The best reason for a company to develop or sponsor a contest platform is that it will result in new products or services that will benefit others. That’s the driver behind most challenges. However, there are other benefits of innovation competitions.
Companies that are involved in these events find that they are a great way to connect with their target audience, especially youth and young adults. Why? This demographic tends to be creative, motivated, and interested in establishing a relationship with the brands they follow. In particular, here’s why innovation competitions can give your brand a boost:
Competitions expose a wide audience to your brand
Not only do those who participate in a challenge get to know your brand, but the ripple effect can be powerful. When a participant talks with family members, friends, and coworkers about the event, those people have a new awareness of your company. And if many of them talk to others, your reach into your target audience can grow exponentially.
Crowdsourcing produces a large volume of ideas very quickly
Releasing innovative new products is one of the best ways to grow your brand. If you rely on a small internal research and development group, the process of developing new ideas can be slow going. But with dozens, hundreds, or thousands of minds focusing on the challenge you’ve posed, you get dozens, hundreds, or thousands of innovation opportunities in a very short time frame. And while not all of them will be viable, many will.
Financial incentives are sure to get an audience’s attention
Especially when you are talking about youth and young adults, the chance at winning a financial prize — even a relatively small one — is very motivating. And, companies that launch an innovation competition may very well recoup the investment in prizes through new business with participants who become more familiar with their offerings.
Competitions enable broader collaboration
Not only do innovation challenges allow you to connect with participants, they frequently get the attention of other companies in your space that may have products or services that complement yours. Collaborating with them can produce tremendous business synergy.
Innovation Competitions: A True Win-Win
We know from experience that innovation competitions are great attention getters and brand boosters. One of the things our contest management software team at Skild loves about helping companies coordinate challenges is that they produce positive impacts on so many levels and for so many people.
Skild, Inc. 