Australian wine company Yellow Tail is holding a contest to find a name for its newest make of chardonnay. You can submit your suggestion by December 9th, and if your name is selected then you win a free shipment of the new wine.

I see this as a PR stunt to generate publicity for a new wine, and as a marketing ploy to make customers feel involved in the brand. Stunts and ploys have their place in the marketing mix, but I don’t consider them crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing’s applications extend to complex software development, generating deep information resources, and more. It is a lot more than a naming competition.

This is being reported as a crowdsourcing initiative. Daily Finance notes, “Crowdsourcing is increasingly viewed by marketers as a way to involve consumers in new product launches and generate buzz.” I think that is what this is all about, not tapping into the masses because it is the most effective way to determine a new wine’s name.

My wine name suggestion is ‘Supermarket Special’