Could Crowdfunding be the Future of New Project Development?

Reading this article reminds us that the jump from concepting and ideation to actual production is something that can be very difficult. Could crowdfunding be a possible solution to this more difficult problem of funding ideas?

Traditionally, design companies show new product development workflow as something like this.

With design concepting and ideation on the left progressively working towards a proof of concept and prototype, then finally flowing through to production and distribution. All very simple when you know how. Of course this is the idealized view of product development and it requires time and effort, not to mention money to make this process work.

The reality is as the article suggests more like this.

Where the concepting and ideation are can be quick and full of possibilities then the reality of having to make and distribute and getting investors involved can change the new products possibility of surviving in the marketplace. Ultimately you have to get to a point in the product development where considerations about marketing and product placement occur. To get people to buy your product thoughts on differentiation from competition and potential rivals has to occur. Most likely you will need some kind of advertising and marketing effort to make that happen. When should these have been considered? Probably quite early on in the product life-cycle. Then the questions of manufacturing and shipping to consumers has to discussed and solved. Apple hasn't just been innovative in their products but also in the infrastructures that support the making and shipping of these items. Innovation si more than a good idea and great product.

So this leads onto the focus of the article, for the majority of start ups and small businesses that have lower budgets and not the reach and resources for these systems to be put in place, how can they solve these issues without help? Could a form of crowdsourcing that involves investments from a crowd, called crowdfunding help?

Firstly there are 2 important questions to ask yourself.

1. Do I have the time to make this commitment?
2. Do I want to develop this publicly

These questions of course have huge impacts on whether you should begin a crowdfunded project.

Certainly crowdfunding has been shown to work in gathering money for projects\ that seem worthwhile. One attempt at this that has proven successful has been the work by Grameen bank, an attempt at helping the third World at getting micro financial help for individual projects that can help those in extreme poverty.

So how might this fit into the building of an idea at what stage should you seek funding from other people. The website suggests getting people involved at the proof of concept stage, of course this makes sense that people want to see at least something working in action rather than pure speculation. Then the idea has already started to prove at least it can be made. The speculation of course might still be in the interest of the public at large and it's possibility of future growth and success. But then that is what investment is all about, speculation on future growth.

There are already many sites forming on this concept such as kickstarter and IndieGoGo, they are proving out the model and already have many projects looking for crowd funding. Time will tell how successful these become. but already signs are looking positive for this new venture into funding. Kickstarter has already as of 2010, had 319 successful projects and raised over $9.1 Million in funding these efforts. Top catagories seem to be towards film and music efforts with design making a growth sector in third. The reason suggested is that designer primarily spend their time working on projects for others and are not as used to pitching their ideas for themselves.

Noted reasons for Kickstarters crowdsourcing success are suggested to be:

1. They filter which projects get posted to the crowd -
makes them interesting and worthwhile

2. You only get funding if you meet the threshold of prior to launching your project
keeps projects realistic and encourages crowd participation in promotion as projects get close to reaching their goals

3. Easy to find and promote projects
Easy is always good in these efforts, as it makes it easier for anyone to get involved.

4. Its success has made it more successful
As Malcolm Gladwell would suggest reaching a tipping point in success will only lead to more interest by others.

5. It's not about the money
Like most crowdsourcing efforts the crowd is most motivated by personal pet projects and interests.

You can find out more information about crowdsourcing in a previous post here.

8 principles of effective branding

Scott Bedbury, former VP of marketing at Starbucks and head of advertising at Nike outlines in his book "New Brand World" 8 tenants to building more relevant and resonant brands with today's consumers. Those ideas are a summary of his observations and findings, as he helped these two major brands find their core values and lay the foundation for their future growth. I found the 8 tenants very insightful and some of them align with the book "Buying In" by Rob Walker that considers the branding from consumers point of view.

The principles are:

1. Brand awareness is no longer enough.
No longer is having your voice in the market place and showing your logo enough to establish yourself as a great brand. More important today is having relevance and resonance with your consumers. Rob Walker, talks about how brands today are salient, making people aware it exists, but more importantly they are relevant to their target audience. This is often achieved through customization and creating niche products for small groups of followers. Having a differentiated product is important in helping this cause.

