I really love this video, Sour’s Hibi no Neiro, for one simple reason: It’s a beautiful and creative testament to the power of the human engine.
With the rise of consumer power through collective strength and collaboration, the web undoubtedly being the catalyst, we’ve seen some pretty interesting and innovative ways brands have harnessed this human engine. For example, Apple has revolutionized software development by opening up their App Store to anyone that a) has a vision b) can identify a consumer gap and c) understands how to write code. In its wake the App Store has helped to fuel the iPhone, which is easily of the greatest successes in the smart phone category, and cell phones in general. We’ve also learned that the open source encyclopedia model, Wikipedia, has proven to be exponentially more rich in content and speed of information exchange than traditional publications. But what is most impressive is the fact that Wikipedia is as accurate as printed volumes as well, this study shows.
It seems as if the brand paradigm is evolving. I think it’s safe to say that our (people’s) collective intelligence and innovation represent a powerful and compelling resource and provides good reason for more and more brands to allow consumers to involve themselves in product development and brand communications. This is actually a change in personal opinion from a previous post of mine, I too have been converted. In conjunction with the undeniable power of the human engine, allowing consumers a sense of ownership will also provide deeper engagement with and ambassadorship for a brand – it’s the pride of contributing to something greater than yourself that creates this sense of deeper loyalty and connection with ‘stuff’ (brands, products, ideas etc). The ‘Yes We Can’ campaign is a great case study for this model as well, as this Huffington Post column details. So, what are some things brands need to understand, before taking the crowd sourcing plunge such as Apple, Wikipedia and other cutting edge companies have done:
1) It’s ok to not be in complete control
2) A brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is
Understanding these two profound truths about brands and the people who support them is the first step to adopting the new human engine model.
