People's Insights Annual Report
Now & Next:
Future of Engagement
5.
CO-CREATION COMMUNITIES
People’s Insights Annual Report We are delighted to share that we will be publishing the People’s Insights Annual Report titled “Now & Next: Future of Engagement” in February 2013 as an interactive iPad app. The report will highlight the ten most important frontiers that will define the future of engagement for marketers, entrepreneurs and change makers: Crowdfunding, Behavior Change Games, Collaborative Social Innovation, Grassroots Change Movements, Co-creation Communities, Social Curation, Transmedia Storytelling, Collective Intelligence, Social Recommendation and Social Live Experiences. Throughout 2012, 100+ planners on MSLGROUP’s Insights Network have been tracking inspiring web platforms and brand programs at the intersection of social data, citizenship, crowdsourcing and storytelling. Every week, we pick up one project and curate the conversations around it — on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web — into a weekly insights report. Every quarter, we compile these insights, along with original research and insights from the MSLGROUP global network, into the People’s Insights Quarterly Magazine. Now, we have synthesized the insights from our year-long endeavor in future scanning as foresights into the future of engagement. We believe, like William Gibson that, “the future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed.” So, innovative web platforms in the areas of social data, citizenship, crowdsourcing and storytelling point towards interesting possibilities for brand programs that leverage similar models to engage people. In turn, the web platforms and brand programs of today give us clues to the future of engagement tomorrow.
In our reports on the ten frontiers that will define the future of engagement, we start by describing why they are important, how they work, and how brands might benefit from them; we then examine web platforms and brand programs that point to the future (that is already here); then finish by identifying some of the most important features of that future, with our recommendations on how to benefit from them. For the next ten weeks, we will publish these reports one by one, then present them together, in context, as an interactive iPad app. Do subscribe to our email newsletter to receive each report and also an invite to download a free copy of the interactive iPad app.
Brands and people partner to bring in a new renaissance of creativity. What are Co-creation Communities?
Source: ngmmemuda on Flickr
Co-creation involves organizations, entrepreneurs, artists, experts and people coming together people to create new artifacts including books, movies, music, art, software, products and solutions. Artists, entrepreneurs and organizations benefit from the contributions of community members, while contributors showcase their insights and creativity, and get rewarded in terms of recognition or prizes. The rise of co-creation can be attributed to three broad trends. First, millions of people all over the world are expressing themselves not only by posting blogs, photos, and videos, but also by hacking software and hardware, and making art and craft. Second, people are increasingly thinking of themselves as creators, showcasing their creations in online portfolios (Behance (video), deviantART, SoundCloud), and selling their creations in peer-to-peer online marketplaces (Etsy, Cafepress, Zazzle (video), BandCamp, Lulu). Third, people are teaching each other how to create things (Howcast, Instructables (video), Skillshare (video), Craftsy (video)), and learning by making things together, in online (DIY.org) and offline (MakerFaire
(video) communities, often building upon easy-to-use open-source kits (Arduino). Author Patricia Martin calls this cultural movement "The Renaissance Generation". As a result, we are seeing a number of platforms focusing on different aspects of co-creation. Threadless (video) invites its community members to submit t-shirt designs in themebased challenges. HitRecord invites artists to upload their creations, remix others’ creations, and participate in collaborative projects. Quirky (video) and Ahhha (video) invite wannabe inventors to collaborate with the community to convert their ideas into products. Cut On Your Bias (video) invites fashion enthusiasts to collaborate with new fashion designers on their upcoming collections. Other platforms, like OpenIDEO (video), which we have covered in our report on collaborative social innovation, focus on bringing together businesses, governments, non-profits and changemakers to co-create innovative and sustainable solutions around a shared purpose.
Source: Threadless
In the public consciousness, co-creation communities are best known for the free usercreated encyclopedia Wikipedia and the free and open source operating system Linux, but they have also resulted in books (The Mongoliad,Business Model Generation), movies 3
(Life in a Day (video), Britain in a Day (video), One Day on Earth (video), One Day in Venice (video), The Cosmonaut (video),CollabFeature (video)), music (Genetic Music Project) and art (The One Million Masterpiece). Some of these co-creation platforms and projects have had significant impact. For instance, Threadless’s community of 2.3 million members have submitted and voted on 260,000 t-shirt designs and won $7.1 million in awards. National Geographic and YouTube received 4,500 hours of footage in 80,000 submissions from 192 countries for Life in a Day and the YouTube channel has been viewed 34 million times. Source: Quirky.com/Learn
Source: Life in a Day
The success of co-creation platforms like Threadless shows that people don’t only desire to express themselves creatively, but they also want to create together with likeminded creators, in online and offline communities. Equally importantly, the success of co-creation projects like Life in a Day shows that it’s possible to break down big creative endeavors, like making a movie or creating a product, into small tasks, inspire thousands of contributors to engage in the task, then aggregate the contributions back into a meaningful artifact.
