Crowdfunding is a relatively new frontier for marketing and consumer behavior. The main feature of this type of business arrangement and its related marketing revolves around attracting a sufficient number of interested backers to fund the project. The reward for involvement is the eventual delivery of the product and any rewards or additional features that are included as a reward tier for larger contributions or which are “unlocked” once the basic funding figure has been exceeded. However, the relationship between the developers of the product and the backers is no longer a simple case of gathering pre-sales funding to validate the demand for the product. Increasingly, backers are involved in the actual development and direction that the product takes. The project developer responds to the requirements of the backers; after all, it is their funds that underpin the financial viability of the whole project. Crowdfunding certainly shortens the development cycle for new products, but it is developing far beyond the original idea of peer-to-peer lending or involvement.

Research the development of crowdfunding across two or more crowdfunding platforms. How has the development and launch of products been influenced by the involvement of the customers or backers? How has the product been marketed? Has the product, once launched, featured the involvement of backers in the marketing messages? In your view, is this backer involvement and influence a feature that is likely to continue to develop? What challenges will marketers face in the future both during the project crowdfunding phase and the eventual launch of the product on the market?