2. You have to know you brand before you can grow it
It is important to know your goals and future vision of what you want to become and where you hope to be. What will you do when you reach you initial goal and how can you measure you success. All these questions are going to help align company people on the path for that growth. Getting down to the core substance and essence can help in decision making, on future projects as the goals are clearly laid out. A brand should stand for something rather than nothing. Having a mantra can help align those thoughts. Nike for example, might be though of as "authentic athletic performance, Starbucks would be "Rewarding everyday moments" and Disney can be " Fun family entertainment". Something that helps establish this is getting to know your consumers, what are their perceptions of you brand, how do they feel towards your brand and what are their burning issues.

3. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
It is important of course that once you establish your brand essence and mantra, that all growth efforts and investments support those ideals. Picking the right partnerships and sub-branding efforts will all support the message to the consumer if played right and aid growth.

4. Become more than the product to the consumer.
Being able to transcend a product is important for brand value, it creates evangelists in your loyal consumers and builds social communities. These are much hard to dislodge when times get harder, or competition more aggressive. Using emotional drives and cultural forces as suggested by Maslow's hierarchy of needs, such as fear, joy, accomplishment, security and love are going to build a platform to place your brand on, that goes deeper than pure economic value. When this occurs people have a deeper investment in the brand.

5. Everything Matters
Everything the brand touches is another point at the which a consumer receives your message. Nothing should be overlooked as everything adds to the mix. The good, bad and ugly parts of your operations and dealings will eventually become an image in the consumers mind when they think about your brand. This should all be expected but handled with care and consideration.

6. All brands need good parents
A brand can be considered a child with metaphorical needs and traits. A brand needs protecting, nurturing, and have positive and enduring values. The brand should become a value member of society as a whole being productive, desirable and welcomed everywhere. Failure to look after the brand will like a disobedient child become unruly , mostly misguided and unwelcome. Like a child creativity should be encouraged and conformity should not reduce the willingness to learn. Often having a parental figure such as a brand steward will help in this brand raising exercise, this can be a CEO or a dedicated brand leader.

7. Big doesn't mean bad
As a brand grows it should try and hold onto the values that make small businesses often more approachable. Having a sense of humor, being humble and friendly. This is very much like the previous point that like a child growing a brand should be a positive experience for all.

8. Future brands will be distinguished by relevance, simplicity and humanity
Brands that want our attention and devotion need to show respect back and this is the long term invest that a future brand needs to employ. It needs to be respectful, have a relevance to a persons inner narrative and goals and be considerate of people as human beings. They have a responsibility to help people and not destroy things for the sake of profit and bottom lines. Failure to keep this in mind, may bring short term profits but will ultimately lead to a disloyal consumer.

Branding the faithful

Being an athlete, amateur or professional, requires a dedication and focus that comes from within, it drives the individual to motivate themselves and stretch their abilities, they must push themselves to the limit. Many give up and only the faithful few make it to the heights of success and achieve the status of champion. At least that is what Nike would like you to think as you aspire to buy a pair of their training shoes. This is the message that Nike preaches to the masses of people that have any thoughts about sports and athletic behavior. The image that Nike wants in your mind as you struggle to make it through another work out is that you are some how empowered by their clothing or shoes to be part of that group of elite professionals that do this everyday come rain or shine. They tell you to "Just do it.", don't waste time thinking about it. They imply that they have already found the answer to the needs that you are looking for, buy our branded goods and you will become one of our champions. They play to your inner self and the story that you tell yourself that somehow by having bought a new pair of running shoes that you are now ready to begin working out and getting fitter. They tell you that you too can become a brand champion that is worthy of their merchandise.



To become a brand champion, requires a level of faith in the messages you are seeing, hearing and reading, it requires you to have a belief in the brand and the gospels of Nike. Nike is not of course alone in their faith building exercises and ardent followers. Many brands that want to make a lasting impression and get to some of the core ideas of being human, touch us where we are most inspired in the faith that we can somehow be better people and fill our lives with meaning. This is what Maslow, would consider at the top of his human needs pyramid, a need for fulfillment and transcendence to be a better person and higher state of being. The power of building a brand is that at some level you transcend the product and service to become almost a religion that has followers and the faithful that are willing to go where you ask them and preach as you tell them. Branding already uses many religious motifs to help them persuade the consumers to become one of the faithful. Icons and logos are powerful badges that show others the brand you follow. Stories and fables are the advertising way to tell the brand messages in compelling ways. They even create "churches" now to worship their gods and icons, the rise of branded retail stores has shown that the parallels to religion are not just a coincidence, these huge corporations and the brands they own are looking for followers and  evangelists to grow the faith. They want to play an important part in your life and mind, they want to be part of what makes you feel like you. Once they get to that place then branding ceases to be a marketing goal but becomes more of a community and one that you are willing to fight for and defend, without prompting from the originators of the brand.