How do Co-creation Communities work? Co-creation communities can be classified across three important dimensions: the relationship between initiators and contributors, the possibilities for participation, and the nature of collaboration.
Typically, the platform owners, or their partner organizations initiate co-creation projects (Threadless, Cut On Your Bias, OpenIDEO, Life in a Day), but community members can also initiate projects (HitRecord, Quirky). On many platforms, community members retain the right to their own contributions, but winners usually give over their rights for prize money, or licensing fees. In some cases, the initiators share the ownership of the project by releasing it under a Creative Commons license. Most co-creation platforms enable community members to submit contributions, activate their social networks, and rate, vote and comment on contributions. Some also provide gamification features like points and levels to encourage community members to participate more (OpenIDEO, Quirky). A few platforms also enable community members to collaborate with others and form teams. Some platforms are more restrictive, and only allow community members to vote on options (Cut On Your Bias). Most co-creation platforms rely on challenges to attract contributors and encourage participation, so community members often end up competing with each other. However, many co-creation platforms incentivize community members to support others’ contributions by rewarding them with social influence (OpenIDEO) or cash (Quirky), or creating a culture of quid-pro-quo collaboration (Threadless). In essence, all co-creation communities are designed around four dynamics: connect, catalyze, crystallize, and celebrate. First, platforms need to connect community members around a shared interest so that they have a context to engage with the platform and with each other. Then, platforms need to catalyze
contributions, often by running time-bound challenges. Next, platforms need to synthesize these contributions into meaningful artifacts and products. Finally, platforms need to celebrate the most powerful or popular contributions by rewarding them.
Co-creation Communities for Brands “Consumers are beginning in a very real sense to own our brands and participate in their creation… we need to begin to learn to let go.” - A. G. Lafley, former CEO and Chairman of P&G Branded co-creation communities can be classified into three models: branded challenges on niche crowdsourcing platforms, branded co-creation challenge platforms, and ongoing cocreation communities. In the first model, brands run short-term public or private challenges on niche crowdsourcing platforms to tap into their specialized communities: designers, developers, animators, filmmakers, engineers, or scientists. Challenges typically have phases for entry submission, community voting, and selection of winners by jury members. Creativity-driven challenges related to creative designs, branded videos and animation films (Zooppa, PopTent (video), Tongal (video), Eyeka (video),MOFILM, Springleap, Talenthouse) are typically public, and winners are often selected based on a combination of community voting and jury judgment. Solution-driven challenges related to software applications, product innovations, and business solutions (Top Coder, Kaggle (video), Local Motors (video), Innocentive (video), Jovoto (video)) are sometimes private and winners are sometimes selected based on objective technical criteria.
In the second model, brands create their own co-creation challenge platforms to engage their community members and crowdsource branded videos (Doritos Crash the Super bowl, Pepsi Halftime (video), Tata Indica Xeta Shootout) and product innovations, including limited edition designs (Nescafe Dolce Gusto’s Euro Design Contest, Citroen You Like It We Make It (video), Heineken Your Future Bottle (video), Nike ID (video)), new food and beverage flavors (Mountain Dew Dewmocracy (video), Lays Do Us a Flavor (video)), Domino’s Australia Social Pizza (video), McDonald’s Mein Burger (video), Lec Ice Cream), new product designs (Fiat Mio (video)) and business solutions (GE Ecomagination Challenge (video), GE Healthymagination Challenge, GE Imaging Innovation Challenge). Some brands host the challenge on niche crowdsourcing platforms to tap into the community, but also promote them on their own branded destinations (GE Quest (hospital video, flight video), Domino’s Ultimate Delivery Vehicle (video)). Other brands need to create their own branded destinations to provide sophisticated dashboards to community members to pick and choose product options to customize their product (Nike ID, McDonald’s Mein Burger, Fiat Mio). Some challenges offer separate community prizes based on community voting, and jury prizes based on jury selection, and some reward community members who offer constructive comments and feedback with prizes.
Source: Fiat Mio
Source: Jovoto
In the third model, brands build and nurture their own co-creation communities and encourage contributions through a series of challenges (Heineken Ideas Brewery (video), Domino’s Think Oven)). The most successful of these cocreation communities, like Nike ID (video), not only run a series of challenges but also create value for consumers between challenges, by enabling them to customize the products on an ongoing basis. Other co-creation communities, like LEGO CUUSOO (video), rely on the almost unlimited passion of their brand fans to sustain engagement, and only need to regularly review 5
popular submissions, and launch them as new products. Several brands have invested heavily in ongoing ideation platforms to co-create the brand experience with their customers and launch product and process innovations based on customer ideas (BarclayCard Ring(video), My Starbucks Idea, Dell Ideastorm, Best Buy IdeaX). These communities rely less on challenges and rewards, and more on community engagement and customer support, to sustain participation from community members.
