{"id":10124,"date":"2023-05-10T16:15:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T14:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/?p=10124"},"modified":"2023-05-11T20:05:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T18:05:15","slug":"how-brands-can-stand-out-when-everyone-is-a-content-creator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escp.eu\/thechoice\/tomorrow-choices\/how-brands-can-stand-out-when-everyone-is-a-content-creator\/","title":{"rendered":"How brands can stand out when everyone is a content creator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the digital era, it seems like everyone is a content creator. TikTok stars and Instagram influencers are enjoying a lucrative business model, and the barriers to entry for content creation have never been lower. But what does this mean for brands, and more particularly to their identity as content creators themselves?<\/em> How can they cut through the noise, avoid absurdity and stand out in a crowded marketplace without losing relevance?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie Taillard<\/a>, L\u2019Or\u00e9al Professor of Creativity Marketing at ESCP Business School and author of \u201cDigital Makeover: How L’Oreal Put People First to Build a Beauty Tech Powerhouse\u201d, explains why brands need to engage with creators more than ever. <\/em>For brands to continue to offer something of value on their own in the creator economy, they need to get comfortable working together with creators for greater, more authentic impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brands in the 21st century need to be willing to lose control if they want to facilitate or enhance creativity on the part of customers.<\/p>\nProf. Marie Taillard<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In today\u2019s creator economy, brands are the facilitators for co-creation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Taillard, \u201cwe\u2019re clearly in the era of genuine conversation between brands and customers\u201d. To stand out in the competitive economy of attention, she argues that brands must leverage their presence on social media and other platforms, to collect data and insight from their customers, turning them into sources of inspiration and creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technological advancements also present new playing fields for content creators and for building relationships with customers. For example, Taillard points out that the metaverse<\/a> provides a whole new range of opportunities for brands to leverage consumer creativity and passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across marketing and communication channels, brands have a unique role in harnessing the potential of creation<\/strong>. \u201cIt can be anything from having platforms on which customers, consumers, fans or anyone can contribute content and engage in a creative manner, all the way to brands being creators themselves and engaging in a co-creation process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probably the most well-known example of co-creation is the Lego Ideas platform<\/a>. \u201cThe famous play company has been working for many years with their large yet fragmented global community, whose common denominator is their passion for the brand\u201d, explains Taillard. Lego engages with its fan base by providing open calls for them to post their own design ideas for new models. The designs that receive over 10,000 votes are considered for production, blurring the line between the in-house designers and the fans. In every way, Lego has democratized the innovation and design processes at the core of its business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s a continuum of opportunities for brands to give access to creation and create a conversation with the users.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But giving such open access to your brand carries a number of risks<\/strong>, all the way from losing control and having your brand hijacked by passionate consumers with a different brand vision, to seeing your collaborative efforts fall flat and fail to inspire. A simple framework provides a recipe that can help brands navigate the process of co-creation. The framework was proposed by famous University of Chicago Strategy professor, C.K. Prahalad and his colleague V. Ramaswamy in a 2004 book, The Future of Competition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow DART, the framework designed to help brands co-create with customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creation is the act of engaging stakeholders, such as customers or employees, in a design or problem-solving process <\/strong>to generate a mutually beneficial result. The DART (Dialogue, Access, Risk Assessment, Transparency) model<\/strong> is one of the most appreciated frameworks to help companies co-create with the support of their customers. Applied to branding, it unfolds this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n