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"Numerous studies demonstrate that 70-80% of all new products fail. Lack of relevance, lack of differentiation, inappropriate pricing and muddled messaging all factor into a brand\u2019s struggle when launching a new product. \nHowever, the ultimate judgment of new products falls to consumers, who, ironically, are often absent from the development process. That development stage stands the greatest chance of generating transformative new ideas early on, before the brand has made a significant investment. \nOver the last decade, the Internet has enabled consumers to help brands drive front-end innovation and generate consumer participation in all stages of a product\u2019s lifecycle. Many brands are investing in \u201Ccustomer co-creation\u201D techniques to avoid late-stage product failures. \nCrowdsourced co-creation, in which a broad pool of consumers is invited to suggest ideas and/or respond to specific design challenges, has been widely adopted by marketers. The strategy can potentially shorten the time it takes to get new products to market, not to mention, can leverage an empowered consumer culture. For example, MyStarbucks.com uses an online e-suggestion box to solicit ideas from customers, who can also rate the ideas of others. The company then reports back to this \u201Ccrowd\u201D of engaged consumers when certain ideas move into development.\nFor all its benefits \u2014 including a broad reach and a high volume of submitted ideas \u2014 this approach poses significant challenges. For some brands, the sheer volume of ideas can be daunting to review and assess, sometimes because these sites become prime targets for disgruntled customers to post their customer-service grievances. In addition, these sites\u2019 public nature makes it easy for competitors to pounce first on promising ideas. \nTherefore, private communities act as alternatives to public customer ideation sites. Privacy removes the threat of the poaching competitor and allows companies to longitudinally interact with a smaller group of customers (typically 300-500). This format also enables community facilitators to lead an ideation and concept development process that is more structured \u2014 thus, potentially more fruitful \u2014 than the e-suggestion box approach. Finally, a private environment can provide a more intimate setting for open and honest discussion of product challenges. \nShould You Involve Your Customers in Product Creation?\nRegardless of whether you opt for a public or private approach, there are several factors to consider before investing in a co-creation initiative. \n\nRecruit the right customers. Carefully consider the types of people from whom to solicit ideas. Think beyond their key demographics and consider recruiting them based on their creativity and problem-solving skills. \nUse a structured approach. Don\u2019t ask consumers what they want in a new product without giving them a structured brainstorming approach, or something to react to. Wide open, blue-sky approaches place too much pressure on consumers to produce what they think is \u201Cright\u201D in your eyes. More importantly, when consumers don\u2019t have a structured approach, they\u2019re more likely to apply principles and ideas from other companies to your product. \nManage your expectations. Consumers can only produce ideas based on what they know \u2014 their needs \u2014 and are not equipped with the knowledge of what\u2019s feasible from a financial and manufacturing perspective. Thus it\u2019s crucial to have processes in place that enable internal R&amp;D resources to vet, narrow down, and refine consumer-generated ideas. \nIt\u2019s more about needs than solutions. Start by determining unmet needs or barriers. Then, feed those needs back to consumers to help inform their ideation process. The ideas your customers generate may not be production-ready, but you can use your understanding of those needs to develop consumer-relevant products of your own. \nSeek fresh eyes in evaluating ideas. In addition to asking the people who submit ideas to also rate them, consider transporting those ideas to a different venue to get a fresh outlook.\n\nImages courtesy of Flickr, james_michael_hill."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/10/13/crowdsource-consumers/>