Web Worker Daily

Are you a web worker with strong creative, design and online video skills? If so, you may want to look into some of the startup companies that are cropping up with ways to crowdsource grassroots video advertising spots. There are some interesting opportunities opening up in this space, where, in some cases, large global brands offer cash for the most creative grassroots advertisements.

Here are two notable examples, where you can show your stuff.

Zooppa has been referred to as a “YouTube for advertisements.”  The site works like this: Regular contests seeking grassroots online advertisements are held, and they are sponsored by large and small companies around the globe so that winning entries get cash prizes. A typical prize is a few thousand dollars, and site officials claim that over $300,000 in prize money has already been awarded.

At Zooppa, you work with your own grassroots tools–such as video editing software, graphics applications, and the like–to build an advertisement. Guidelines for content are typically provided in short creative briefs, just as they are for big Madison Avenue ad firms. Then you upload your advertisement to the site, which encodes video, and winning entries are determined from the pool of submissions.

You can find out more in Zooppa’s blog. The blog notes that the Doritos advertisment that ran during the Super Bowl was created by two “nobodies” who won a million dollars for their creation.

In another example of this trend, SpotMixer recently secured $9 million in venture funding for its site encouraging templated creation of viral videos.  The site supplies tools and templates for producing advertising and marketing content. When your advertisement is completed, you upload it to YouTube and SpotMixer’s business model, starting at $49 a month, is built around helping you reach customers online or through cable outlets. If you’re a creative type and know your way around video editing and graphics applications, these sites could spell opportunity.