The Next Level in Opening Up

When we would have to choose a ‘perfect’ client, it would be one that has the same ambition that we have: being out there on the frontier, doing stuff others haven’t done before. I’m pleased to announce that we have found one: Nokia, already keen on co-creation, is going to stretch its boundaries when it comes to opening up to the public.

We are currently involved in a co-creation project organised around the Maemo Summit. Maemo – for those of you who are as software-illiterate as I am –  is an open source Read the rest of this entry »

Douwe Egberts shows its ‘accessible-ness’ in a truly inspiring co-creation session

We love it when a plan comes together. We also love it when everybody is happy. And we love it when – again – the 5 principles of co-creation prove to be true.

Two weeks ago, I’d say a new standard was set for our Rooftop sessions when we held an expert co-creation session for Douwe Egberts. All the factors were accounted for: a very enthusiastic team from Douwe Egberts (a big thanks to all of you), a beautiful location (a new and very inspiring space in the portfolio of the Playing Circle) and, most importantly, an excellent team of experts (a big thanks to all of you, too) including fashion experts, trend analysts, product designers and marketing experts.

Douwe Egberts lived up to their recently acquired position of being one of the most accessible brands in the Netherlands. In the open atmosphere, everybody was eager to share their ideas, expertise and vision on the challenge at hand. The morning resulted in some very useful concepts, some of which I truly hope will be put into practice by Douwe Egberts. As for continuing development: one of the experts was so inspired that he actually started to work out some of the ideas (I’m very curious for those results) and Douwe Egberts is also in contact with another expert participant. A true feeling of co-creation, because lets face it: 99% of the best people do work outside of your company!

Strong media interest for Fronteer study on relationship between ‘open-ness’ and ‘attractiveness’ of brands

The research recently performed by Fronteer Strategy and market research bureau Ruigrok | Netpanel has been very well received in the media; it was aired on Radio 1 and the number of websites that published the results of the research exceeded expectations. Amongst them Adformatie, Molblog, Distrifood, VEA, Marketing Tribune and Zibb.

The results, that state that the more accessible a brand, the more it is perceived as “attractive” and “innovative”, are also picked up across the border: Frank Pillar links the research to a recently performed MIT research study by open innovation expert Eric von Hippel and Johann Füller.

Fronteer and some of the brands included in the research were present at Ruigrok’s ‘Zomerborrel’, where the results were presented as well. Some brands have already reacted to it and want to have deeper insights into the results. We are proud and happy that the research has brought about so many reactions and are looking forward to the potential continuation it can have.

Fast results during the Rooftop Pressure Cooker at the Co-Creation Event

24th of June, 1300hrs – the first of the what would later turn out to be 223 people arrived at the High-Tech Campus in Eindhoven to visit the very first Dutch Co-Creation Event. In the following hours, they could talk to the 10 co-creation companies that were present, listen to the key-note speakers, participate in the panel-discussion, join a workshop and finish the day with a nice cool glass of wine while standing in the evening sun, overlooking the water and enjoying the contents of their goodiebag.

As you might have remembered, we were also present that day Read the rest of this entry »

Applause to Delft University for practicing what we preach!

That co-creation is hot right now, we already know. And that many companies are looking for ways to implement it… also no hot news. But sitting still will not lead you in any new direction either. Some advice? Just do it! It doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. Invite some people who know more or different things than you do and voilà: fresh input!

A good example was presented to me yesterday, when we were invited at Read the rest of this entry »

24th June: the first Dutch Co-Creation Event

If you are currently working on improving your product- or service development, marketing, communication, online market-research or innovation strategy, prepare to travel ‘south of the rivers’ in a couple of weeks! But also if you are a designer, marketeer, innovation-consultant or CEO, you will not regret a trip to Eindhoven on the 24th of June.

Why?

Because then the first Dutch Co-Creation Event will take place on the High Tech Campus. Read the rest of this entry »

Download >5 now!

In November last year, we informed you about the ‘Inspiration Book‘ called ‘>5′ that we created together with XS4ALL. The book carries 26 visions on the future of the Internet: real stories written by people with very different backgrounds. The book was launched on the FIFI congress on 28th of November.

Initially the book was for XS4ALL business clients only. However due to the many positive reactions, it was decided to make it available for everybody.  SO HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS: Read the rest of this entry »

Eating our own dog-food

Co-creation is at the heart of what we do, but what is at the heart of co-creation? In order to answer this question, we decided to give ourselves a dose of our own medicine. We asked an external moderator from Kaos Pilots to lead a co-creation session in which we would participate ourselves.

To get a broad view and diverse input on the subject, we invited three of our clients from Heineken, Bugaboo and Leaseplan and three former expert-participants to join us in this session. Our goal? Get to the essence of co-creation!

Between several exercises ranging from drawing each other’s face without looking at your paper to imaginative sword fighting, various interesting topics were brought to the table. Group discussions eventually led to four co-creation essentials: Read the rest of this entry »

Open Innovation according to Frank Piller

How to achieve a 30% profit margin with no risk, no Ph.d., no capital investment, no R&D and (almost) no employees?

This was the kick off question of a masterclass I attended last Thursday. The man raising this question was Frank Piller. To be honest I had never heard of this man before, until I was invited to his masterclass. I quickly discovered that Frank Piller is regarded as one of the leading experts in the fields of mass customization, co-creation & open innovation, frequently being quoted by the NYT, Financial Times, etc. Quite an impressive man so to speak. There I was, one of the 25 people sitting in his class and I knew the company he had presented in his first question. Read the rest of this entry »

Gratis

THIS COLUMN WAS PUBLISHED IN SECOND SIGHT MAGAZINE – A DUTCH PUBLICATION ABOUT TRENDS AND FORECASTING – SORRY IT’S NOT IN ENGLISH

Gratis. Eén van de meest doeltreffende toverspreuken in het grote boek van reclame-makers. Een gegarandeerde formule om de aandacht te trekken. Het activeert een soort Hongerwinter-reflex: een gehypnotiseerde, manische blik verschijnt in de ogen: Gratis? Hebben, pakken, vooraan staan. Ik heb er recht op!

Aan “Gratis” is een grappig mengsel van schaamte en trots verbonden. Eerst schaamte: volwassen mensen die zich realiseren dat ze grabbelen als kinderen of vechten om een prul. En dan trots: “Tja, ge bent toch Nederlander he?” Dezelfde trots waarmee in Spanje de blikken doppertjes uit de caravan komen. En inderdaad: het is iets typisch Nederlands. Read the rest of this entry »