How Brands Co-Create Value with Customers

In today’s participatory culture, customers want meaningful relationships with the brands they care about. Innovative companies are rising to the challenge, realizing that customer collaboration is vital to keeping a competitive edge.

A wide spectrum of companies are co-creating value with customers and other stakeholders, including Dell, Hallmark, Intuit, ModCloth, Nike and Starbucks. These trendsetters are inviting customers to brainstorm product ideas, develop new products, improve business processes and answer other customers’ product questions. The benefits are numerous, with companies gaining user insights and customers enjoying higher product satisfaction.

To reap the rewards, companies must face a number of challenges. Management, for example, can be slow to accept user-generated content. And when they do take the leap, they often limit their collaborative initiatives to customers, when involving other stakeholders could create more value for all. Companies also tend to restrict their co-creation activities to discrete moments in the product life cycle. But the greatest benefits can be realized when collaboration centers on building value that enhances a product’s daily use.