customer engagement

Customer Integration in B2B Open Innovation

Today, almost any B2B firm claims to be “customer-oriented”. However, only few firms have a rigorous and stringent system that integrates the “best” (B2B) customers into its innovation process – where “best” in this context is measured not by volume of sales but by contribution to the firm’s innovation. A lot of insight has been generated on how to engage consumers in the innovation process. There is also a growing body of knowledge about how to innovate openly on the R&D side of the innovation process. But little has been written up so far about how to systematically integrate B2B customers in the firm’s Open Innovation system. innovation-3’s Frank Mattes closes this gap by sharing some insights.

Ideascale2019-11-28T09:23:30-08:00November 12th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Open Innovation, Strategies|Tags: B2B, Best Practices, concept validator, crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, customer engagement, customer integration, customer involvement, data, in-depth article, Innovation Management, Innovation Strategy, knowledge transfer, lead user, Open Innovation, Product Development, R&D|

Engagement Is the ROI on the Front End of Innovation

Practicing collaborative innovation takes time, money, and attention. Organizational leaders ask practitioners to “show me the ROI.” How does the practice benefit the organization? In this article innovation architect Doug Collins explores how engagement serves as the return on the front end of the practice—and why engagement matters.

Ideascale2021-12-05T08:27:11-08:00October 2nd, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation|Tags: back end of innovation, collaborative innovation, customer engagement, Employee Engagement, employee satisfaction, engagement, front end of innovation, fuzzy front end of innovation, in-depth article, leadership, research, ROI|

Re-envisioning Client-Agency Engagement through Collaborative Innovation

The Digital Age disrupts the practices and beliefs that gird the archetypical relationship between advertising agency and client. The Procter & Gamble Companies discarded a relic of the client-agency relationship, the creative brief. They seek more authentic engagement that leads to more compelling campaigns. What possibilities do clients open when they move from exchanging information to engaging in co-creation? What role might the practice of collaborative innovation play in redefining roles between client and agency?

Ideascale2021-12-03T11:28:18-08:00July 10th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation|Tags: asking questions, case study, co-creation, collaborative engagement, collaborative innovation, Crowdsourcing, customer engagement, customer research, customer support, innovation challenge, marketing, power users, reframing questions|

IBM CEO Study: Openness by Social Media Is Key Enabler to Organizational Success

According to the IBM CEO study conducted amongst 1,700 CEOs from 64 countries and 18 sectors, Open CEOs' identify openness enabled and supported by social media and technologies, as a major influence on their organization and its success. These organizations perform better because they are utilizing the collective intelligence, are more agile, able to act quickly to gain higher profitability and growth.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:10:10-07:00May 25th, 2012|Categories: Enabling Factors, News, Open Innovation|Tags: case study, CEO, Communication, customer engagement, Employee Engagement, openness, social media, social networks|

Observation Grounds Collaborative Innovation

The practice of collaborative innovation starts with observation: the discipline to see and grasp the nature of the work, the end user’s environment, or the world at large. In this article innovation architect Doug Collins explores how people who lead their organization’s collaborative innovation practice can reinforce community members’ observational skills.

Ideascale2021-12-03T07:01:04-08:00April 3rd, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Organization & Culture|Tags: Best Practices, co-creation, collaborative innovation, community, customer engagement, design thinking, incentive, lean innovation, observation, Open Innovation, reflection, social media, team management, virtual|

Innovation Through Co-creation: Consumers Can be Creative

A new trend in business and product development is ‘co-creation’. By its very name it implies a collaboration between the company and some other entity. In this case it is the consumer who partners in the creation of value. The term ‘co-creation’ is not new, however, but is now receiving more attention - driven largely through the increasing use of the Internet and social media websites - as companies endeavour to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:16:51-08:00March 26th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Enabling Factors, Open Innovation|Tags: co-creation, consumer insights, Crowdsourcing, customer engagement, focus group, market research, Open Innovation, Product Development, social media, value creation|

Opening the Practice of Collaborative Innovation to the End User

Engaging end users in co-creation deepens the bonds between the organization and them. The activity can deliver economic value to all parties involved. In this article innovation architect Doug Collins highlights the critical questions that campaign teams will want to address when they pursue externally focused collaboration.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:14:37-08:00March 13th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Open Innovation|Tags: co-creation, co-discovery, collaborative innovation, community, customer engagement, end user, end user engagement, enquiry-led, Eric von Hippel, goal setting, innovation campaign, social media|

