Bridging gap between the companies and the customers has given birth
to a phenomenon called Co-Creation. It views markets as forums for firms and active customers to share,
combine and renew each other's resources and capabilities to create
value through new forms of interaction, service and learning mechanisms (Wikipedia definition).
Social Media has played a pivotal role in bringing brands in direct contact with their audience in real-time. Facebook, twitter are a few sites in the ever growing sea of social media platforms that are allowing people to talk about the brands they like/dislike, their expectations from a brand and how they want to contribute towards making of a brand.
Co-creation has come a long way from simple Q&A, polls to an
everlasting experience. Some of the notable examples include the
Simpsons asking fans to create a character for an episode,Micromax's new logo is the child of co-creation, Sweden handling over the reigns of its twitter account to the citizens to provide viewers with greater insights in to the Swedish life or levis using Instagram to find a new face for its
2012 campaign.
Using social media to engage people, to create something new or modifying existing product /service/content is definitely increases the value the brand but there is a great danger in opening up one's brand to a larger audience. Getting involved through social media needs commitment, clear goal and research or one risk devaluing the brand.
There have been cases in the past where due to lack of understanding of
psyche of consumers, companies and their brands have suffered.
'social media is an enabler and Co-creation is the force that unleashes the true potential of a brand'
Social Media has played a pivotal role in bringing brands in direct contact with their audience in real-time. Facebook, twitter are a few sites in the ever growing sea of social media platforms that are allowing people to talk about the brands they like/dislike, their expectations from a brand and how they want to contribute towards making of a brand.
Co-creation has come a long way from simple Q&A, polls to an
everlasting experience. Some of the notable examples include the
Simpsons asking fans to create a character for an episode,Micromax's new logo is the child of co-creation, Sweden handling over the reigns of its twitter account to the citizens to provide viewers with greater insights in to the Swedish life or levis using Instagram to find a new face for its
2012 campaign. Using social media to engage people, to create something new or modifying existing product /service/content is definitely increases the value the brand but there is a great danger in opening up one's brand to a larger audience. Getting involved through social media needs commitment, clear goal and research or one risk devaluing the brand.
Brands that "do not embrace co-creation principles are likely to see an erosion of
value"
~ Gouillart and Ramaswamy
There have been cases in the past where due to lack of understanding of
psyche of consumers, companies and their brands have suffered. - McDonald's #McDStories campaign on twitter backfired spectacularly with people using #McDstories hashtag to highlight their worst experience of the fast food chain.
- When Gap came up with a new logo, thousands of customers were outraged saying that they preferred the previous simple and traditional logo. They posted bad comments about the company for not involving them in the process. The company took off the logo and started a new campaign asking people to give their inputs for new logo but the damage was done.
- Although innovative and often successful, the Swedish Twitter campaign has had some strange results, including "I'm taking over this goddamned account for a week! Expect bad sex and slapstick". Too much autonomy to users and little to no control meant potentially damaging Sweden's reputation.
'social media is an enabler and Co-creation is the force that unleashes the true potential of a brand'
