Need for CONSUMER CO-CREATION during Brand Launch/Relaunch

The following article will help you understand:

1. What is consumer co-creation?

2. How consumer co-creation is done using Seagull’s - Wings for Profit Process?

3. The benefits of consumer co-creation in mitigating brand launch risks?

4. When should consumer co-creation be undertaken?

1. What is Consumer Co-creation?

Simply put, It is keeping the consumer at the centre.

A few years ago we were approached by a coconut water company to develop the packaging design for their soon to be launched brand.

They had already decided on 2 types of packaging

1. Tetra Pack
2. Aluminium can

The promoter Rohit Rathi said, "we have a unique coconut water product. Unlike other coconut waters that have some preservatives/additives, ours is 100% tender coconut water. We would like you to design the label for our can and tetra-pack.”

With this brief from Rohit, we had 2 choices ahead of us

1. Going straight to designing the label
2. Exploring what the consumers really wanted

We chose the latter, and took the following approach:

• Observed how consumers really enjoyed their coconut water.
• Spoke to coconut water vendors.
• Spoke to different sales channels where coconut water was sold. This included pharmacies and hospitals.
• Spoke to important influencers (following the Wings for Profit process). These are called “prosumers”. This included medical professionals & fitness managers.
• Conducted group discussions and explored the receptiveness to tetra pack & aluminium cans.

Before designing or launching the brand, we concluded that the label was not as important as the type of packaging. Indian consumers rejected tetra-pack, cans and plastic bottles. They preferred coconut water in its natural form, or as close to natural as possible.

The result: A 100% natural packaging – A glass bottle - The name God’s Water

2. How is Consumer Co-Creation Done?

• Keeping the consumer at the core
• Observing and understanding the consumer needs
• Discussing with influencers - in person, on phone, email, social media and group discussions.
• In our "Wings for Profit" process, consumer co-creation is done at all 3 stages of Brand Challenge, Brand Wings & Brand Flight Map.
• 100+ consumers contribute to the creation of the brand and its launch plan.

3. Benefits of Consumer Co-Creation in Mitigating Launch Risks

• Consumer co-creation is about understanding the consumer first and then launching the product or service.
• The consumer co-creation process goes beyond the product and understands the problem that the product or service is really trying to solve. And as a result defines the business that the product/service really is into.
• This in-depth understanding of the consumer gives an understanding of the role the product / service plays in the life of the consumer. And help answer the question “are we solving a real problem?”
• In the consumer co-creation process one is able to assess the product – market fit and position vis-a-vis competitive offerings.
• It helps in knowing the consumer 'choose & use' process, which enables designing the customer acquisition plan.

 4. When is the right time to undertake consumer co-creation?

Consumer co-creation can be undertaken either at the ideation stage or at the prototype stage.

The earlier the involvement of the consumers the better it is to move ahead with the plan.

If you too are planning to launch a new product and need a partner to help you successfully drive the brand launch, don't hesitate to give us a call or contact us.

We would love to have a word with you and get to know what you have in mind.