Martin Lindstrom, author of Brandwashed, suggests that religion and branding have common traits on their followers. His list is outlined below, I have added my own commentary to how I think they work for branding.

1. A clear vision

Having a clear vision, is the same as having a clear message, to promote the brand as having particular beliefs and goals, makes alignment to the brand easier. People want to know if the brand stands for the same things they do, this is achieved with a clear consistent vision.

2. A sense of belonging

This is a typical theme in all branding efforts to create a sense of belonging to a larger group of like minded followers. Creating a sense of community can empower the brand to have those that are inside the group and those that are outside. Creating brand evangelists can be the difference between success and failure when competition shows up in the market place.

3. A common enemy

This is an interesting observation that sometimes a brand needs an enemy or rival, to show comparison or rally like minded people together against a common foe. The classic example is Coke versus Pepsi, they seem to need each other to be able to better inspire followers and faithful to defend their brand. The enemy is a good use way to build loyal followers, because the sense of winning battles and time spent fighting can help build a stronger community spirit.

4. Sensory appeal

Experiences make something go from ordinary to extraordinary. The complete experience of being somewhere or doing something can make the difference of our memory recall of that experience later. They raise our emotional states and if we associate a brand with something positive we are doing or feeling then the brand gains a more valuable meaning to us, as it has associated memories to us that are positive.

5. Storytelling

This can be done in many forms today, across many media. Interestingly word of mouth is still one of the most powerful way to send and receive information from another person. Tying a brand to a story helps not only in the telling of that information to another person but also fills the brand with emotion and interpretation that the consumer can add in their own voice.

5. Grandeur

Big and powerful is an image that can work for some brands, the ability to overwhelm the individual with size and wealth can be a positive lasting experience. The really interesting use of this concept is in the physical representation of the brand, building the physical space for the brand to live and breath for a consumer. We work hard to make environments that inspire us, so do brands.

6. Evangelism

Having a loyal following that promotes and lives for the brand is a huge asset. Encouraging people to see themselves as dedicated and faithful, among the chosen few is going to create huge brand value. These evangelists will defend their beliefs and your brand with passion that cannot be bought with money. These evangelists are going to have a more powerful sway over the undecided because of their enthusiasm and apparent enjoyment from being inside the brand circle. These people can become converters to the faith of the brand. 

7. Symbols

Symbols are all part of a mythology that surrounds branding, a logo can be empty of meaning or fully loaded, depending on the branding and investment to fill the narrative of the individual involved with the brand.

8. Rituals
Rituals are part of the mythology, the narrative that gives meaning to things. It can also help in the establishment of social groups and insider knowledge. These can lead to avid brand followers, that feel that they are part of something bigger and are somehow more involved than ordinary people.

Some other branding considerations that could be seen as influential in making people faithful to a brand are:

1. Authenticity

To be authentic requires being real, relevant, have rituals and be part of a story. Companies need to promote and behave authentically to remove doubt around the brand and messaging.

2. Consistency

People like to be consistent not only in what they do but in what they believe and follow. The brand should be consistent so that people can align with themselves and feel consistent in their choices.

3. Perfection

The aim for perfection is part of the concept of self fulfillment and becoming a better individual by what we do and how we act. Perfection can not really be attained but branding most promotes how it can help achieve those levels we seek.

8. Mystery

Mystery helps in allowing the individual to tell a story to themselves about why one thing to them is more important than another. It is the empty space that allow an individual to fill it with their meaning.

