f*constantino blog

The best way to define the term Co-Creation is to quote the recognized C.K. Prahalad. He states that Co-Creation is a different form of Value Creation, in which value is created together between the firms and the customer.

In the past, companies decided the products or services they would provide, so companies “guessed” what would be valuable to their customers. Now, the customers are part of this process and they can provide very good insights about their needs, their taste, what they like, what they don’t like and the most important thing: their value.

 Co-Creation uses the collaboration, customers intelligence, creativity and insights in order to create value. What about some real examples for to see it is already around you:  

1. Open Source Software: Developers have access to the source code and improve and change it;

2. Lego Factory: “You design, share and buy your very own custom LEGO models”;

3. At JetBlue (an airline company), people we encouraged to tell their flight experience;

4. Electrolux Design Lab is a design competition for students from around the world;

5. Mastercard well known campaign “Priceless“ was also asking people to “Write your own Priceless Ad”. The website also shows some of the Priceless Picks made by real people;

Do you think most companies are ready for enabling co-creation? Send you comments.

And remeber: Co-Creation is not customization or personalization or DIY (Do-it-yourself).

Generation-C is an emerging group willing to express their creativity through a concept called co-creation (f.constantino: “I will post some info about this later this week”). The “C” stands for “Content” and this means that they want to be responsible for generating the content.This group people are transforming the way companies used to do business. Instead of passive buying goods or services, the Generation-C want to participate.

Examples:
1) Instead of just downloading and watching on-demand videos, people are encouraged to create their own productions and post for everyone on YouTube.com.2) We could just go to a store and buy some T-Shirts, but Threadless T-Shirts decided to create their own community and allow people to create their own designs. The best voted designs are manufactured and the creator earn some real money.

These are only two great examples of the companies already in the next big consumer trend: the Generation-C.

Do you have any other great examples? Send your comments!