In the post-new consumption era, co-creation “dialogue” and its essence: the emergence of new power and creativity of “us”

Co-creation dialogue is a new consumption and business model, and an important means for brands and consumers to establish a true cooperative relationship and common development. This article describes the relevant content and I hope it will be helpful to you.

This article is divided into four chapters:

• 1. This is an era that requires “dialogue”
• 2. In the era of dialogue, the "emotional track" that running has entered, and the "emotional value" that can be expected in the future
• 3. Four new ways to play new emotional dialogue
• Gameplay 1: Meaningful exploratory "dialogue"
• Gameplay 2: Conversation with like-minded people
• Gameplay 3: Use scenarios to build consensus through “dialogue”
• Gameplay 4: Co-creative “dialogue” that inspires belonging
• 4. The nature of “dialogue” and why do we need “dialogue”?

In "The Post-New Consumption Era: The Emotional Track That Has Been Rolled Out, the Value of Dialogue That Has Been Played Crazy (Part 1)", the emergence of the era of "dialogue" is discussed;

In the following book, "The Post-New Consumption Era: The Emotional Track, the Crazy Value of Dialogue (Part 2)", I learned about two new ways of playing: meaningful exploratory "dialogue" and like-minded companion "dialogue" ;

In "Understand the new "scenario" marketing in one article: Build conceptual consensus with emotional consensus, and integrate emotional value into digital scenarios" , we can see how to use scenarios to build consensus "dialogue" .

Today we will talk about the fourth way of playing: co-creative "dialogue" that inspires belonging and why we need "dialogue" as the conclusion of this topic.

1. Four ways to play new emotional dialogue 4 - co-creative "dialogue" that inspires belonging

Xiaomi has created an extraordinary business miracle with its cost-effectiveness and "sense of participation"; and the greatness of its persistence is the integration of Lei Jun's emotions: dreams, growth, yearning, and respect and sincerity for users. As a result, it has gained the most important emotional value of users - "sense of belonging".

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In fact, Xiaomi's "sense of participation" has only opened a "door" to the future. The real new forces are those brands that inspire co-creation "dialogues" of belonging.

For them, co-creative "dialogue" is not a means, but a new force, new ideas and a new world.

1. The new force of brand innovation: dialogue "co-creation"

The laboratory is our world, or the world is our laboratory. - NASA

When individuals change from passive consumers to active people, and when "everyone is a creator" ; when brands emerge that recognize that "it is no longer the company that creates the brand but the user, and it is the company that owns the brand but the user who gains meaning", co-creation "dialogue" begins.

When society moves from single economic value to sustainable " shared value " ; when the shared fourth consumer era grows in Japan and even the world; when web3.0 and AI become the most mysterious and powerful forces for change in life, "co-creation" dialogues begin to grow wildly.

• LEGO is the king of "co-creative" players . There are various organizations and platforms, including "LEGO Ambassadors", AFOL (Adult fan of Lego), LEGO User Group, LEGO Certified Professional (LCP), LEGO Masters, LEGO Ideas platform, LEGO World Builder platform, and Mindstorms.
• The giant Procter & Gamble has long formed a system and practice of activating innovation through "co-creation" : ① Developed a dedicated "Contact and Development Website" to ask users/suppliers/competitors/scientists/entrepreneurs and others to provide ideas; ② Not only publish what they know and can do, but also emphasize what they need; ③ This kind of innovation is not limited to product development, but looks for various ideas from trademarks/packaging/marketing/engineering/design.
• There are also various DTC brands in Europe and the United States, such as Everlane and Glossier; MOOC education, Khan Academy, TED, etc. that are created for the public; " B Corp " and the great "1% Earth Tax" movement.

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Small can help individuals realize their own self, form emotional belonging, and settle their hearts; medium can build brands and trigger innovation; large can participate in grand narratives and do meaningful things. Therefore, "co-creation" dialogue is becoming a key force for comprehensive marketing transformation.

Of course, "co-creation" is not just about allowing users to participate and co-create with the community; it is also about co-creation with employees, partners, communities and cities; "co-creation" is not just about co-existing content, co-creating products, co-building communities, and co-building ecosystems, but also about sharing achievements and co-building a better planet.

The future will be a game of "finding partners". Whoever takes the lead in equal dialogue, whose employees are most engaged, and who is best at inspiring co-creation will have the best users, more followers and common partners, and will be able to create a sustainable new ecosystem.

2. The essence of co-creative “dialogue” – from “I” to “we”

Whether it is Prahalad’s “co-creating value with customers” or Keller and Kotler’s “user immersion”, the essence of co-creation dialogue is to establish a “new relationship” with users, employees, and ecological partners - to co-build brands and even share brands.

So, here we are!

