Join us Sept. 24 in NYC to connect with execs from Digitas, Claire's, Marriott, Havas and others
Crowdsourcing is an attractive tactic for brands. It at once ticks the “engagement” and “cheap content” boxes. Where it starts to get interesting is when the crowd is brought into the product decision process.
Ice cream brand Baskin Robbins is doing just that. It is asking people to create their own original ice cream flavors using Baskin-Robbins’ virtual flavor creator. Judges will narrow it down to the 10 best flavors and then voting will open to the public. The flavor to get the most votes will be sold in Baskin-Robbins shops nationwide in 2013.
Other brands have relied on crowdsourcing for new products as well. Take Vitamin Water, which asked its Facebook fans to create new flavors. Pampers also had consumers create different ideas for packaging its diapers, to make them more comfortable to carry. And sportswear brand Adidas had people design a pair of sunglasses for its Original line.
Using the flavor creator, people are first asked to choose their base flavor from popular flavors like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, to name a few. Next they choose ribbons, such as caramel, dark fudge and black raspberry. Lastly, the user can choose mix-ins such as cookie dough, Oreo, fudge brownie pieces and more. Then, they name the flavor and enter it into the contest.
Baskin Robbins competitors have yet to tap the crowd for flavor ideas. Ben & Jerry’s for example, does allow people to submit their own ideas for flavors, but it hasn’t had a whole program committed to it. Additonally, Haagen-Dazs allows people to customize their own deserts for purchase on its online shop, but it hasn’t asked people to create their own flavor ideas.
More in Marketing
The case for and against retail media networks as brand-building channels
Retail media networks pitch brand-building on shopper data, but ROI metrics, costs and budget fights hold them back.
Pinterest unveils new suite of ad tools, including Visual Search Ads, in its pitch to brands
For brands, Pinterest executives said, the opportunity is huge. Pinterest’s user base is growing and, importantly for many companies, young.
Future of Marketing Briefing: Creators are learning to pitch AEO, not just audiences
The next line in a creator’s pitch: I got cited