MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
MostContagious2012.pdf - Contagious Magazine
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Xxxxxxx /<br />
social business /<br />
adopting an open<br />
door policy<br />
by the US retail giant. More than 270,000<br />
people voted and 4,000 product designs<br />
were submitted. FMCG conglomerate Unilever<br />
also opened its doors to collaborators<br />
both great and small with its Unilever Open<br />
Innovation Submission Portal (run in partnership<br />
with global technology and IP marketplace<br />
yet2.com) (<strong>Contagious</strong> 30). Unilever<br />
gathered suggestions on how to grow<br />
its business and simultaneously reduce its<br />
environmental impact, asking potential collaborators<br />
to propose new ways of preserving<br />
food naturally and bringing safe drinking<br />
water to the world’s poorest people. The<br />
global company vowed to pursue the most<br />
promising partnerships – be they with small<br />
technology startups or major international<br />
organisations.<br />
www.thinkoven.com<br />
www.ideasbrewery.com<br />
Getontheshelf.com<br />
oiportal.yet2.com<br />
Harrods / Be the Buyer<br />
With its Be the Buyer project Harrods<br />
proved that even an established retailer<br />
could take an open and collaborative<br />
approach. The London department store<br />
streamed Burberry’s A/W 2012 runway<br />
show live via its Facebook page and invited<br />
fans to vote, via Likes, for their favourite catwalk<br />
look, with items from the most popular<br />
ensembles guaranteed to appear in store.<br />
Through opening up a previously closed<br />
part of its business – collection buying –<br />
to customers Harrods offered an exclusive<br />
experience. By Liking a product, people<br />
made a public statement of their interest in<br />
it, and (as outlined in Robert Cialdini’s classic<br />
book Influence) research shows that<br />
these types of commitments are far more<br />
likely to result in action, in this case going<br />
to Harrods to buy the item they’ve Liked.<br />
<strong>Contagious</strong> 30.<br />
www.facebook.com/Harrods<br />
Ones to Watch /<br />
We’re expecting even companies in sectors<br />
traditionally known for keeping their<br />
processes closed to adopt social business<br />
initiatives. It might seem unlikely that a financial<br />
company would open up a credit card’s<br />
profit and loss statements to its customers,<br />
but that’s exactly what Barclaycard in the<br />
US did with its community-driven credit card<br />
Ring. Cardholders become members of an<br />
online community centred round a forum in<br />
which they can vote on product features<br />
and weigh-in on community discussions;<br />
they also benefit from the card’s financial<br />
success through the Giveback programme.<br />
Social business strategies can also enable<br />
brands to turn real customers into not<br />
just advocates but customer service representatives.<br />
Startup Needle is a live chat<br />
sales platform that pays a brand’s biggest<br />
fans $10 per hour and rewards them with<br />
products for answering customer queries.<br />
Needle’s clients include major brands<br />
Skullcandy, Under Armour and Urban<br />
Outfitters. Featured in <strong>Contagious</strong> 30.<br />
www.barclaycardring.com<br />
www.needle.com<br />
MOVEMENTs purpose sErVicE data technology design social biz sharing amplified screens augmented retail personalise new loyalty payment sbpf<br />
29
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