CO-CREATION’S 5 GUIDING PRINCIPLES or.... what is successful co-creation made of?

In challenging times new rules apply. Companies and organisations are searching for tools that can help them win battles. Daily challenges have to be faced. Future growth paths have to be found. Is Co-creation the answer? It might be if you are open for it. But only when done properly Co-creation will truly deliver. Co-creation is more than a tool; it is a Program of Change. There are 4 types of co-creation and 5 guiding principles to any successful Co-creation venture. When applied in the right mix a wonderful result will be served. Successful Co-creation cases from all over the world have been analysed and conclusions have been drawn.  The results are below.

The 4 Types of Co-creation
Co-creation exists in many different ways. Which type to choose is depending on the challenge at hand. There is always an initiator, i.e. the party that decides to start a Co-creation initiative. This can be a company or just a single person. One or (many!) more contributors will be joining along the process. The initiator determines who can join and under what conditions. 

Hence, there are two main dimensions in Co-creation:

• Openness: Can anyone join in or is there a selection criterion somewhere in the process?
• Ownership: Is the outcome owned by just the initiator or by contributors as well?

These two dimensions lead to the four types of Co-creation:

• Club of experts: A very specific challenge is needing expertise and breakthrough ideas. Contributors are found through a selection process. Quality of input is what counts (e.g. Nokia)

• Crowd of people: Also known as Crowdsourcing. For any given challenge, there might be a person out there having a genial idea that should be given a podium. It's the Rule of the big numbers (e.g. Threadless)

• Coalition of parties: In complex situations parties team up to share ideas and investments. Technical breakthroughs and standards often happen when multiple parties collaborate (e.g. IBM)

• Community of kindred spirits: When developing something for the greater good, a group of people with similar interests and goals can come together and create (e.g. Linux)

The 5 Guiding Principles in Co-creation
In Co-creation it is a fine line between doing it right or not cracking it. It is a people’s business. Successful Co-creation initiatives all share 5 common rules:

• Inspire participation: Trigger people to join your challenge: open up and show what's in it for them (e.g. P&G Connect & Develop)

• Select the very best: You need the best ideas and the best people to deal with today's complex issues (e.g. Innocentive)

• Connect creative minds: You have to enable bright people to build on each others ideas, both on- and off-line (e.g. Lego)

• Share results: Giving back to people - and finding the right way to do it - is crucial (e.g. Apple iPhone App store)

• Continue development: Co-creation is a longer-term engagement, in- and outside your company. Only then it will deliver results (e.g. Dell Ideastorm)

This is a summary of a White Paper called: 

"CO-CREATION’S 5 GUIDING PRINCIPLES"
The White Paper is available through Fronteer Strategy 

(info@fronteerstrategy.com)
Author: Martijn Pater
Date: April 2009

About Fronteer Strategy
Fronteer Strategy is an Amsterdam-based consulting firm, specialised in marketing strategy. Our key areas of expertise are innovation, co-creation and brand development. We have diverse backgrounds. Our inquisitive nature is supported by entrepreneurial experience and solid business sense. www.fronteerstrategy.com

About Rooftop co-creation
Rooftop is an expert co-creation tool. Unrestricted perspectives, a hand-picked group of people working together, no interference from day-to-day hassles. A pressure-cooker for insight, inspiration and innovation, it serves to create solid, spot-on concepts and strategies. We believe that co-creation is a long-term engagement between clients and people from outside their company. It’s success is expressed in inspiration, enthusiasm and action. www.welcometorooftop.com

A WARM WELCOME IN HELSINKI

One month ago we held a Rooftop co-creation session in Helsinki for Nokia. The subject involved developing scenarios for using mobile phones in the future. The people we invited to join the excellent Nokia team flew in from Portugal, Belgium, Holland and Sweden. A great mix of backgrounds and characters formed the basis for a successful workshop. 

Nokia is actually one of our most cherished clients. They see the true value and meaning of co-creation. Together with them we are exploring the road less travelled in open innovation. This road is one where companies actually allow people from outside to join its challenges for a longer period of time. Nokia intends to come back to our external professionals in a few months to actually touch base on the progress that has been made. And even after that, 9-12 after the session, we would like to review with the entire group what had been done with the workshop outcome. Did it change in any way Nokia's product portfolio, strategy or vision? I can't wait to find out.

Discussion continued in any case long after the session in the KLM business class - our private lounge.

"I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH CO-CREATION!" - DISCUSSION WITH FRANK PILLER

I had the honour of meeting Frank Piller, one of the most knowledgeable people on co-creation, open innovation and mass-customisation. We had set up a meeting since our Rooftop expert co-creation product is the kind of thing Frank researches. Frank is currently conducting a study on the 65 most important co-creation consultancies or intermediates, he told me in an animated conversation. He is especially looking for examples of well executed co-creation projects and he is invesigating the larger expert based platforms like Innocentive. One of the people admired by Frank was, next to Eric von Hippel,  Nikolaus Franke, from the Wirtschaftsuniversitat in Vienna. He also mentioned the success of Innospace, the on-line community based customer research tool, and Hyve, the German design-driven innovation and research firm.

We discussed the different approaches to co-creation and the value some companies bring to the table. Many companies deal nowadays with an urge to step into open innovation and co-creation but don't know how to do that. An awful lot of companies are in or close to being in a pilot phase. I was happy to discuss some of the recent successes we had with co-creation at Heineken and Nokia.

Our approach was seen by Frank as being fresh and differentiating. Some of the things we do he sees being not standard in co-creation are:

Expertise. We believe in finding the best people, screening them, and preparing them well for the assignment. 

Equality. Also, we strive for equality between all parties involved: clients, experts and lead-users. Only then true co-creation is achieved. 

Value. Each participant has different things he or she wants to take out of the session. Recognising that and making it happen for them are crucial.

Synchronisation. When dealing with a diverse group of people with different interests, being on the same page with the same energy level is a must. Sounds easy, it is not.

Continuity. Co-creation does not stop after a session, it continues. When clients recognise that, a wonderful world of opportunities arises. We have an online community space to facilitate that. Before, during and after the session.

A wonderful visit it was. 

GREAT! ANOTHER CONSULTING FIRM…

JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDED.

 

Actually, no. Fronteer Strategy isn’t ‘just’ another consulting firm, but one with a clear idea of why, how and what. The ‘double e’ is a conscious typo (thanks for warning me though, mum) that refers to our backgrounds: engineer, marketeer… and anthropologist. We apply our wide variety of interests and experience to develop clutter-cutting marketing strategy: innovation, co-creation and brand development.

 

As our name suggests, our main interest is in the ‘new’ and ‘unknown’. Whether it be new strategies, new markets, new concepts or products; we enjoy being ‘out there’ with our clients on the frontiers, where new value is created. 

No offense to other consulting firms, but I think we can honestly claim some points on the interesting-o-meter. The company was founded by Martijn Pater and myself, James Veenhoff. Martijn is an engineer with 8 years of consulting experience. Prior to launching Fronteer, he rode his motorbike from Amsterdam to China and back – as well as inventing, developing and marketing a new soft-shell helmet for outdoor & active sports. My own background is in growth strategy, and I have extensive experience in the fashion and luxury brand industry. My main field of expertise is brand strategy, specializing in the so-called niche, new luxury and ‘vanguard’ brands.  Due to my work as co-founder of Amsterdam International Fashion Week, I have also become very interested in Urban Development and hope to make use of my expertise in this area too.