“Collective Intelligence will get the Jobb’n done”
A serious look at the rapid growth of crowdsourcing marketplace platforms, in a world of tech frenzies – and what this means for South African Businesses.
Johannesburg, 31 August 2023: In today’s breakneck business landscape, companies across the globe are rapidly seeking innovative strategies to stay agile, smart and ahead of the competition – which is why at the top of this year, the door-flung arrival of Open AI sent South African businesses into a one-way frenzy of fear and excitement; with everybody and their cousin clambering for a piece of the ‘generate response’ action.
Having been in the field of influencer marketing for 13 years, I’m no stranger to public frenzy. ‘Frenzy’ is what we work with, what we trend on, and how we pivot content. Tech Frenzies, especially, can be an industry gamechanger, and brands will waste no time in jumping on the wagon. With TikTok and ChatGPT invited to almost every party these days, there is a flag of caution that needs to be raised among marketers and chief strategists: when does a tech frenzy blur the business lines, and when does it blind us from making smarter business decisions?
At Nfinity Influencer, it’s our job to take stock of technology trends, and whilst doing so, to remind ourselves over and over again that despite the bot banter, we are, unequivocally, still in the business of people: actual human beings that remain the driving force of our internal and external service procedures; a collective of people that comprise a diverse pool of talent and side hustlers; people that work with us to elevate business strategies for our clients’ brands, and ultimately become assets of influence for medium to blue chip business. So, when it comes to ‘a tech frenzy’, we tend to be blinded by the light, so to speak, and find ourselves tugging at the decision to pick technology over human capital. Which do we choose, and where do we draw the line?
The simple answer: we don’t need to choose, and we don’t need a line. In fact, we should remove the line altogether and embrace the best of AI and the best of human resource as a strategic, collaborative effort. Enter ‘Collective Intelligence’ – my new favourite term – and if harnessed correctly, this will not become a frenzy, but rather a steady, foolproof, long-lasting, best-win practice for your business. The way it should be.
Cue 2023’s API crowdsourcing marketplace: unfrenzied, and unbreakable.
Still on the downlow, but growing in its necessity, crowdsourcing platforms are arguably the most social and seamless integration of humanity and technology in business, at least in my books. How does this work? Traditionally, companies would seek to accomplish large scale campaigns and projects by commissioning permanent and/or largescale workforces to get the job done. This act of labour often proves to be rather time consuming, expensive and difficult to scale. With the latest development in crowdsourcing technology, businesses now get access to hundreds and thousands of side hustlers (humans) that are not only expertly profiled, according to unique requirements and job specs, but that help businesses work faster, and smarter. Work can be chunked down from large projects into smaller micro tasks that are matched, briefed and distributed live, and effectively, to keen and willing individuals across South Africa, via a 24/7 online platform.
And guess what? It’s working, and it’s working well.
With this year’s launch of Nfinity’s latest community resource platform called ‘Jobb’n’, we’ve seen collective intelligence at its unfrenzied best, matching over 345 000 approved, profiled and experienced side-hustlers across SA, with keynote brands and campaigns. This includes big name brands tapping into the platform to streamline business processes, augment data collection, conduct analysis and validation, sample test, tailor customer reviews and enhance the creation of credible, relevant content pieces, all within a 24/7 AI contained space.
Using data, insights and – yes – people – that we’ve accumulated in our years of experience, we’re leveraging off collective intelligence with resource solutions that assist in driving relevant consumer experiences, top of mind awareness, equity, conversion and sales. And you should too!
In an era defined by rapid technological advancements and globalisation, South African companies can now harness the power of collective intelligence, using AI crowdsourcing resource tools to unlock talented communities that will support growth and efficiency. Research by Harvard Business Review already shares with us that companies using crowdsourcing platforms are experiencing an average cost reduction of 25-50% compared to traditional hiring models; while according to a survey by Deloitte, 57% of companies use crowd-sourcing as part of their sourcing strategy, and 73% plan to increase their crowdsourcing efforts over the next few years.
In my experience, ‘business frenzies’ are great to try but always short-lived, and the only way in which economies of scale will be achieved is if we choose to build and engage with capable tech combined with capable human resources, combined with smart moves – to deliver sustainable, measurable returns every time. ‘Collective Intelligence’ is all this, people – and it’ll get the Jobb’n done – trust me.
Pieter Groenewald, CEO, Nfinity Influencer