How Brand Communities Foster Innovation

Most often the success of a brand is defined by its community. In fact, only few brands have spurred innovation without the help of their community. If you take the recent examples, brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Google have harnessed the benefits of crowdsourcing to develop new marketing and innovation strategies. Thanks to the growth of social media and the digital media that help to gain rapid feedback and crowdsource ideas, brands are more empowered than ever before to lead innovation with the aid of their community.

As a brand, community-fueled ideation could lead you to create what your customers want. Exactly. You no longer have to guess what they want because they are being vocal about it. But, if you’re not listening, you’re probably defeating the whole purpose of it.

The key to community-driven innovation is engaging them into a conversation

I think a great conversation is at the heart of community-driven innovation. When brands cultivate a community around things that interest their customers and prospects, consumers become a part of it, being driven by the brand’s image they have in mind. A strong, giving community creates a sense of belonging and encourages people to interact with your brand and with other consumers. Naturally, you have to be careful enough to pay attention to the conversation, the information they share and the questions they ask. A community isn’t a place to sell, it’s a place to gather and share and learn. For a brand, it’s a place to listen, interact, build relationships and gain insights on new ideas and perhaps even innovation.

Identify the Innovation centers

Speaking of innovation, it’s important to understand that not all communities can help you generate ideas. So before you go looking for them, know which communities can spark innovation. You might have a decent Facebook following, or a huge list of Twitter followers but they might not have what you’re looking for. So how to identify the communities that can innovate? Customers who share their insights, come up with ideas, new alternatives and make such topics a part of their community discussions are the kind of people you should be aiming at. Engage such communities with polls and discussions to generate a flow of ideas. Those communities exist and with smart monitoring and listening, you can find them. And it’s also possible, with some work, to create your own, so always keep that in mind as well.

Co-create with community

When you co-create with your community (also called “crowdsourcing”), you are extending your ideas and innovation beyond the boundaries of your organization. It’s like a suggestion box that you literally put out there and invite your customers and prospects to be a part of. You’re thinking big and your community is helping you do that. Since you’re tapping into the creativity and intellectual thinking of people outside your organization, it’s possible that you might collect more unique ideas than you have ever done before. With co-creation, you also have a greater cushion against risks. Because your ideas are sourced from the crowd, from your community, your innovations have a better chance of finding favor among your customers. Today, people like to be a part of the experience and when they can contribute in a meaningful way, it makes them feel a closer attachment and connection to your brand.

Engaging, interacting and conversing with your community can not only pave the way for innovation but also strengthen the community members’ sense of belonging and exclusivity. This is a two-way benefit that your brand can derive. So, while your consumers are talking to you remember to listen to them — who knows, the seed of a new innovation could be lying somewhere there.

This post was written as part of the Dell Content Partners program, which provides news and analysis on technology, business and gadget-geek culture. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dell’s positions or strategies.

Photo Credit: ePublicist via Compfight cc