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Tap Into The Customer-Made Trend - Part 1

Although the customer-made trend as been slowly growing since 2000, it was brought into the limelight when TRENDWATCHING.COM moved "CUSTOMER-MADE" to the top of their emerging trends list in November 2004.

TRENDWATCHING.COM coined the term “CUSTOMER-MADE” as “the phenomenon of corporations creating goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with consumers, tapping into their intellectual capital, and in exchange giving them a direct say in what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed. Consumerism will never be the same!”To summarize the November 2004 trend watching article, marketing is evolving into a conversation between millions of consumers exchanging their views about corporations. With increasing Internet access, "Generation C" (phenomenon of consumer generated content) is wired, empowered, informed and opinionated with a desire to directly influence the products that companies develop.

"The gap between traditional business practices and truly empowered consumers now reaching significant proportions, the customer-made trend will further accelerate, moving from fringe trend to a mega trend...[with] the power to redefine the relationship between customer and brand, between consumer and producer, something that taps into the most awesome reservoir of intellectual capital ever assembled."


Fast forward to May 2005...
As Customer-Made trend continues to grow, TRENDWATCHING.COM introduced five broad categories: Consumer Marketers, Expert Outsiders, Amateur Outsiders, Remix Culture and User Generated Content 2.0.

Consumer Marketers: Consumers who will seek, find, and download 'home-made commercials". Tiger Woods' winning shot at The Masters golf tournament provided priceless air-time for Nike as millions of consumers watched the Nike-swoosh golf ball roll into the cup.

Expert Outsiders: Experts, innovators and inventors from beyond company walls that contribute valuable insight to product design. Proctor & Gamble launched "Connect + Develop" program with a goal of having at least 50% of new products deriving from ideas generating by non-employee experts.

Amateur Outsiders: The Pro-Am revolution of tapping into every user's creative talent for inspiration. Jones Soda Co. creates beverage labels using photos submitted by customers.

Remix Culture: Spearheaded by hackers, embraced by savvy consumers who combine or alter the best features of one product with another. Craigslist Classifieds paired with Goggle Maps lists properties available in a specific area.

User Generated Content 2.0.: Includes consumer media reporting from home-videos and photographs used on the BBC, to museum visitors writing painting descriptions.

Consumers will continue supporting the customer-made trend because they control the wants and needs on their own terms. Consumers can exhibit their creative skills with the potential of gaining notoriety, and they can make money from their contributions. Consumers that co-create products will more likely become brand ambassadors.

Tomorrow's Vision Critical posting will review what's next for the Custom-Made Trend in 2006.

Posted on June 14, 2006
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Customers Define Centricity on Their Terms

There is a disconnect how customers and companies define customer centricity. Companies must not assume customers are loyal; companies must work to continually earn loyalty by thinking of customers as people, be respectful and communicate honestly.

Dick Lee, CRM consultant, discusses the findings of his recent study “Customers Say What Companies Don’t Want t Hear” with Elizabeth Glagowski of Inside 1to1 Media. "Customers are a moving target," Lee says. "Customer focus and customer friendly behaviors are becoming essential to success."For years, the power shift from the seller to the consumer has been evolving leaving the customer in control. What's new? The customer knows it. "There's been a significant change in customer behavior over the past 10 years," Lee says. "They are much more empowered now. They understand that and are behaving differently."

"Many companies are hanging on to the past, waiting for the pendulum to swing back in their favor," he says. "There's a great reluctance to give up power to the customer." Traditional tactics like brand-building and price cuts will no longer satisfy fickle consumers. Lee singles out Wal-Mart as an example by its attempt to expand to the upscale market with wine sales and high-end electronics. "It makes no sense unless you first fix the customer experience in current Wal-Mart stores," he says. "It's the old seller's marketing mentality."


http://www.1to1media.com/View.aspx?DocID=29619">Read the entire article here

Posted on June 11, 2006
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Who Are Your Lead Customers?

Robert Weisman of the Boston Globe explains how the abundance of new technologies is making consumers more aware of marketplace choices and ultimately decreasing brand loyalty. Companies are forced to rethink their strategies of bringing products and services to market and turning the R&D department on its head looking for new ideas. Procter & Gamble Co. is expected to source half of its new product ideas from outside the company in the next five years.Researchers are now "technology scouts" sourcing outside partnerships and vendors for innovative products and services to offer customers. Forrester Research found that eighty percent of company leaders complained that inflexible R&D processes weren't keeping up with evolving customer needs.