The Role of Social in Innovation Strategy

In a recent SAP Community Network post Harun Asad mentioned innovation as one social strategy. In this article he explores the role of social in innovation strategy more broadly, and cites several real-world examples as well as shares some predictions for the future.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:14:32-08:00March 8th, 2012|Categories: Strategies|Tags: company culture, customer engagement, customer experience, customer research, front end of innovation, fuzzy front end of innovation, Ideation, Innovation Culture, innovation management software, Innovation Strategy, innovation tool, market data, market research, Open Innovation, Product Development, social innovation, social media, social strategy, software|

Measuring the Practice of Collaborative Innovation

Developing and supporting the practice of collaborative innovation takes time and money. What do we assess to weigh its value? In this article innovation architect Doug Collins proposes focusing on strategic alignment of the program, relative advantage of the ideas, and engagement of the community members.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:12:01-08:00March 6th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation|Tags: business strategy, collaborative innovation, community, customer engagement, innovation framework, Innovation Management, Innovation Strategy, innovation value, measure innovation, measuring ideas, measuring innovation, organization strategy, Stakeholders, Teamwork|

Growing B2B Services: 3 Trends to Act Upon Now

What does it take for companies to market new, innovative capabilities as a service? The challenge to expand beyond products is daunting, but as market exemplars show, the returns on the investment can be worth it. The case studies explored in this article illustrate the extent to which services demand a premium in the market, drive differentiation from the competition, and build loyalty.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:11:56-08:00March 5th, 2012|Categories: Strategies|Tags: B2B, brand loyalty, Business Model Innovation, case study, community, customer engagement, digital platform, disruptive innovation, engagement, in-depth article, loyalty, organizational structure, platform, productivity, research, service-based innovation, strategic advantage|

Don’t let Market Research Myopia Distract you from Innovation

Customer and market research, competitive benchmarking, and focusing on market share could be detrimental to your organization's future performance. These approaches are critical improvement tools. Top performing organizations have turned them into a disciplined and useful science. But they can also lead to "me-too" followership or - even worse - commodity products and services that compete only on price.

Ideascale2021-12-02T18:02:44-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: business development teams, competitive benchmarking, consumer insights, creative, customer, customer engagement, customer research, empathic innovation, ethnography, focus group, hands on, innovation, management systems, market appeal, market intelligence, market research, market share, market understanding, network, organization competencies, patterns, planning sessions, Problem Solving, Product Development, tools, what if|

Collaborative Innovation on the Retail Floor at Nordstrom’s

By combining physical and digital elements in our innovation experiments, we can often uncover significant opportunities that weren't apparent before. Dan Keldsen shares a fascinating example from a retail setting.

Ideascale2021-12-02T17:56:26-08:00December 20th, 2011|Categories: Collaborative Innovation|Tags: agile development, apple, clothing sector, collaborative innovation, customer engagement, customer experience, customer integration, customers, design team, developers, development process, direct contact, experimentation, flash mob, high-touch, Innovate, innovation experiments, innovation testing, iterative prototyping, lean user experience, prototype, purchase experience, retail industry, shopping experience, storyboarding|

Learning from Practicing Mass Customization and Open Innovation

Emotions, empathy, connection, love, storytelling, self-care – I am referring what I heard about the consumer. Creative revolution, democratization, social innovation, experience, passion – I am referring to what I heard about innovation.

Ideascale2021-12-02T16:33:39-08:00November 21st, 2011|Categories: Column & Opinion, Open Innovation|Tags: buying habits, customer collaboration, customer engagement, customer experience management, customer integration, customer research, customization, individualization, mass customization, Open Innovation, outsourcing, process improvement, purchasing decision, shopping|

The Future of Innovation Management: 5 Key Steps for Future Success

Looking back is a natural as we look to learn lessons from past activity. But perhaps more interesting is to look forwards. In this article Rick Eagar draws on the results from recent research that surveyed the opinions of global Chief Technology Officers and Chief Information Officers and identifies key changes in five distinct but interrelated innovation management concepts as being important for the years ahead.

Ideascale2021-12-02T16:24:35-08:00October 25th, 2011|Categories: Strategies|Tags: Business Model Innovation, chief information officer, chief technology officer, customer engagement, customer experience, customer experience management, customer integration, customer-based innovation, external factors, flexibility, frugal innovation, globalization, in-depth article, Innovation Management, innovation trends, knowledge management, network, report, research, reverse innovation, risk management, social networks, trend|

3 Ways to Tap into the Voice of the Culture

For decades we’ve been taught the surest way to developing successful new products is to listen to the voice of the customer. And we’ve all experienced focus groups and surveys. Consumers tell you they want one thing and then turn around and do another. So which is the right voice to listen to? Harvey Briggs provides some guidelines.

Ideascale2021-12-02T16:20:53-08:00October 14th, 2011|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Evergreen, Open Innovation|Tags: audience research, customer engagement, customer research, demographics, Innovation Culture|