MUKILTEO—Co-creation–that ideal world where brands and customers play together to make something better than either party might achieve on their own–is the final topic of the day at BlogWell’s summer session in Seattle.
Greg Piche, Social Media Architect for Clorox, describes the Clorox Connects project, where the company solicits new product ideas from the crowd.
“People like doing it, and we like people doing it. It’s a win-win,” he says.
Piche says it’s not just random people who opt to participate, but people Clorox finds on LinkedIn, who then respond to personal invitations. Piche notes that many of them are motivated by the potential to win a cash prize of up to $10,000.
Piche also explains the importance of owned media. “We need an owned social property, so we can set the terms of use,” and execute a non-disclosure agreement.
Here again, the old way of doing things butts heads with the new way, for in a truly social world, everything is disclosed. But I think we all know that intellectual property is a different ball game.
“We want the right to the idea,” Piche deadpans.
The brand folks really like the program, Piche claims, but no consumer-generated products have rolled off the Clorox production line just yet.
“Our product development cycle is fraught with hurdles,” he admits.
