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http://www.briansolis.com/2009/10/attention-companies-your-next-big-idea-will-come-from-us/ -
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I think frustration and complication come from delivering things that people never knew they wanted. I want a product that solves the problem I'm having now. Creating a desire equates to creating another problem to solve. This is something companies need to stop doing. Though in a capitalistic society that's almost impossible.
I do agree with your bets though :) Care to share why Nokia and Apple?
So why are they a step ahead of the masses? Because they are pushing, on the leading edge of the latest technology. They are tuned into stuff that we don't even know exists yet. This alone makes it tough for us to be more than simply "catalysts." But... our unbridled thinking can certainly be of great benefit to a company that will listen - that we agree on.
They produce services for us and then wonder how or why it's not selling? 9/10 because they're not listening to what we need or how they can improve what they already have that might be of use to us. Meanwhile, we're blasting away on SM platforms letting them know just how they can get us to buy a new pair of Nike's or Converse All Stars.
Take cars for example. People (in North America) have been buying into the notion that "bigger is better and safer" just because the auto industry heavily marketed that idea.
It was not something a particular group of people asked for, but rather a demand that was generated by advertisement and supply of a certain type of product.
So, while there are products and services that adapt to peoples "wants" through focus groups etc., that is often not where they start. Many inventions are at first considered "crazy" and "unnecessary" by most people.
It takes one or a few really smart persons to actually create or discover something new. If it was just about what "we want" nobody would probably know that the earth is nor flat nor the center of the universe still to this day.
Understand, people aren't moving away from marketing or even heavily marketed ideas. But we all know that companies seem to never listen to the complaints that consumers make about services, quality of service, customer support and tons more about ONE company on a daily basis. WE mold the reputation surrounding their services a lot more online than companies could ever do at this point.
Now they can only pull up a chair, listen, and respond accordingly.
Big fan of the blog and your latest book.
I have to throw some criticism at the title of this post. What are we talking about here? Are you implying that customers will drive innovation of products because their thoughts and conversations are being listened to? I suppose you could argue that eventually an amazing product could be developed based on the insights gained from consumer engagement, but I think that takes away credit from the talented people working in R/D, Design, etc. They put just as much of their own creativity and opinion into creating the next big idea and while the complaints or wants of US is vital to their process, I think their skills in inventing something completely new shouldn't be overlooked.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of crowdsourcing. My latest project (http://the3six5.com) is evidence of that. But that being said, the crowds also produce a lot of terrible ideas as well. I think if I had to rewrite your post's title (I know how audacious of me), I would call it, "Big Companies, We Will Fuel your next big Idea."
Great thoughts, enjoy Blogworld.
Jason
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