Crowdsourcing the Coca Cola way
Social media’s basis is interaction and engagement, but as I see my friend’s complete endless quizzes on Facebook I am unsure whether I really need to know when they are going to get married and which Friends character they are.
However I cannot fail to be impressed by Vitamin Water’s latest Facebook application which was unveiled earlier this week. The app goes way beyond telling me which flavour I am, it combines quizzes, games and mineral and vitamin advice.
The application is currently using crowdsourcing, which seeks to monitor buzz from around the web, sources include Google News, Twitter, Flickr and food blog Foodgawker to create a ‘live’ top ten list of the most talked about drinks flavours.
Crowdsourcing is becoming increasingly popular and is not just about creating user generated content or consulting about new developments, it is more about giving power to the people.
For example, The Guardian used crowdsourcing during the MP Expenses Scandal by allowing the public to search through 700,000 expense claim documents. Over 20,000 people took part in searching and unveiled some astonishing claims.
Crowdsouring basically allows users to carry out tasks employees would normally do, these can include helping to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, and capture or analyse large amounts of data.
Coca Cola has latched on to this neologism to help shape and build their latest social media campaign. The application features a range of health quizzes to help users decide which vitamin and minerals the drink should contain and what its health benefits will be.
Vitamin Water’s use of crowdsourcing is remarkable, you can view the list of the most popular flavours as talked about on the social media sites mentioned and the larger the font the most popular.
From 14 September you are able to vote for your favourite flavour from the final top 10 list in the flavour creator. The second stage will allow users to select the mineral benefits that the drink should have.
The third stage will see users design (recently coined as community based design) the label for the bottle, name the flavour and write a blurb about the health benefits.
The winner will be selected by Vitamin Water’s celebrity partners, 50 Cent and Carrie Underwood and will receive $5000.
I can’t wait for the 14 September when I can begin voting for my favourite flavour, I just hope my friends find it as interesting as I do.