• It’s not “my” marketing or “my” brand, it’s “our” marketing or our brand
• It is not "I" who creates it, but "we" who create it together.
• It is not about creating profits for "me" (shareholder companies), but about creating value for "our" society.
• It is not "I" who leads life, but "we" who are the co-builders of lifestyle.

The "I" here refers to the brand entity, including the company, organization, and shareholders; the "we" refers to all participants who are connected by common ideas, including the company, employees, users, partners, and stakeholders.

When this understanding becomes clear and integrates with the accelerating AI, web3, and the metaverse, the ceiling of the imagination of an innovative community built on business, culture, and life will be broken.

In September 2022, Starbucks did something exciting about "us" - the "Starbucks Odyssey" plan.

This plan changes the traditional brand-centric membership system into a decentralized republic system/ecosystem shared by multiple parties: brands + members + employees + partners.

What is its essence - to create new relationships around people who love coffee: "a relationship in which we all participate, own, co-create and share . "

People want to be part of a larger narrative, to connect with something that is value-oriented, and to see themselves in it. People work not just to make money, but for emotional and psychological gains, and to be part of a larger "cause".

Therefore, whether we are entrepreneurs or employees, when we graduate from school and go out into the world, we should remind each other that everyone desires common goals, common understanding, common passion and empathy for each other. This is really important, no matter where we come from or where we go.

——Starbucks founder Schultz

3. The concept of co-creative “dialogue” - a completely different way of thinking

In the eyes of Brand Ape, co-creation “dialogue” is not a technical issue, but a conceptual issue:

• "Co-creation" should be able to promote "mutually equal" connections between you and "people you care about" or "people who share the same values."
• The core principle of "co-creation" is that your conversation partners cannot simply consume or agree, but should be able to do more. Not only appreciate, remember and consume, but also create something actionable .
• In terms of structure, “co-creation” should have a common backbone, but at the same time, it should also encourage all kinds of people to change and expand it. In short, participants can customize, reprocess and shape it.
• In terms of organization, "co-creation" requires thinking about the establishment of a decentralized organization, how a group of people can work together around a mission, through transparent coordination, to jointly determine the charter, break down goals, and complete tasks.
• When it comes to attitude toward employees, employee engagement is paramount. If they’re not engaged— or don’t feel engaged —then you’ve lost the game.

With the above concepts, the questions in the tactical manual: How to participate? How to build trust? Where does stickiness come from? Who gets rewarded, who pays, who makes the final decision? Who gets recognized, who gets status? can be effectively created, thus forming a positive cycle and feedback.

4. The key to co-creative “dialogue”: belonging, respect and self-realization

Humans have been social animals since ancient times, born to pursue "belonging", whether it is a tribe, nation, religion, country, party, association, community, or family.

To play a good co-creation "dialogue", you need to climb the ladder of "Maslow's hierarchy of human needs model":

• Get "safety" - meet certain needs and empower emotions
• Create a sense of belonging - find like-minded people and build a community with consistent and clear values ​​and passions!
• Gain "respect" - share power, re-call values, and redefine identity!
• Realize "self" - do something meaningful!

A person is willing to buy a product perhaps because of some need: psychological or physiological, spiritual or material; or perhaps because the product and service can empower him (pleasure) and give him a sense of security.

A person is loyal to a brand because he has defined his identity here, found similar people and developed a sense of belonging; however, only when they act together to do something meaningful , create value, assume responsibility, gain respect and realize themselves, can they go further and longer together.

• " Mendeleev's Periodic Table " and Wikipedia are the best examples of co-creative "dialogue".
• What about Airbnb? It’s about fostering a sense of community and engagement. Read Airbnb’s manifesto: “… Airbnb is about making everyone feel the importance of belonging… New technologies can take people further, and we use them to bring people closer together… A sense of belonging is not only the philosophy we promote at Airbnb, but also how we introduce Airbnb to the world. ”
• Why has TED been so popular for so long? First, the TED conference was made available to audiences around the world for free, and the TED Prize was created. Then TEDx was created, and localized, self-organized events were created, and communities were created for everyone to participate in. Later, a translation community was established, and translators even had their own conferences.

Therefore, the key to co-creative "dialogue" is not how to encourage and motivate users to participate, but whether they can form a sense of belonging, win respect, and realize themselves.

From a broader perspective and vision, co-creative "dialogue" is a methodology for achieving "Maslow's needs"; it can even be said that co-creative "dialogue" itself is a great and noble cause that gives everyone a fair opportunity to participate in creating the future.

5. What emotion to inject: Sincerity.

Co-creation "dialogue" is the most powerful form of expression in the digital age, the most difficult way to master, and the foundation of all high-level marketing activities in the future and the basic composition of the entire brand activity. If you want to conquer or master it, you need to inject "sincerity".

