On Digital

Irfan Kamal August 25th, 2009

There’s been a lot of interesting discussion recently on how to best leverage channels like Twitter to communicate. This post talks about a bit about the co-creation of new social experiences that drive conversation and engagement in innovative ways, with the potential to then communicate the co-creation activity across multiple channels – including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.

More than ever before, people have tools to help them co-create products and services in social environments. It’s an exciting trend that’s still very much in its infancy. Many of us are familiar with Cafepress, Zazzle and Nike’s custom shoes NIKEiD program. These were early – and still successful – examples of firms that help people remix and create everything from shoes to skateboards.

We’re now seeing signs of continued evolution of this general trend, in areas as diverse as fashion, fabrication and finance. The ideas these companies are introducing will change the way a range of industries introduce, sell and market products. For marketers, these companies all demonstrate useful and innovative approaches to genuine engagement of audiences around co-creation.

Instructables (DIY)
Part of the rapidly growing online “fab” and DIY trend, this site provides one of the best communities centered around creating almost anything – including an Electric Umbrella, Pulled Chicken, a Cardboard Frisbee and even Homer Simpson’s 3D Doughnut Trophy. The site reaches over 4 million monthly unique visitors globally.

Polyvore (fashion)
Polyvore has taken traditional fashion magazine models and adapted them to create a vibrant community around remixing fashion items. You can assemble a collage of products that look good together, rate others’ attempts at the same, and click through to purchase items in collages. Polyvore reports strong growth, and over 900,000 registered users.

Prosper (loans)
In an environment where financing is hard to come by, Prosper fills a real need in an innovative and thoughtful way. Read real people’s reasons for seeking loans, check ratings and default histories, request a loan yourself, and create/invest in a custom loan “portfolio”. Prosper has facilitated over $180 million in loans. Also check out similar site Lending Club.

Got any other examples?

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