For a reward, crowds name new products

We wrote about Kluster back in February, and just a few months later the crowdsourcing platform was used to create community-driven news site Knewsroom. Hard on the heels of that launch now comes NameThis, which just entered beta. Kluster-powered NameThis is designed to provide a quick and painless way for innovators to find a market-ready name for their company, product or service. Those with a thing in need of a name begin by posting a request for help and paying USD 99. Members of the community then have 48 hours to suggest names and/or invest points in their favourites. At the end of the 48 hours, NameThis’s system “does some fancy math” and picks three winners. Of the fee paid by the thing’s owner, USD 80 is distributed to those who contributed to the winners: USD 40 goes to the person who picked the first-place name, while USD 10 is shared amongst the influencers on that name; USD 16 goes to the second-place namer, while USD 4 is shared among the influencers on that one; and USD 8 goes to the individual who picked the third-place name, with USD 2 shared among influencers. From creating the news to naming a product, is there anything the crowds can’t do better? We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, one to try out! (Related: Crowdsourcing product improvements.)