Co-creation is an increasingly popular means of innovating, with the idea that involving multiple stakeholders, and especially end users in the development improves its likelihood of success.  As such, numerous platforms have emerged to enable companies to solicit ideas from customers and develop these into products.

It’s estimated that around 80% of companies currently utilize some form of co-creation, but the success of co-created products in the market decidedly mixed, with platforms such as Quirky filing for bankruptcy as a result.

Typically co-created products are marketed via user-generated content that often shares the consumer creation angle, or firm-generated content that focuses on the features and benefits of the product.  New research suggests the best approach could be to combine the two approaches.

New ways of communicating

It’s common, for instance, that when we talk about the creation process, we either talk about how we achieved our breakthrough, or how our innovation helps the desired customer avoid the type of unpleasant outcome the founders themselves experienced.

The researchers believe that for co-created products, it’s better to mix these two approaches rather than sticking with one or the other.  For instance, if the inventor shares their story of creation, the sponsoring firm should deploy the problem avoidance technique (or vice versa).

The researchers cite the example of Starbuck’s co-creation of the Doubleshot Energy Mexican Mocha Coffee Drink, which combined the creation-oriented approach of the creators with the problem avoidance approach of the firm, it resulted in approximately twice as high adoption rates compared to using either approach in isolation.

What’s more, firms using a mixed communication strategy were also around 10% more likely to see their new product or service experience an early takeoff, which had a profound impact on the ultimate success and adoption of the innovation.

The mixed approach was found to work most effectively when consumers had low-expertise levels, and so referenced their own life stories whenever they bought products.  The authors found that high-expertise consumers were much less likely to be motivated by this approach.

“This research offers important implications for managers and companies seeking to leverage the creative power of the crowd in developing innovations,” the authors conclude. “Our findings challenge the conventional wisdom in many marketing campaigns. If you want takeoff, mismatch your message with the innovator creator’s message.”