Springwise has some great examples of co-creation case studies in their May 2006 trendwatching briefing called CUSTOMER MADE.
What's Customer Made?
“The phenomenon of corporations creating goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with experienced and creative consumers, tapping into their intellectual capital, and in exchange giving them a direct say in (and rewarding them for) what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed.”
What's interesting to me from this briefing, is the kind of opportunities that are coming-up and how there are a wide variety of imaginative ways in which brands can partner with customers to build a dialogue and engage with them. Also, the article nicely brings out the fact that this has to go beyond just branding and communication. It has to get into areas like:
- Customer feedback/response
- Product development
- Ongoing product improvement
- Helping creation of products and selling by customers themselves
- Developing ongoing conversations
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