In 2011, LEGO opened up its Japanese crowdsourcing platform CUUSOO to global audiences, inviting adults to submit and vote for new LEGO product designs. Levent Ozler, editor-in-chief of Dexigner, summarized the process: “Ideas that are supported by 10,000 votes have a chance of being selected to become part of the LEGO Group’s product portfolio and sold in LEGO Brand retail stores and the LEGO online shop. Consumers who have their ideas chosen will earn 1% of the total net sales of the product.”
Source: Nike ID
All the three models need brands to incentivize community members to submit and support contributions. Incentives can range from social influence and gift cards on one extreme, to a Super Bowl TV spot (Doritos Crash the Super bowl), a million dollars or 1% of net revenue (Lays Do us a Flavor), or a $10 million commercial contract (GE Ecomagination Challenge).
Co-creation Communities Case Studies Throughout the year, we have tracked the conversations around a number of branded cocreation challengesin our weekly insights reports and quarterly magazines; here are a few highlights.
Branded program: LEGO CUUSOO Read the full case study on our blog or on Slideshare
Source: LEGO® CUUSOO Process and Summer Review Results
CUUSOO’s 10,000 vote requirement helps streamline the crowdsourcing process. The Idea Connection team noted: “Lego receives original ideas but is not weighed down by too many which can be costly and time consuming to examine. And fan support can provide some kind of indication of the potential popularity of a concept.” The fan-facing effort has challenged LEGO to increase the speed of its product release cycle. Matthew Kronsberg, a writer at Fast Company, said: “Such an outpouring of [fan] interest would be squandered though, if that consumer desire was left to wither through a traditional product development cycle. And this is where the second, and possibly more significant piece of the Cuusoo endeavor comes into play: Lego Minecraft will go from concept to release in roughly six months, rather than Lego’s typical two- or three-year process.” There are currently 3,787 live projects at LEGO CUUSOO. Three co-created products have been launched to date, and a fourth one is in production.
Source: lego.cuusoo.com
LEGO has launched several efforts to nurture and enable a spirit of creation amongst adults and children alike, with digital tools LEGO Digital Designer and LDraw, and social networks LEGO Club and ReBrick. Joren de Wachter, an IP strategy consultant, noted: “The genius of Lego is to embrace and share that creativity, rather than trying to own it.”
Branded program: McDonald’s Germany Mein Burger Read the full case study on our blog or on Slideshare
Blogger Reuben Halper noted: “It’s all about the execution in this case as Razorfish created a compelling experience for users to generate their own bespoke burger creation. Perhaps more importantly, they also provided the tools to for users promote their burger creation and encourage their friends, as well as the general public, to vote for the eventual winners.” The five most popular burgers were featured in McDonald’s TV commercials and served at 1,415 McDonald’s locations in Germany for a week each. Online, 116,000 burgers were created, 12,000 user-generated marketing campaigns were created and 1.5 million votes were cast. In real life, the campaign set local benchmarks for promo burgers sold, customers gained and revenue raised.
Source: mcdonalds.de/mein_burger
To celebrate its 40th anniversary in Germany, McDonald’s launched Mein Burger, a six-monthlong crowdsourcing campaign that invited Germans to make their own burgers online. People used a ‘Burger Configurator’ tool to choose from 70 ingredients (bread, meats, sauce) to build their dream burgers, and to give them personalized names.
Source: Mein Burger Case Study
In two years, more than 460,000 recipes were created and voted upon – an abundance of data and insights for McDonald’s. The campaign has been launched with adaptations in Austria, the Netherlands and Spain.
Nidhi Makhija, member of the MSLGROUP Insights Network, pointed out that these names served as an outlet for creativity and acted as content pegs people could push out while asking for votes: “It helps differentiate the crowdsourced burgers without having to scrutinize the ingredients. The burger inventors can name their creations after themselves for an ego boost. And the comedians out there get to have some fun (someone even suggested a “Mc Gyver” burger!).” People then gathered support from their social networks using a DIY marketing tool kit from McDonald’s. 7
Branded program: Heineken Ideas Brewery Read the full case study on our blog or on Slideshare
To participate in the Ideas Brewery challenges, people submit their elevator pitch online in the form of text, images or video. Raz Godelnik, a contributor at TriplePundit, wrote: “In Heineken’s contest, not only can everyone access ideas…but they can also vote for their favorite ideas. Participants are also encouraged to promote their ideas via social networks, as number of votes is factored in to which ideas win the contest.” A jury selects finalists who are invited to a cocreation workshop in Amsterdam to refine their ideas with Heineken experts and make their final pitch. Then, three winners are announced and receive a share of $10,000.
