Your fans your brand.

They LOVE their ideas!

If Facebook were a country…

And marketers are reacting

Social media is the

top issue among Senior

Marketers.

And budgets are swelling!

Marketers are starting to GET the need to be in the conversation

“Social networks are where consumers feel comfortable expressing their feelings-good or bad-about companies, products and services…

…Marketers have an opportunity to tap into this stream of information-sharing.”

Continuum of Engagement

Updates

Feedback/Polls

Sweepstakes/Offers

Uber-Costly Custom Events

????

So how can marketers engage?

It’s the ideas stupid!

(not yours, your fans’)

Consumer have ideas they want to share!• “THIRTY-SEVEN PERCENT report that they have developed ideas for new or improved

products, and more than 9% REPORT BUILDING PRODUCT PROTOTYPES or even MARKETABLE PRODUCTS”

• The analysis shows that more than ONE THIRD of the respondents generated ideas for improved or new products…”

• “…in our sample 32.1% report have innovated”• “We propose…innovation by end users within voluntary user communities - is a

GENERAL AND WIDESPREAD PHENOMENON”

25 MILLION

*Source: Characteristics of innovating users in a consumer goods fieldAn empirical study of sport-related product consumers; Dr. Christian Luthje **Source: How Communities Support Innovative Activities: An Exploration of Assistance and Sharing Among End-Users; Nikolaus Franke & Sonali ShahVienna University of Econ. And Business Administration | MIT Sloan School of Management

84,694,035

innovatorspotential

breakthrough products!

And they share!!“Without exception, the innovating community members we surveyed do not innovate in isolation or secrecy; they receive important advice and assistance from other community members…

Source: How Communities Support Innovative Activities: An Exploration of Assistance and Sharing Among End-Users; Nikolaus Franke & Sonali ShahVienna University of Econ. And Business Administration | MIT Sloan School of Management

But why?

• “Monetary profit is not a key motivator for either innovators or those who assisted them; instead, survey respondents cite

having fun…”**Source: How Communities Support Innovative Activities: An Exploration of Assistance and Sharing Among End-Users; Nikolaus Franke & Sonali ShahVienna University of Econ. And Business Administration | MIT Sloan School of Management

Fun Unmet Need

Creativity

Working with

/Helping

others

Why?

It's all in the need!

“Users generate functionally novel innovations because they experience novel needs well ahead of manufacturers,…

The Principles of Distributed Innovation, Karim R. Lakhani and Jill A. Panetta

Ideas pay!

• 8852 ideas• >30 initiatives

$300 MILLION

!!

Share idea

Friends review

Friends contribute

Ideas improve

Others discover

But why?

Source: How Communities Support Innovative Activities: An Exploration of Assistance and Sharing Among End-Users; Nikolaus Franke & Sonali ShahVienna University of Econ. And Business Administration | MIT Sloan School of Management

Fun

Unmet Need

Creativity

Working with

/Helping

othersWhy?

The Point

Fans have lots of ideas

Fans’ ideas are your most powerful social

media asset!

Ideas are naturally social