if consumers and producers could team up???

Ever wondered if consumers and producers could team up???

Ever wondered that a hospital asking the patient to design their own healthcare, a professor allowing college students, to contribute to the curriculum, auto manufacturers allowing drivers to co- create their next car  in general,  no but they might see a dramatic change in engagement and innovation if they did, So is the concept of Co- Creation which has redefined Marketing

What is marketing? , an obvious response would be that marketing is creating values for your customers, tailoring to their needs, providing them after sales services and stuffs like that, but in today’s world this definition has moved beyond the spectrum to incorporate the concept of Co creation- wherein both the producer as well as the consumer are engaged in the production of a commodity

Co- creation is a thriving concept because it helps in developing cutting edge offerings with the involvement of the ultimate consumer, this is done through user generated content and mass customisation. Consumers are acknowledged for their contributions through social recognition and financial incentives

Apple has provided a platform to the users to develop applications; if their application is approved by the company , they get a certain percentage of benefit as well as social recognition

Amazon which initially came into business to tap the book segment with a dream of becoming the largest e book retailer adopted UGC (User Generated Content) over time by encouraging users to write content about the book, now the company has turned into the largest online database review site in the world, Thanks to Co-Creation

CO creation involve two primary steps- inviting contributions from the consumers, and selecting the best contribution, however many prominent corporate honchos say that only 1 or 2% of the contribution seems to be viable and feasible, most of the contributions are either idiosyncratic, or they have been previously adapted by someone else or they are too expensive

Consumers are more willing to contribute only when the company is very active on the social media and encourage their contribution

Procter and gamble in 2002 came up with an ambitious objective that 50% of their new products must be manufactured using the co creation concept, they started a new campaign –connect and develop, this campaign changed the fortunes of the company overnight with a resounding success

In general if we look at the community , there are three types of consumers- Transactor, one who owes no loyalty to the brand and is not so brand conscious, Supporter, one who supports the brand by making frequent purchases, promoter ,one who promotes the brand through advocacy , word of mouth media postings , sharing brand images and advertisements on social platform,

We have for years being restricted to this model, but now one more breed of consumers have come into the picture they are the Co- creators

Dell sources Co- creation by inviting its users to suggest ideas on its websites, Thread less the company that was adjudged being the most innovative company of USA , infused it’s entire business model with the concept of co creation, It’s a T- shirt company wherein you can submit your own designs, people vote for the designs that is being displayed on the website and the one receiving the maximum votes ,have his design being imprinted on a t- shirt with a social recognition on the back of the it

Marketers have realised that the marketing dynamics of the companies is required to be overhauled. Marketing is no more a discrete entity; it has to be resonated with all the departments in an organisation.

The biggest obstacle is to change the mind-set of the executives ,they are so accustomed and glued to the traditional dynamics that they can’t imagine consumers as active participant who have always been perceived as passive recipients

Giving up control and sharing rewards is a big gamble, but it is the key to co creation model that can realise unprecedented value at a very low marginal costs

It’s not rational to delay this journey any longer, your customers are waiting

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