When we started to work with Harley-Davidson we had this crazy idea. If you could source ideas from advertising professionals around the world using digital management (via Victors & Spoils' digital collaboration system which we call Agency Machine) then why couldn't a brand source ideas from their own most rabid fans?
With all of the attention that is on social media, and the significant investment by brands in fan acquisition, why not put fans to work? By doing so you could figure out a couple of things. First, who your most important fans are. And second, by allowing fans access into the brand in a substantial way, we’d create radical engagement. Fans would no longer be customers but co-creators of the brand.
These questions lead us on a journey to create Fan Machine.
Fan Machine is software that allows a folks who have "liked" a brand on Facebook to submit ideas directly to the brand. By giving fans an easy way to contribute ideas and vote on submissions from other fans, Fan Machine facilitates real co-creation with the brands they love, while giving them a chance at prizes and a seat at the creative table. And brands can wrangle the conversation by posting specific "briefs" for their fans to work on. These briefs might relate to an upcoming advertising campaign, new product or seasonal promotion.
We launched Fan Machine last November with Harley-Davidson as our first client. Harley-Davidson has some great passionate fans that really went to town. 584 people threw down ideas for the first brief and 16,000 people voted, to create campaign ideas for the model year 12 1/2. Harold Chase, from Tukwila, Washington, submitted the idea that became the advertising campaign, “E Pluribus Unum.” The V&S team shaped Harold’s idea then used Twitter to cast fans and followers, all bike owners, for the spot, above.
In a world where ideas can come from anywhere - and amateurs are getting better everyday at creating everything from videos to posters - what is the role of an agency? While it might seem like there’s not much of a future for them, our experience is that agencies play an even more vital role. With an abundance of ideas, it’s easy for a brand to get crushed by the sheer volume of possibility. Agencies are evolving to focus on three areas, 1. The development of a great brief that gives anyone the ability to deliver good work; 2. The creative and strategic direction of ideas; and 3. Brand stewardship.
Under the leadership of Mark-Hans Richer, Scott Beck, Dino Bernacchi, Mark Peine and the rest of the Harley-Davidson team, we at V&S have the ability to focus our creative energies at the front edge of advertising. Their visionary approach, that great ideas can come from everywhere and can be curated into great work, will be a model for many other brands to follow.