These considerations in brand building are powerful motivators to get people involved in the faith of a company, they are tried and tested ways that many religious movements have relied on for centuries. They work and have proven themselves and long lasting. The warning though is that unlike religion the aims of the founders may not be so honest and dedicated to a greater cause than making profits and growing a company. The most valuable advice in this list is to maybe be authentic, if followers are to align with the brand, make sure that they are very clear on the goals and real beliefs of the company that created it. The find out that all that you believe in is actually false can be very consequential to the brand, and suddenly act as a destructive force to bring the brand to it's knees. 

Bringing the conversation to a close, Nike has always promoted itself as an athletic brand, and really there is nothing wrong with promoting healthy living and getting up and doing something rather than nothing. I don't necessarily believe in the Nike brand, but I do like some of it's ideals and ideas. And I think that is how to approach many things, you don't have to be a loyal follower, or sheep with a crowd, sometimes it pays to follow what you believe and what you want to achieve, if the crowd isn't to your liking jump to another or start your own. The point is nothing should be followed blindly, and you have the power to chose, don't let what people or companies tell you dictate you belief, discover that for yourself.

Questions for Innovation

Sarah Krasley along with Bill O'Connor recent put forward 6 questions that can lead to innovation at an article found here.

These six innovation questions are:

• What could I look at in a new way? (Steve Jobs looked at the computer in a new way, leading to the Mac and the personal computer revolution.)
• What could I use in a new way? (Paleolithic humans turned fire from a scourge into a means of cooking, heat, light, and protection.)
• What could I recontextualize in space or time? (The Sumerians moved language from spoken to written form, expanding its power and reach.)
• What could I connect in a new way? (Thomas Edison connected the light bulb to the electrical grid, leading to electrified cities.)
• What could I change, in terms of design or performance? (Nearly 3 million years ago, the world’s first “innovator” transformed a simple rock into a stone hand-axe.)
• What could I create that is truly new? (In 1776, American colonists created the first “intentional” nation, based on specific abstract principles.)

Buying In

Just about to finish reading "Buying In - What we buy and Who we are" by Rob Walker. I good read for anyone that is involved in selling stuff to consumers through branding and marketing efforts. It goes further than a previous book I read about consumer traits (Spent - Geoffrey Millar) and how we buy stuff to show off our individual personalities through evolutionary trait display. This book takes a slightly different view that suggest that we buy stuff more to support our internal narrative about ourselves, and not necessarily about showing off to others.

Lot's of great examples and arguments that support the concept. Found it to be an easy read and insightful. Observations of the current consumer space and the issues that today's marketing has to contend with compared to more traditional approaches. I think some very powerful ideas are put forward about branding and how people are not so much resisting branding but more about adopting the concepts and language of branding to support their own internal self fulfillment, as suggested on Maslow's heirarchy of needs.

Branding is a big focus in the book and definitely it makes you appreciate the power of the branding language, and how much is now part of our culture. It is fascinating how it has become something that we can take part in and add to the conversations, rather than resist as Naomi Klein suggest in her book " No Logo". Brands are being embraced rather than repelled by today's consumers and especially among the youth and new start ups. The main take away message from the book is really that consumer behavior today is and always has been about our stories we tell ourselves, it is about who we are and what we believe, branding is part of that story telling process and is being used as such by today's consumers not rejected.

Psychology of Color

An interesting summary of some of the psychology associated with color. I would imagine that these associations are not all culturally the same throughout the World, but at least it is an acceptable look into western color concepts.

The Creative Blues

I have been a fan of Eric Maisel Ph.D for some time I think he captures the feelings and roots of creative depression very well, his book Van Gogh Blues, which I have picked up many times. I like to remind myself on those unhappy days that sometimes feeling blue is just part of the packaging of being creative, that you have your ups and downs. Anyhow, he has written another book about depression and the introduction article on psychology today's website which sounds like it could be another good book to read.


I particularly liked this paragraph from the summary about how to combat those unhappy feelings:


"Living authentically means organizing your life around your answers to three fundamental questions. The first is, "What matters to you?" The second is, "Are your thoughts aligned with what matters to you?" The third is, "Are your behaviors aligned with what matters to you?" You accept and embrace the fact that you are the final arbiter of your life's meaning. With this approach to life, each day is a project requiring existential engineering skills as you bridge your way from one meaningful experience to the next. By accepting the realities of life and by asserting that you are the sole arbiter of the meaning in your life, you provide yourself sure footing as you actively make meaning."