Brand Together

Writing for marketing and brand management professionals, Ind, an author, consultant, and academic who teaches at the Oslo School of Management, Norway, et al. describe the use of co-creation and how it can help companies innovate and re-energize their relationships with their customers by integrating them into the processes of creating products and services. They detail what co-creation is; how it involves participation, openness, empowerment, and organizational involvement; where it has come from; different approaches to it; and why it is becoming more widely used for idea generation and implementation; as well as how to use the framework of the brand and the tools of co-creation in practice and structural and cultural implications. They consider the limits of participative innovation and the difficulties in involving large numbers of people and the benefits of co-creation in terms of the quality of ideas and the speed of adoption and traction inside organizations. Concepts are illustrated with case studies and examples of companies like Mozilla, Sony Music, Kraft, and Virgin, and information has been drawn from published material, literature from different disciplines, interviews with managers, co-creation specialists, consumers, and other sources. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Clare Fuller is currently a member of the team at Promise - a London/Washington-based consultancy who are the world's leading co-creation company. Their impressive client list includes Ernst & Young, ITV, McDonald's New Labour, Dubai government, Visa Europe, AstraZeneca, Hilton and Barclays.