Yes..I love this class. You have to appreciate anytime you get to use back-to-back Jerry Maguire gifs to talk about marketing. Today is all about the customer; keep that cliche counter going. Specifically, it is about how the customer can work with a business to be intimately involved in the development and usage of what the business has to sell to become co-creators of value. This process is called #co-creation. This strategy is particularly helpful when designing a product and trying to determine what the actual needs of your customers are. Some important aspects to consider when bringing in the customer as a consultant for your company are the vehicle in which participation takes place; online or meeting physically, the type of participation such as, panel, survey, or forum, the visibility and availability of conversation, how and where the customer can contribute, who your intended audience is, what degree of participation you want your audience to have, and ensuring that the participation is legal.
Co-creation is asking your audience to participate with your product. Participation can take place through selecting features you, as the customer, would appreciate. Fiat successfully accomplished co-creation on their website by asking them to select which features they would value in a new Fiat model and ended up gathering 3000 participants opinions FO’ FREE! Another example that I did not originally consider is IKEA profiting from customer product transportation and assembly services. This type of participation is not simply just asking for advice or conversation but actively and physically participating. This shows that IKEA customer need’s value discounted prices over the hassle of transporting and constructing furniture. By asking fans to be a part of a product or service, you are creating a relationship where they are actively participating and through this relationship, becoming loyal fans of the product or the brand.
//Motivators, Stimulators, and Impediments to Consumer Creation
There is often quite a lot of variability to why and how consumers participate in co-creation. Even though popular firms have massive amounts of followers, it is interesting that actually very few are willing to be fully engaged in the product development or launch process. According to a scholarly article called Consumer Cocreation in New Product Development, there are identifiers in consumer segments who are especially willing to participate in co-creation activities. These include innovators, lead users, emergent consumers, and market mavens. These people are invested in the brand for some reason; be it personal or work associated. The article goes on to describe psychology as a reason for participation. These people are looking to intrinsically self-express themselves and feel pride from their efforts and input added to the product.
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