Dec 5, 2009
AdHack: Crowd Source Your Agency
AdHack, is a new crowd-source solution for advertisers looking for a lower-cost, higher quality solution for print, web and video ad creative. The site houses spec creative that ranges in quality and taste. The model is simple and straight-forward: Creatives put up a profile for themselves and can have AdHack host samples and spec work. Would-be ad purchasers can review the ad solutions, creative talent and make a purchase of the ad, work with a particular talent or commission work all via the website. There is a pre-determined pricing model that is dictated by media and the speed of the project.
For creative talents, AdHack is not an ideal solution. There is a pre-determined pricing model that is not based on experience or quality of the concept and the “creative form” that is used to initiate a commission offers no option for locating particular types of talent beyond media type. A crucial issue, and one that I take issue with, is the absence of any self-promotional opportunities in the user profile for creative talent. In order to register, you can select a user name, location and avatar. The user can then link to their portfolio via ID number or username. but the profile is assigned a unique number as opposed to a username or tag. Additionally, there is no linking option outside of the provided AdHack portfolio. AdHack is controlling all of the creative and user information within their own ecosystem and there is little opportunity for starting artists and creative talent to promote themselves outside of this network.
I think AdHack is great start-up idea and there are some fantastic samples on the site. The network is a reported 400+ and growing (a collection of creative larger than most large advertising networks) and growing. For buyers on a budget or just beginning this is a good alternative to working with an advertising agency-a real DYI marketing solution. For a company that is not in the business of marketing or has a true challenge in their business space, working with an agency is likely a better solution.
AdHack – How it Works from AdHack on Vimeo.
UPDATE
Since the original post, James, from AdHack has pointed out that I had missed some of the features of AdHack and mistaken some of the features. You can read his comments below as well as my updated post. Again, I think that AdHack is good utility for evangelizing your creative and making connections with those buyers who are in the market.
