Poptent's amateurs sell cheap commercials to big brands

Build-a-Bear Workshop was introducing a line of stuffed animals called smallfrys and wanted to reach moms through Facebook. One video used in the online promotion showed a woman pulling up to a fast-food window. Her young daughter requests "a smallfry." When her mom suggests a fruit cup or celery sticks, the daughter says, "Mom, order me a curly-haired bunny in a purple sequined bathing suit."

The 45-second smallfrys spot came not from a traditional advertising agency but from Poptent Inc., a "crowdsourced" video production studio that has built a global community of 50,000 writers, directors, cinematographers and animators to create commercials for Build-a-Bear, American Airlines, Dell, Intel, Jaguar, General Mills and others.

It's an example of how the Internet has enabled corporations to harness groups of far-flung enthusiasts to perform work once reserved for professionals. Even such creative endeavors as advertising aren't exempt from the growing popularity of crowdsourcing.

"We loved the engagement and creativity that the Poptent community could bring to our brand and especially the launch of a new product," said Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear's founder and chief executive. "It allowed us to stretch our budget."

Advertising experts credit Doritos with demonstrating that passionate amateurs could match the creativity of Madison Avenue. The Frito-Lay brand's "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, started six years ago, invited consumers to create their own 30-second spot, which it promised to air during the big game advertising's most prominent showcase. The winning entry, created for $12 by a group of amateur filmmakers from North Carolina, was selected from among 1,070 submissions.

"The Doritos thing was really interesting because it showed Joes off the street were not going to create a Super Bowl ad but wedding videographers who were pretty funny guys could," said Jeff Howe, a professor of media and technology at Northeastern University who in 2006 coined the phrase "crowdsourcing."

Founder and Chairman Rick Parkhill got the idea for Poptent in part by watching his 12-year-old son shoot, edit and produce homemade music videos.

It "was a light that went on for me," Parkhill said. "The low cost of being able to create full motion, sight and sound was revolutionary. It empowered people all over the globe who could express themselves and tell stories in short form."

Parkhill consulted two friends: Tony Romeo, the former chairman of Unilever's Interactive Brand Center, and Neil Perry, a onetime senior marketing executive who oversaw digital initiatives for McDonald's. Both confirmed his intuition that brands were struggling to create video for the Web. Perry and Romeo joined Parkhill in organizing and launching Poptent in 2007.

Poptent started with a community of 2,000 students, hobbyists and film school graduates willing to make fake commercials and vie for $1,000 prizes. For its first client, Poptent persuaded the century-old Swiss brand Nestle to hire Poptent to create an ad for its 100 Grand Bar.

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Poptent's amateurs sell cheap commercials to big brands