This Thing Called Co-Creation

© Stephen Cribbett 2013

This Thing Called ‘Co-creation’May 2013


Co-creation isn’t a new way of thinking...

...but the ability for brands and organisations to extensively involve people from around the world

in design and development has only been possible since the arrival of the internet


What is co-creation?

The collaborative development of sustainable, shared value between an organisation or brand

and it’s users, consumers, staff, employees, suppliers and partners.



or put another way...


People working together to generate, cultivate and deliver new ideas - products or service

solutions - that they themselves will benefit from

We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered it, the larger they have been.George Wilhelm Merck’s address to the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond (1st Dec, 1950)

Co-creation turns market research, R&D and design into a dynamic, natural process involving a wider range of

stakeholders.


Those involved in co-creation - inside and outside the sponsoring organisation or brand - must be willing to

share the risk and harness their skills in order to receive greater reward.


Your co-creation efforts will FAIL if you think it takes place in a single workshop session


It’s about humanising business and making things happen systematically as part of a new

culture of being ‘social’


‘Machines help, but they don’t make ideas’Karl Lagerfeld at Le Web


What are the current failings that co-creation addresses?


Current failings that co-creation addresses?

• Traditional R&D and innovation process is costly of time and money

• Collaboration with consumers is too late in the day to impact the solution

• Innovation is limited by the power of the brains employed by the organisation

• Glass ceilings and bad management get in the way of great ideas


Why co-creation holds value for brands and organisations?

People want to be involved in what is created for them.


When people work together in an engaged way, they have the ability to generate ideas and

solutions the smartest minds alone could not.


Scientific experiments have shown that meaningful interactions among individuals enable people to learn faster and remember

more of what they learned



Why now?

People are now happier than ever to share their experiences, opinions

Why now?

People now have the tools and connections to make better use of their

latent talent and creativity

Why now?

Co-creation can take place online and offline, but it’s unquestioned that global online connectivity has enhanced the power of co-creation ten-fold

Why now?

What hindered co-creation in the past was an organisations ‘closed’ way of doing business and being

innovative

For co-creation to take place, an organisation needs to embrace change - from a closed, top-down organisation

to an open, transparent and democratic system


Who can you co-create with?


CrowdsCoalitions

CommunitiesKindred spirits

ExpertsColleagues

CrowdsFans

CoalitionsCommunities

Kindred spiritsExperts

ColleaguesAcademics


What else do you need?


People who give a shit about your brand


Don’t be fooled into thinking that includes people who ‘like’ you on Facebook


5%Proportion of ‘fans’ talking about your

brand on Facebook

SOURCE: KAREN NELSON-FIELD & JENNIFER TAYLOR, ‘FACEBOOK FANS: A FAN FOR LIFE?’, ADMAP, MAY 2012


Find the ‘actors’ and differentiate them from your ‘audience’. These are the people to co-

create with.


Ask the right questions and frame them as challenges


End this presentation knowing that...


1.Co-creation requires cultural, technology and operational changes to manifest

2.Co-creation isn’t just about having some ‘technology’ in place (though a platform is needed), it’s about harnessing human behaviours, goodwill and passion

3.You should embed co-creation within your organisation, not just view it as a deliverable of an external agent

4.Aim to generate shared, sustainable value


and when done well, co-creation delivers...

• The transition to new business models• Sustained user/customer/stakeholder involvement• Enhanced innovation capabilities• Greater connections• Competitive advantage• Decreased R&D and marketing costs• More customers; loyal customers• Happier, more rewarded people ;-)


So..


...to end on an over-used quote by Confucious


Tell me, and I’ll forgetShow me, and I may remember

Involve me, and I will understand


...or put another way


Broadcast to me, and I’ll forgetShare with me, and I may remember

Co-create with me, and I will endorse, buy more and remain loyal!


To find out how co-creation can be put to work for you, contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 7973 663867 or email [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

This Thing Called Co-Creation

Business

Transcript of This Thing Called Co-Creation