Diageo Posts Creative Brief Online for All to Play

NEW YORK Diageo, which spends approximately $170 million on U.S. advertising each year, is looking to shell out a measly $5,000 as compensation for a new “responsible drinking” campaign.

And roster shops like JWT and BBDO need not apply for the local effort, which is timed to run in Phoenix just before the Super Bowl there. Instead, Diageo has opened up the brief by posting it on an online marketplace for ideas called OpenAd.net.

The campaign, to be sure, is tiny—print, out-of-home and taxi-top ads will be backed by a mere $12,000—so it’s not a revenue blow to any agency; it’s simply another example of a marketer’s willingness to go beyond its agencies and hear ideas from almost anywhere or anybody.

Diageo could not be reached for comment, but others noted the difference between consumer-generated content—the buzz at last year’s Super Bowl—and an agency.