We are happy to unveil our « The State of Crowdsourcing in 2015 » trend report, which we teased about in late 2014. For the first time since the beginning of the crowdsourcing phenomenon, this report takes a (big) step back to look at the evolution of corporate crowdsourcing since the mid-2000s. By analyzing objective data sources spanning over ten years, we extracted some important insights about the state of crowdsourcing, and how it is used for marketing and innovation across the globe.

We looked at two data sets: the crowdsourcing activity of the 100 Best Global Brands (defined by the Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking) since 2004, as well as that of ten major FMCG companies on four leading crowdsourcing platforms in 2013 and 2014. Key findings of this report include:

• 85% of the 2014 Best Global Brands have used crowdsourcing in the last ten years.
• The Best Global Brands are three times more likely to use crowdsourcing platforms than websites and social media for their crowdsourcing efforts.
• Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) giants increased investment by 48% in 2014 compared to 2013.
• Of these ten companies, the top three crowdsourcing users in 2014 were Procter & Gamble, followed by Unilever and Nestlé.
• The most crowdsourced type of content by the Best Global Brands is video content (45% of all initiatives in 2014) followed by ideas (22% of all initiatives in 2014).
• Coca-Cola used crowdsourcing 34 times in the last 10 years, while Pepsi tapped into creative crowds 30 times, Danone 28, and Samsung 27 times.

Here is our infographic from Slideshare:

The report, magnificently designed with Fabien Bazire, is also prefaced by Jeremiah Owyang, founder of Crowd Companies. He said that « this report, written by experienced experts, is a first step towards better understanding the usage of creative crowdsourcing by leading brands. It shows how brands have used it in the past, who are the major players in the field and where we are heading. »

This report is a first step towards better understanding the usage of creative crowdsourcing by leading brands (Jeremiah Owyang, founder of Crowd Companies)

For more insights into crowdsourcing and its evolution, don’t hesitate to go download the full report on our website. You can also join the discussion below in the comment section and by using the #CSreport2015 hashtag on social media. We look forward to hearing from you!

Download the report by clicking below: