Sales and marketing approach
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 5:43 am
Ruurd Priester: “Through co-creation you can jointly create value, and you can use the networks to test ideas and show what you are doing as a company.” Hans Gebauer emphasizes that authenticity is very important here and that you have to have a sincere conversation with the customer: “If selling is the main goal for a company to involve consumers in co-creation, then consumers sense this and the collaboration fails.”
Will Reijnders expects a lot from co-creation and its significance for the future of innovation and marketing. Although in practice the changes are quite slow and much still needs to be done to really put customers first, Reijnders believes. “Companies are generally still quite process and product oriented”, says Reijnders, “New routes need to be developed to get closer to the consumer, and co-creation is one of these routes”.
Benefits of co-creation
The participants agree that there are many advantages to be gained from co-creation, if it is applied in the right way. Priester: “Control costs and purchasing costs decrease […] a more 'lean-and-mean' organization is created and you return to the core of added value; customer value and customer experience.”
Co-creation also stimulates enthusiasm, both among consumers and the internal team that comes into contact with people who are just as committed to the brand as they are. Co-creation can inspire and increase creativity. Michael Blankert on the Lay's Maak de Smaak campaign: “A wealth of ideas is created when you involve consumers: we could never have come up with the winning flavour 'Patatje Joppie' ourselves. It probably sells so well because it was conceived by a consumer and chosen by the Netherlands.”
Van Kesteren sees several advantages in a longer-term collaboration with consumers, for example via an online community. “You can respond to feedback and you have time to think about things that are discussed. It gives the team more iteration possibilities. In addition, it gives a feeling of having a 'lifeline' with your consumers, you can ask a question right away.”
Priester notes that it is not always necessary to involve consumers if you want to develop relevant products. A company can be very capable of thinking and acting consumer-centrically itself. Priester: “Take Apple for example: they innovate very closed, but have extremely good user-centred designers and work from the same principle as co-creation.” Van Kesteren: “I see co-creation as a useful tool when your brand or product is focused on niches or is very specialised. You often do not belong to the target group yourself, so it is quite difficult to put yourself in that shoes.”
Benefits for the co-creative consumer
For consumers who participate in co-creation, it also offers a number of advantages, according to the participants. For example, they develop a positive relationship with the company and have influence on product development. Consumers have the opportunity to express their wishes and needs and to think along about new product ideas. Priester: “Consumers feel involved with the company, can identify better with your brand and feel taken seriously.”
In addition, fun plays an important role: “Consumers feel 'empowered' and that gives a good and pleasant feeling,” says Hans Gebauer. Ingrid de Laat also sees advantages in the professional field: “Our RedesignMe community consists of a number of novice and professional designers. These designers work on their portfolios via our challenges and can show what they have to offer.”
Product and brand benefits
Direct consumer involvement ensures a constant supply of up-to-date information. The interviewees agree that this contributes to the development of relevant products that meet the (future) needs of the consumer.
The participants are also convinced that co-creation can influence brand perception. Priester: “The chance that you really create brand value and brand preference increases.” Blankert: “By means of co-creation, you as a company come closer to consumers and you get a 'warmer' image. Consumers feel more connected to your brand.” Johan Sanders: “I think that co-creation can have a positive effect on the brand in the long term, if you continue to work on it. Then consumers will start to see your brand as more 'open'.”
With successful co-creation you can create brand ambassadors, who ensure positive word-of-mouth. Van Kesteren: “If you do it right, they will become enthusiastic about your brand and will talk about it with their friends and acquaintances.”
The co-creation of the Pickwick Dutch blend took place with 25 consumers who had registered via the ' Pickwick Gardens ' Hyves and were selected by Pickwick. To draw attention to the co-creation, the collaboration was nepal phone number list emphasized in the marketing campaign of the final product Pickwick Dutch blend. The co-creators were also mentioned and thanked on the side of the tea packaging. Sanders about the Dutch Blend: “This flavor is much more popular than other new flavors that we have introduced. Maybe not even because of the co-creation process, but because of the buzz that has been created by the enthusiasm here internally and from the consumers who have worked with it.”
In the 'Maak de Smaak' campaign, the whole of the Netherlands was approached via a cross-media approach ( image via H2X ) to participate and come up with a new flavor for Lay's chips. Thanks to media partner RTL, the campaign was also shown in the TV-Kantine . In addition to eternal fame, the winner could pocket 25,000 euros and 1% of the turnover.
The number of unique participants in the campaign was 310,871, twice as many as the Lay's team had anticipated. Regarding the submissions: "We expected about 375,000 flavor submissions and that became 678,000 submissions!", says Blankert. After the 3 finalists were chosen, consumers could taste the flavors for 2 months and vote for their favorite. Blankert: "We had the goal of selling 2 million bags. That became 6 million, so the interest in the campaign greatly exceeded our expectations".
Challenges and success factors
The co-creation process
The interviews make it clear that co-creation can only be successful if a number of conditions are met. It requires, among other things, good project management and communication skills that fit a web 2.0 environment. It is also important that consumers receive feedback, inspiration and encouragement during the collaboration. Companies will have to adjust processes so that there is more flexibility and a faster response to co-creation results and feedback from consumers.
Will Reijnders expects a lot from co-creation and its significance for the future of innovation and marketing. Although in practice the changes are quite slow and much still needs to be done to really put customers first, Reijnders believes. “Companies are generally still quite process and product oriented”, says Reijnders, “New routes need to be developed to get closer to the consumer, and co-creation is one of these routes”.
Benefits of co-creation
The participants agree that there are many advantages to be gained from co-creation, if it is applied in the right way. Priester: “Control costs and purchasing costs decrease […] a more 'lean-and-mean' organization is created and you return to the core of added value; customer value and customer experience.”
Co-creation also stimulates enthusiasm, both among consumers and the internal team that comes into contact with people who are just as committed to the brand as they are. Co-creation can inspire and increase creativity. Michael Blankert on the Lay's Maak de Smaak campaign: “A wealth of ideas is created when you involve consumers: we could never have come up with the winning flavour 'Patatje Joppie' ourselves. It probably sells so well because it was conceived by a consumer and chosen by the Netherlands.”
Van Kesteren sees several advantages in a longer-term collaboration with consumers, for example via an online community. “You can respond to feedback and you have time to think about things that are discussed. It gives the team more iteration possibilities. In addition, it gives a feeling of having a 'lifeline' with your consumers, you can ask a question right away.”
Priester notes that it is not always necessary to involve consumers if you want to develop relevant products. A company can be very capable of thinking and acting consumer-centrically itself. Priester: “Take Apple for example: they innovate very closed, but have extremely good user-centred designers and work from the same principle as co-creation.” Van Kesteren: “I see co-creation as a useful tool when your brand or product is focused on niches or is very specialised. You often do not belong to the target group yourself, so it is quite difficult to put yourself in that shoes.”
Benefits for the co-creative consumer
For consumers who participate in co-creation, it also offers a number of advantages, according to the participants. For example, they develop a positive relationship with the company and have influence on product development. Consumers have the opportunity to express their wishes and needs and to think along about new product ideas. Priester: “Consumers feel involved with the company, can identify better with your brand and feel taken seriously.”
In addition, fun plays an important role: “Consumers feel 'empowered' and that gives a good and pleasant feeling,” says Hans Gebauer. Ingrid de Laat also sees advantages in the professional field: “Our RedesignMe community consists of a number of novice and professional designers. These designers work on their portfolios via our challenges and can show what they have to offer.”
Product and brand benefits
Direct consumer involvement ensures a constant supply of up-to-date information. The interviewees agree that this contributes to the development of relevant products that meet the (future) needs of the consumer.
The participants are also convinced that co-creation can influence brand perception. Priester: “The chance that you really create brand value and brand preference increases.” Blankert: “By means of co-creation, you as a company come closer to consumers and you get a 'warmer' image. Consumers feel more connected to your brand.” Johan Sanders: “I think that co-creation can have a positive effect on the brand in the long term, if you continue to work on it. Then consumers will start to see your brand as more 'open'.”
With successful co-creation you can create brand ambassadors, who ensure positive word-of-mouth. Van Kesteren: “If you do it right, they will become enthusiastic about your brand and will talk about it with their friends and acquaintances.”
The co-creation of the Pickwick Dutch blend took place with 25 consumers who had registered via the ' Pickwick Gardens ' Hyves and were selected by Pickwick. To draw attention to the co-creation, the collaboration was nepal phone number list emphasized in the marketing campaign of the final product Pickwick Dutch blend. The co-creators were also mentioned and thanked on the side of the tea packaging. Sanders about the Dutch Blend: “This flavor is much more popular than other new flavors that we have introduced. Maybe not even because of the co-creation process, but because of the buzz that has been created by the enthusiasm here internally and from the consumers who have worked with it.”
In the 'Maak de Smaak' campaign, the whole of the Netherlands was approached via a cross-media approach ( image via H2X ) to participate and come up with a new flavor for Lay's chips. Thanks to media partner RTL, the campaign was also shown in the TV-Kantine . In addition to eternal fame, the winner could pocket 25,000 euros and 1% of the turnover.
The number of unique participants in the campaign was 310,871, twice as many as the Lay's team had anticipated. Regarding the submissions: "We expected about 375,000 flavor submissions and that became 678,000 submissions!", says Blankert. After the 3 finalists were chosen, consumers could taste the flavors for 2 months and vote for their favorite. Blankert: "We had the goal of selling 2 million bags. That became 6 million, so the interest in the campaign greatly exceeded our expectations".
Challenges and success factors
The co-creation process
The interviews make it clear that co-creation can only be successful if a number of conditions are met. It requires, among other things, good project management and communication skills that fit a web 2.0 environment. It is also important that consumers receive feedback, inspiration and encouragement during the collaboration. Companies will have to adjust processes so that there is more flexibility and a faster response to co-creation results and feedback from consumers.