Among the outside parties, companies are reaching out to loyal customers for help. Companies are deputizing customers to stay on top of new industry trends and to build brands through insight, strong customer relationships and engaged consumers.

Eric von Hippel, professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management states forward-thinking businesses are setting up online forums to identify 'lead customers'. Lead customers can be defined as those who are early adopters and passionate users of company products, and work with the company to drive innovation. Insight from 'lead customers' is an excellent indication of what customer base will need in six months.

Companies are decreasing their internal R&D costs by choosing Vision Critical technology. With Panel+, clients create a competitive differentiation by gaining strategic and tactical customer insight by investigating the attitudes, behavior and opinions of 100 to 100,000+ existing or potential lead customers.

Contact Paul Albert to discuss how Panel+ and Fusion will handle all your research from profiling to surveys to reporting.

Paul Albert, Business Development
paul.albert@visioncritical.com
604.647.3566

Read the entire article here

Posted on May 14, 2006
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Traditional vs. New Marketing

Gone are the days of traditional marketing when companies controlled product distribution, price and consumer opinion. Today, companies must satisfy customers who demand more and expect companies to deliver.

In Marketing Profs.com, Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll explain why new marketing will exceed customer expectations and companies should offer more than just products. It’s the difference between selling what is produced and selling what can be sold.A fundamental shift has occurred with the customer gaining marketing control and shifting the marketing pitch to customer-focused messaging. No longer can companies simply present customers with pre-set product offerings, companies need to interact and engage their customers a new level.

To satisfy customer's insatiable demand, companies are building custom advisory panels into their marketing strategy. With Panel+ƒ,›, companies receive immediate, reliable feedback to continually monitor how customer expectations are changing and what can be done to raise customer satisfaction.

If you aren't talking with your customers, someone else is.

Read the entire article here

Posted on May 11, 2006
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Meeting the CEO Mandates: Building a Customer Advisory Board

Within two years, a company using a customer advisory board achieved 250% increase in stock price and moved from a distant fifth to secure a dominant second position in the marketplace. By engaging in direct dialogue with customers, the learning curve is shortened empowering business leaders to make sound, knowledgeable decisions.

In a recent MarketingProfs article, Promise Phelon and Sean Geehan explain how customer advisory boards comprised of valued customers allow companies to go deep and build a competitive differentiation within the marketplace.A customer advisory board (CAB) creates a valuable funnel of knowledge that cannot be replicated using traditional one-way dialogue methodologies. Management teams work together by investigating multiple options with the voice of the customer taking centre stage across strategic planning by transforming customers into advocates; establishing direct relationship with the market; identifying profitable and sustainable opportunities; and, developing precise strategies with clear and effective value propositions.

A customer advisory board is a forum that addresses critical short-mid-long term issues with instant results that validates the company's direction and assists with identifying course correction in the marketplace. Ms. Phelon and Mr. Geehan state the three foundations of a sound CAB include:

1. The CAB creates and leverages direct dialogue with customers
One executive testifies that "Our CAB actually helps us think through key initiatives, solve problems, develop plans, and ultimately make much better decisions."

While Keith Hawk, SVP at LexixNexis states "We get the benefit of their (customer) thinking in an unfiltered way, and we get the opportunity to really build points of view that are well considered, probed, and polished based upon their (customer) ideas, advice, and brainstorming.

2. The CAB is with the company (and customers) for the long haul
Through the CAB relationship, members come to know the company, its product offerings, and its core competencies. This familiarity will help source marketplace opportunities and allow companies to make better decisions.

3. The voice of the CAB is integrated into the business
A successful CAB management plan will create internal visibility by incorporating CAB results and customer quotes into company collateral. The information gathered in CAB should be used to create external market-ability and educate beyond current customers to include potential and non-customers, as well as press and analysts.

By demonstrating accountability , the management team should translate CAB outcomes into action by communicating the possibilities s of the CAB findings into functional FAQs and idea-memos distributed among mid-management, the sales and marketing team, as well as strategic vendors and partners.

A properly devised CAB study plan will manage internal expectations and maintain interest in the CAB research results. Vision Critical recommends that an organization's research plan should be developed to include short-term and long-term research strategies. The CAB study and communication plan should be scheduled a year in advance to guarantee that CAB will be effectively utilized by engaging members frequently while leaving an appropriate length of time between studies.

Vision Critical Client Services Group assist clients build the most effective and efficient online panels to achieve their research initiatives.

Posted on May 8, 2006
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