An interesting model for motivation, engagement and driver of brand loyalty. Crowdsourcing brings creativity in from the outside. Allows for the latest trends to be spot. It’s demonstrates innovation, especially in a fashion brand, where getting ahead of trends of customers needs is a key to success. And indeed establishes a competitive position.

Crowdsourcing limits the amount of pay to creatives and speeds up time to development, moving quickly through inspiration and creation stages of development and even garners opportunities to learn about distribution models.

There are always risks. It requires constant monitoring and relies on the population and skills of the existing customer base. It can also become a legal nightmare if the upfront mitigation of risk isn’t thoughtfully planned. Intellectual property rights can get messy. So while it saves resources in many places, crowdsourcing needs to balanced with backend operations.

My opinion: DO! Staying ahead with flexibility and being adaptable supports any new organization, like Betabrand here, a leg up on competition and provides even more innovation at a fast moving start up.