John Winsor

Please Help Lily

My friend, Rachael Powell, just send me this story. Please help get the word out. Thanks.

3 year old Haitian Lily Moore is sleeping outside.  She has a home in the US
but cannot get there because of US government red tape.  Humanitarian Parole
will not help Lily, since she is not in an orphanage. (She was adopted
privately by Virginia residents Tim and Elizabeth Moore when she was a
newborn via a Partners in Health-run hospital).

Tim and Elizabeth Moore have endured 3 heartbreaking years of bureaucracy
waiting to adopt Lily.  Finally, they were set to bring her home the first
week in February.  Until the earthquake hit Haiti.

They have Lily's passport.  They have scads of paperwork.  They are further
along in the adoption process (Lily is officially their daughter) than many
of the families who will be welcoming Haitian orphans into the US, but will
have to get to the back of the line.

US immigration is not accepting copies of paperwork completed at the Haitian
Embassy.  Elizabeth and Tim have no way of getting Lily's original file in
Port au Prince.  They are not even sure the building that housed the file is
standing.

Blog, write and report on this case so the US Citizens and Immigration
Services will take notice and allow Lily to leave Haiti and enter the United
States to be home with her family in Virginia.

Contact US Citizens and Immigration Services at HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov to
urge the US Immigration office to grant Sophia Lily Derat Moore a visa to
leave Haiti and enter the US.  Elizabeth and Tim Moore have a passport for
Lily and a final adoption decree.

For further information, contact Rebecca Sullivan

Rebecca Sullivan
rebecca@rsullivanpr.com

What We're Learning at V&S #2: The Power of "And"

It used to be that creative quality and price were diametrically opposed. The more you paid, the better quality you could get and visa versa. It was an "or" relationship. You could get quality or price. Certainly, that's been the way the current advertising and design world works.

What we're seeing is the opposite. Two things are happening. First, in our projects and in projects like Unilever's Peperami's crowdsourced scripts project on Ideabounty, talent rises to the top and wins. Our contention has been that in truly free markets, the best work produced by the most talented people rises to the top. It's not blocked by internal politics or hierarchical competition that can smother the best ideas inside big organizations. And, it's only accelerating, any of the most talented creatives and strategists are starting to play around and do work on the the new digital networks that are emerging.

We've also found that in an apple to apple comparison with the projects we're working on clients typically save 75% in their creative fees for the same quality. That's right. Projects that used to cost $100,000 now can cost $25,000 (or $1,000,000 is now $250,000) for the same quality. This shift downward in the cost of creative execution doesn't lessen the need for great strategic and creative direction. This still has to happen to ensure that the work meets the client's objectives. The real savings comes from flattening the organizational chart and getting rid of all of the extra steps between the people producing the creative and strategic ideas. We're seeing that with the same strategic and creative direction results are very similar.

Clients are telling us they want to leverage the power of "and." They say they're tired of what they've been getting. They're looking for new ways to work and want to try new models of working. They want the best creative work and the best price.

Victors & Spoils: 6 Weeks In

Wow. I can’t believe that Victors & Spoils is six weeks old this week. While that seems like such a short amount of time, it seems a lot longer to us. I guess that’s because of all of the great response we’ve received. It’s been truly amazing and humbling having received so many calls from the top marketers in the world, both clients and agencies, asking how we might work together. There are so many cool opportunities to experiment with and ways to bring more people into the fold when working on marketing and product innovation problems. We’ve also been humbled by the passion and abilities of the people who’ve been joining our creative department. Likewise, the comments and insights from everyone have been helpful as we build our model.

So, here we are six weeks in with a half dozen client projects complete and a lot more in the pipeline. Thanks to everyone for the dialogue, the support and the help. For now, our heads are down focusing on helping our clients solve business problems in new ways. As the pace settles down I’ll have lots more to write and talk about things. Look for that here. The Victors & Spoils site has evolved into more static site as we focus on the work. That said, we’d still love to have a dialogue with you on Twitter, @victorsnspoils and facebook.

Here’s to the future.

Victors & Spoils: The first 10 days

What an amazing first 10 days. There is so much good energy around the tectonic plates that are shifting. I’ve been inspired by the creatives that have reached out looking for new ways to apply their skills, the clients looking to find more inspiring and efficient ways to get talented and engaged people to work on solving their marketing and product design problems. I’ve also heard from smart people creating interesting platforms and new business models. And, from people a bit nervous about the changes that are happening around them.

While some worry about the evolution of work and the role community and collaboration plays, I’m pleasantly surprised by all of the people willing to roll up their sleeves and work on making new possibilities a reality.

