, they shouldn't. The Brammo/Crowdspring project really shouldn't be viewed as a big deal either way.

I hope CP+B keeps their site up with the live tweets -- even if some are negative. It's a refreshing approach.

thiscudbyou · 4 months ago

Totally agree. This could be nothing more than an experiment. And I don't think we can blame them for it. They've always been at the sharp end of our business and success doesn't come without it's share of failures.

mike · 4 months ago

MATT- TRUE TALENT IS NEVER READILY AVAILABLE.

There Is No True Talent in Adv · 3 months ago

Who needs true talent. We're talking about advertising; shit that any tard can crank out.

Anderson · 4 months ago

It would make sense that first prize is a job at the Crispin. That way the prize has possibly infinite value for the winner.

Stephen Byrne · 4 months ago

CP+B might be a great creative ideas shop but Alex is really pushing the credibility envelope here. This approach just indicates how far the commoditisation of design has gone, you can see plenty of evidence it at something like 99Designs, eLance or at your local OfficeMax. So let's stop whining. But that it comes from CP+B is either a direct taunt or taking their clients for a ride. (sorry about the pun). I wrote about the problem of clustering and IP a way back on http://diffusionblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/klust.... Someone posted last week that Kluster has stopped paying its "winners". Draw your own conclusions on the efficacy of this as well as CP+Bs little experiment.

tacoelpastor · 4 months ago

It's called supply and demand. quit crying or unionize or restrict your product. the market for "good" design just doesn't seem very robust; no one is devaluing design except the market itself. Apparently buyers haven't the need for highly priced design or don't see the level of utility for the price point. Crispin should extract the maximum value for the "level" of design it feels it needs. And is Cripsin really the problem? Clients have spent above market value on design for years (ahem Pepsi, Tropicana) to mixed results for dollar spent. If the design is perceived as "bad" for it's intended goal, then Crispin should "get what it pays for" so to speak, but what they're doing is perfectly natural and reasonable. Design tools abound, the market is flooded with designers, good talent needs to differentiate to justify a higher price point if they want it, or educate buyers on the nuances of design worth paying for.

Copy is quite lucky the same thing hasn't happened to them. The barriers to it are slightly higher, but not insurmountable. "Clients" merely find it easier at this point to look at 1000 pictures and pick out 10 good ones, than read through 1000 scripts, briefs, concepts.

- Cheers from Scotland, home of Adam Smith
Luddite Lou

Donnie · 3 months ago

Again...'ten good ones.' Who decides that?

Good luck. If the norm became stock photos, generic logos, and boring copy, all loved by the client...it'd be that much easier for companies who know what they're doing to topple them.

BTW: Crowdsourcing isn't a new thing. Even GI Joe let you 'design the new figure' back in 1981 for chrissakes.

advertisingisfun · 4 months ago

Noah - Crispin does pitch new business. and almost always wins. also, maybe they did this because Brammo is not an official cp+b staff project - it was for the interns. so they want to keep the staff out of it

Craig Mrm Richards · 4 months ago

test

Craig Mrm Richards · 4 months ago

test in Safari

Name · 4 months ago

I want to hear what Craig "Mrm" Richards has to say! That guy is a genius. And a real sweetheart too.

Wayne K · 4 months ago

They pay designer $1000. I wonder what they charge the client for a logo?

Willieboy · 4 months ago

CPB has every right to to what ever it wants... the bitching and crying from the "Professional designers" is nothing more than fear and complete insecurity of a tidal wave of change they are ill prepared to face. If crowdsourcing is such a bad idea then the results will be so atrocious then pros will have nothing to worry about.

whytheyhatin · 4 months ago

Lolz, Guess what? Now tons of people are talking about a brand that was virtually unknown before CPB touched it.

Theodore J. · 4 months ago

Exactly, I'd never heard of Brammo before this post on Agency Spy. Surely, the marketing Dept. at Brammo suggested the idea to C+PB or at least were aware of the crowd sourcing strategy and ok'd it. This is a good PR move.

As far as to whether it hurts the integrity of designers or not. Who cares. Like they had any integrity to begin with. They work in advertising. You wnat integrirty, paint the Mona Lisa.

Darrel · 4 months ago

Good marketing move? So we know know Brammo's choice of agency is ripping them off? How is that good for Brammo or CP+B?

Name · 3 months ago

WE know Brammo's name, Ad people.
The average joe still doesn't give a
f*ck what Brammo is...

Terry Jones · 3 months ago

Nor do WE give a f*ck what Brammo is.

Bad Move · 4 months ago

Yeah, people are talking about them, but not in a good way. This is not the kind of negative publicity a company wants. Besides, it was a dumb business move on CP+B's part. Now that businesses see that they use Crowdspring for their work, why would they bother to pay them? They could bypass having to pay CP+B and go straight to the source and submit their project on Crowdspring. Now it looks like CP+B is losing their big VW account. Sounds like tough times ahead for them.

Darrel · 4 months ago

"oes crowdsourcing reflect a new way of doing business when talent is readily available?"

Keep in mind that the 'talent available' on crowdsourcing sites is the type of talent willing to work for free. So they're either so extremely talented that they've made millions and are now retired and do this stuff for fun or they have a level of talent that prevents them from working for normal rates in the industry.

I compare crowdsourcing to old country buffet. LOTS of options, but they all taste like crap and even though you only paid $10 for the meal, you still feel ripped off.

Donnie · 4 months ago

Darrel is right. It is a novel idea at first. But if someone is looking for consistent quality, it's going to fail. It's just a frustrating experiment - the big buzzword now - that we all have to put up with and watch as agencies try to find another shiny stick to wave at clients. But the upsetting part is it's distracting us from the real work at hand.