Finally: companies of the future?
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2025 9:30 am
The second dimension of social media
Marketing managers now understand the impact of social media and the role of the consumer in making or breaking a brand. Marketing & communication has evolved strongly in the past two years: more and more companies use the conversation idea and use new media to approach the consumer. This is, in my opinion, of course a very good thing.
But there is a second dimension to the story, which is unfortunately often forgotten. Research shows that one in three consumers would like to be actively involved in the policy of their favorite brand. Playing into this and asking customers to develop new products or services together is the second dimension of social media use. In recent years, we have seen many of these great co-creation cases. Think of the Lay's campaign that led to the very well-known 'Patatje Joppie' chips in the Netherlands . Nokia recently asked fans to come up with a new ringtone for the brand. And there are countless other great cases. Each of these companies uses the creativity of the customer and actively involves consumers in the policy.
full leverage of consumers
From co-creation to structural collaboration
There is an important 'but' with these co-creation campaigns. No matter how well they are executed, they remain one-off marketing actions. The goal is to creatively create a lot of publicity for a brand. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does not fully utilize the total power of the consumer. The challenge is to move from one-off co-creation to structural collaboration with consumers.
Structural collaboration means involving customers in all aspects of a business. This includes brainstorming new product ideas, pointing out new consumer trends, launching products, helping to think about content strategy, helping to map your touchpoints and make them conversation-worthy, working with a company to devise an advertising campaign, and even helping to set pricing.
A recent (2008) Harvard Business Review article states that all business issues are better solved when companies cayman islands phone number list are open to collaboration with their customers. When Heinz was recently looking for ideas for new cold sauces, they turned to their community. The ideas from consumers were processed and interpreted by both Heinz management and the consumers themselves. Of the concepts that were realized, 20% ultimately came from consumer analysis. Without involving the consumers, Heinz management would have missed a fifth of the insights (pdf).
A recent study by Wageningen University also proved that a product with 'co-creation with consumers' on the packaging sells better than a product without such a label. In other words, consumers have more confidence in each other's judgement than in the judgement of a company.
All studies point in the same direction time and again. The more the consumer is involved with a company, the better the results. Moreover, consumers want nothing more.
The future of the internet is shaped by people who know how to use new technologies and media gratefully. Focusing on both dimensions; letting people help your company by letting them spread your message and helping people by letting them structurally contribute to the future of your company, is what smart companies will do in the coming years.
This article is based on the presentation I gave a few weeks ago at Vision 2012, a conference where we were allowed to dream about the future. The presentation can be viewed below.
Marketing managers now understand the impact of social media and the role of the consumer in making or breaking a brand. Marketing & communication has evolved strongly in the past two years: more and more companies use the conversation idea and use new media to approach the consumer. This is, in my opinion, of course a very good thing.
But there is a second dimension to the story, which is unfortunately often forgotten. Research shows that one in three consumers would like to be actively involved in the policy of their favorite brand. Playing into this and asking customers to develop new products or services together is the second dimension of social media use. In recent years, we have seen many of these great co-creation cases. Think of the Lay's campaign that led to the very well-known 'Patatje Joppie' chips in the Netherlands . Nokia recently asked fans to come up with a new ringtone for the brand. And there are countless other great cases. Each of these companies uses the creativity of the customer and actively involves consumers in the policy.
full leverage of consumers
From co-creation to structural collaboration
There is an important 'but' with these co-creation campaigns. No matter how well they are executed, they remain one-off marketing actions. The goal is to creatively create a lot of publicity for a brand. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does not fully utilize the total power of the consumer. The challenge is to move from one-off co-creation to structural collaboration with consumers.
Structural collaboration means involving customers in all aspects of a business. This includes brainstorming new product ideas, pointing out new consumer trends, launching products, helping to think about content strategy, helping to map your touchpoints and make them conversation-worthy, working with a company to devise an advertising campaign, and even helping to set pricing.
A recent (2008) Harvard Business Review article states that all business issues are better solved when companies cayman islands phone number list are open to collaboration with their customers. When Heinz was recently looking for ideas for new cold sauces, they turned to their community. The ideas from consumers were processed and interpreted by both Heinz management and the consumers themselves. Of the concepts that were realized, 20% ultimately came from consumer analysis. Without involving the consumers, Heinz management would have missed a fifth of the insights (pdf).
A recent study by Wageningen University also proved that a product with 'co-creation with consumers' on the packaging sells better than a product without such a label. In other words, consumers have more confidence in each other's judgement than in the judgement of a company.
All studies point in the same direction time and again. The more the consumer is involved with a company, the better the results. Moreover, consumers want nothing more.
The future of the internet is shaped by people who know how to use new technologies and media gratefully. Focusing on both dimensions; letting people help your company by letting them spread your message and helping people by letting them structurally contribute to the future of your company, is what smart companies will do in the coming years.
This article is based on the presentation I gave a few weeks ago at Vision 2012, a conference where we were allowed to dream about the future. The presentation can be viewed below.