Kickstarter – a great example of crowdsourcing in action

Pebble is a cool example of an alternative to traditional concept-testing for start-ups and small businesses

One of the most exciting aspects of social media is the many diverse opportunities these spaces offer brands to connect with their publics and potential publics in new and meaningful ways.

Here's a great example of ‘crowd power’ in action - it's for Pebble - a new E-paper watch, promoted via Kickstarter, ‘the world's largest funding platform for creative projects’:

About Kickstarter

Kickstarter exemplifies just how effective crowdsourcing, concept testing and buzz generation can be in launching new creative projects.

The figures speak for themselves;

• $200 million pledged to projects
• 1.8 million people have backed a project
• 20,000 projects successfully funded

Every Kickstarter project is set up and controlled by the project’s organisers. Each project offers an appropriate ‘reward’ to encourage potential supporters and people can decide to become involved in a variety of ways; offering to ‘back it’, pledging funding or volunteering comments and advice – all invaluable and practical help for a new unproven product or concept.

Launched in April 2009, Kickstarter is an innovative online brand with great integrity and a social, as well as a financial, mission.

Kickstarter provides a forum to help creative start-up projects harness ‘crowd power’; crowd sourcing, concept testing and benefit from buzz amplification. The approach builds communities and generates funding to help new creative businesses move forward quickly and cost-effectively. In its own words, the projects have been “successfully funded by awesome people from around the world.”

Here's how Pebble's founders appeal to potential backers:

So, a nice example I think. The beauty of a crowdsourcing approach is people opt-in to be involved in your project – they voluntarily become ‘part of the solution’ for your project, bringing advice, enthusiasm and, sometimes, much needed financial support.

Kate Boothby is a freelance writer, editor and consultant specialising in direct marketing and education. Her work experience spans several market sectors, including charity, leisure and marketing education. Kate writes and edits online courses and her direct and digital marketing case studies and more general articles have been published in a variety of European journals. You can connect with Kate on LinkedIn.