Source: ideasbrewery.com/Idea
In March 2012, Heineken launched Ideas Brewery, a platform through which the brand shares co-creation challenges and connects with consumers. The first challenge asked people for ideas on Sustainability, the second challenge asked people to Reinvent the Draught Beer Experience, and the third challenge asks people to share insights on the 60+ demographic.
Source: Ideas Brewery – Reinvent the Draught Beer Experience – Workshop
Future of Co-creation Communities
Source: Ideas Brewery – 60+ Challenge – Brief
The team at Coverstories highlighted the need to co-create designs and products with consumers: “For a company with consumer products it should be regular way to work out new ideas. Whether public or a closed focus group, tapping into real customer thinking can’t be wrong and offers a valuable reality-check on product development. In terms of Innovation Management it is currently the most effective and productive way to go.”
Co-creation challenges around crowdsourcing designs, videos and stories have already become the norm for adding a social media component to brand campaigns, and many creators are becoming fatigued with them, forcing brands to support them with bigger paid media budgets, more attractive prizes, and celebrity endorsements. We foresee that, going forward, the best way to run such challenges on a small budget would be to partner with a niche creative crowdsourcing community like Jovoto or MoFilm. We also expect such creative crowdsourcing communities to specialize by country and language, with Neocha Edge in China and Brandfighters in Netherlands being early examples. At the same time, we expect more brands to run higher order co-creation challenges focused on product innovation and incentivize contributors with a percentage of revenue (Lays Do Us a Flavor), and even create ongoing co-creation
platforms to invite ideas from customers (Dell Ideastorm) or enable customers to customize their products (Nike ID). We also expect thirdparty product innovation communities like Quirky to create end-to-end new product development solutions for brands, beyond ideation. Author Nilofer Merchant lists co-creation as one of the 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era: “More and more companies embrace consumers as “co-creation” partners in their innovation efforts, instead of as buyers at the end of a value chain. Consumers, traditionally considered as value exchangers or extractors, are now seen as a source of value creation and competitive advantage. This collaboration shares power between the participants as we start to recognize value creation as an act of exchange, not simply a one-way transaction. As an exchange, all parties need to do it sustainably as each must have equilibrium to stay viable.” We also expect that more organizations will follow PepsiCo’s example in replicating cocreation best practices across brands (Mountain
Dew Dewmocracy, Doritos Crash the Super bowl, Pepsi Halftime) and countries (Lays Do Us a Flavor), and run them over multiple years (Doritos Crash the Super bowl, Lays Do Us a Flavor) to maximize the benefit from them. Even as white label co-creation solutions like MSLGROUP’s People’s Lab, Brightidea and Spigit mature, we expect more players to enter the markets with niche offerings. Some of them will specialize in platform-specific co-creation apps (like Napkin Labs for Facebook), while others will specialize around use cases (like product customization). We also expect more niche crowdsourcing communities like Zooppa and Innocentive to offer specialized white label solutions for brands to host both short-term and long-term co-creation communities. Finally, we also expect crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter to differentiate themselves by adding features and incentives to encourage community members to not only fund projects, but also co-create them.
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People’s Lab: Crowdsourcing Innovation & Insights People’s Lab is MSLGROUP’s proprietary crowdsourcing platform and approach that helps organizations tap into people’s insights for innovation, storytelling and change. The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform helps organizations build and nurture public or private, web or mobile, hosted or white label communities around four pre-configured application areas: Expertise Request Network, Innovation Challenge Network, Research & Insights Network and Contest & Activation Network. Our community and gaming features encourage people to share rich content, vote/
Learn more about us at: peopleslab.mslgroup.com | twitter.com/peopleslab
comment on other people’s content and collaborate to find innovative solutions. The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform and approach forms the core of our distinctive insights and foresight approach, which consists of four elements: organic conversation analysis, MSLGROUP’s own insight communities, clientspecific insights communities, and ethnographic deep dives into these communities. The People’s Insights Quarterly Magazines showcase our capability in crowdsourcing and analyzing insights from conversations and communities.
mslgroup.com | twitter.com/msl_group
MSLGROUP is Publicis Groupe's strategic communications and engagement group, advisors in all aspects of communication strategy: from consumer PR to financial communications, from public affairs to reputation management and from crisis communications to event management. With more than 3,700 people, its offices span
22 countries. Adding affiliates and partners into the equation, MSLGROUP's reach increases to 4,000 employees in 83 countries. Today the largest 'PR and Engagement' network in Europe, Greater China and India, the group offers strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling ideas – followed by thorough execution.
Write to us to start a conversation on the future of engagement.: Pascal Beucler, SVP & Chief Strategy Officer (pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com) Janelle Dixon, North America Head of Insights (janelle.dixon@mslgroup.com) Dominic Payling, Europe Head of Insights (dominic.payling@mslgroup.com) Gaurav Mishra, Asia Head of Insights (gaurav.mishra@mslgroup.com)