Value co-creation and product development

Value co-creation and your customers

I recently came across an article written by Guarav Balla in 2009 entitled The DNA of Value Co-Creation. Although it was written two years ago, it is still highly pertinent to today’s discussion on customer-organization relationships and the part value co-creation plays in the product and service development process.

Key factors in value co-creation

Guarav offers several key points that I think are worth exploring:

1. Value co-creation primarily centers on the notion that organizations are ‘creating unique and specific value for individual customers’. This is a particularly important component of creating customer-centric products and services. With existing social technologies like discussion forums, social media monitoring and help desk applications companies are better able to engage with their customers on an individual basis.

2. The increasing presence of customers on the Internet combined with the emergence of the social customer ‘has significantly altered the balance of power between organizations and customers’. Customers are online right now discussing products and services and it is imperative that an organization remain part of that dialogue.

3. Today, value is created when customers are involved in the development process and close relationships based on continual collaboration are nurtured. “The consumer is a fundamental resource and input in the value identification, creation, and delivery process, and the co-creation experience is an integral part of the total value offering.”

What are your thoughts on value co-creation– do you believe it is a viable strategy to incorporate into the product and service innovation process?