Thanks for such amazing support and feedback. I appreciate all of it and look forward to the exploration ahead.

Welcome to Victors & Spoils

The news is out. Another adventure begins. I love the start of a new adventure. So much anticipation. So much excitement. It always comes down to the team. Standing at the beginning of this adventure, Victors & Spoils, is especially exciting with the amazing team that’s come together. My partners Evan Fry, Claudia Batten, Scott Beck, Chris Marks, Dana Vallely and you (That’s right, you. More on this later.) comprise a crew that I’ve always dreamed about having on a big adventure.

Victors & Spoils is the world’s first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles. Our goal is to provide businesses with creative solutions to their marketing, advertising and product-design problems, by engaging the world’s most talented creatives.  

Brands need an alternative to current ad agencies and crowdsourcing platforms. One that offers the strategic direction, engagement and relationship management that agencies deliver today but one that also delivers engagement, connectivity, creativity, and ROI that crowdsourcing platforms have the potential to deliver.

It’s time for a new agency model. One built to address some of the biggest forces changing the face of business today. Radical transparency, the consumer’s demand to be more involved and a growing cost consciousness regarding clients’ budgets have all made crowdsourcing especially timely for today’s marketers. However, the crowdsourcing paradigm is a bit unruly for most clients. The number of possible solutions created and the effort to keep things on strategy for a brand can be overwhelming.

At the core of Victors & Spoils is our creative department. It’s not a typical creative department made up of art directors and copywriters but one in which everyone from art directors and copywriters to strategists and producers come together to solve a brand’s strategic problems. Our creative department is a global digital community where anyone who wants to participate can.  People will not only be rewarded by the solutions they develop both individually and as a group but also for participating in the community, itself, and helping others develop their skills and talent. In an effort to guide this participation, members of the creative department will earn a reputation ranking that will help determine a share of the revenue from each project.

As on any journey, things will change and develop new paths. I’ve been blown away already by how fast things are moving and the amazing excitement that clients have expressed. This is going to be a wild ride.

We look forward to figuring this new paradigm out with you.

The Power of Giving

Tom's Shoes has been an inspiration with the goal of giving away a pair of shoes to someone that needs them for every pair of shoes the company sells. How are you giving back?

Brands that Build Communities

After writing a lot about community in both Spark and here on the blog, I've been wondering what's the latest state of brands and how the interact with communities by asking a couple of questions on Twitter.

1. "What brands have created the best communities around them?" Within a few hours I got about 50 answers. Here's the top 10:

1. Harley Davidson
2. Obama
3. Lego
4. Nike
5. Threadless
6. P&G
7. Dell
8. Starbucks
9. Whole Foods
10. Trader Joe's

2. "What makes a great community?" And, again the Top 10?

1. self-generating (do stuff)
2. belonging (feel part of group)
3. identity (stand for something)
4. experiences (bring people together)
5. a great cause
6. working to a shared goal
7.  feedback & recognition
8. ease of participation
9. respect
10. love of and interest in a common goal

I'd love to get your thoughts, as well. Either leave a comment here or tweet me @jtwinsor.

Thanks.

You Know it's Over When

The little Mexican surf village that you bought a shack in 11 years ago has a shoe named after it. That's right, as unbelievable as it might seem Keen has named a shoe Sayulita. I still romanticize over the Sayulita of a decade ago. A place were you knew everyone in the break, the streets were all dirt and you could count the Gringos who owned property in town on both hands and toes.

Last year it was the cover of Travel & Leisure and now it's this.

Oh well, the great places always get discovered. I still love Sayulita.

Peer to Peer Lending

Here's a great audio of what's happening in peer to peer lending from NPR this morning:

Morning Edition, November 4, 2008 · Borrowers hurt by the credit squeeze and investors looking to boost their returns are increasingly turning to the same place: peer-to-peer lending. The loans can be quicker than going through a bank — and offer rates of return that can beat those of government bonds.

Companies such as Lending Club and Prosper Marketplace match individuals who want to borrow money with those who have money to lend. The process happens online, without a trip to a traditional bank.

One look at Prosper.com gives you an idea of this marketplace with 830,000 members and $178,000,000 loaned. In the current economic times with tight credit I'd expect peer to peer lending to explode.

On the Road

On the way through Casper, Wyoming a couple of weeks ago it was getting late and the kids were sleepy. It was dark and we weren't sure if we could find a campsite. What to do? We headed over to the WalMart parking lot to find another 20 RVs enjoying the lots safety and convenience.

The morning provided quite a cultural experience as other campers strolled by for a chat. What a blast to participate in a culture I didn't even know existed!