• Your mission and dream must be sincere. If your belief is vague and difficult to achieve, how can you attract people to fight with you?
• Your values ​​must be "sincerity". Sincerity, equality, respect, transparency, and attitude.
• Your model must be "sincerity", with open rules, fair incentives, and just rewards.
• Your actions must be sincere. Don’t be afraid of being small, but do something; don’t be afraid of being great, but take action; don’t be afraid of making mistakes, but keep iterating.
• Your communication should be "sincere". Tell the real you and users, express sincerely, monetize sincerely, and interact sincerely.

When "transparency" becomes the underlying cognition of the new business civilization, and when co-creative "dialogue" becomes a new driving practice for innovation, only "sincerity" can inspire co-creative "dialogue" to continuously generate scarce emotional values ​​such as belonging, respect and self-realization.

2. What is the essence of “dialogue”? Why do we need “dialogue”?

From Socrates' dialogue on dialectics, Plato's "The Republic" to Confucius' "The Analects", the thinking structure of "dialogue" uses its unique way of operation to answer the logic and truth of things, showing the rhythm of cognition in tension, thereby triggering new questions, new thinking and new concepts, and becoming a magical "force" that breaks the boundary between "possible" and "impossible".

Today, the "dialogue" we are discussing is not the dazzling ChatGPT question game, nor is it the process of transforming from a certain answer to an uncertain question, but a cognition and attitude at the value level.

1. So, what is the essence of this round of "dialogue"?

In the first half of 2023, when we stand at the beginning of the creation of AI and "human-machine intelligence" becomes the real engine of this round of technological wave; in the second half of 2023, when the scene of human-computer interaction becomes a norm, AI natives begin to rise, and a large number of new emotions and new desires grow in the soil of AGI, you first need to understand the essence of this feast.

The essence of human-machine intelligence = "creative dialogue".

This "creativity dialogue" is not about finding a relatively perfect solution from the human knowledge base instantly through one's own keywords and questioning ability; it is not only about using human-machine intelligence as a tool to improve efficiency and create new tools within tools ; we should also regard human-machine intelligence as a "creativity tool", not an ultimate efficiency tool, but the " creativity emergence " of human-machine collaboration .

Insight into the nature of this "dialogue", understanding the significance of "dialogue", and mastering the methods of "dialogue" will become a watershed in the efficiency and achievements of individuals, companies and organizations in the fourth technological revolution.

2. Why do we need “dialogue”?

Let’s sort it out again based on the logic of new consumption.

We are standing at the doorstep of a new world where risks are intensifying and the threshold of opportunity is rising: new consumption is no longer "problem consumption" or "scenario consumption", but "meaningful consumption" ; the new group is no longer "consumers" and no longer values ​​ownership, but advocates sharing and co-creation ; new brands must not only provide better products, but also continue to create new "value" . Where should "we" go?

Only "dialogue".

Only through "dialogue" can you penetrate and integrate into the discourse system/circle/life of the new consumer group; only through "dialogue" can you jointly extend a new popular culture and condense emotional values ​​from consensus to resonance; only through "dialogue" can you break out of the rules/super symbols/explosive products/traffic pools set by super manufacturers and open up your own "new world".

Take the Luckin Coffee X Moutai cross-border marketing that has "whole nation obsessed" as an example.

• The first is attitude, "communicating" with users from an equal perspective; integrating their discourse system into life scenarios, from consensus to resonance.
• Secondly, inject the current " emotional value " (the "collapse" of the new middle class and the anxiety caused by the polarization between the rich and the poor) and complete the "emotional release" through repeated showing off and expression.
• Finally, the sense of "our" participation and co-creation is indispensable, and a sense of belonging is established unconsciously.

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Compare it with the joyful yellow of HEYTEA XFENDI not long ago. If Luckin Coffee did not have an "equal" attitude, no "emotional" injection, no "consensus" scene, and no "co-creation" that inspires belonging, could it surpass it?

3. Marketing in the post-new consumption era starts with "dialogue".

At this point, let’s think about what Wu Sheng said in "New Species Explosion·Wu Sheng's Business Method 2023" - "dialogue" is more important than "connection".

• Consumers are not a port, but a real person with multiple needs. Real consumption is not created by "connection" , but the growth and beauty generated by the "emotional value" brought by the companionship of "dialogue".
• "Dialogue" and "connection" are not in opposition. Dialogue is a deep connection. The "carelessness" of connection is far less than the "rock solid" of dialogue .
• The purpose of "connection" is to obtain a user ID/information/use labels to define interests and preferences/spending capacity, which is essentially commercial; the purpose of "dialogue" is to jointly build meaning and share beauty, which is essentially to create a future together.

"Dialogue" is an "ordinary" word, a word that is so familiar that it is almost unfamiliar, and a word that can describe the sustainability and creativity of post-new consumption.

When we start with a meaningful exploratory "dialogue", continue with like-minded companionship "dialogue", inject surprises into consensus scenario "dialogue", and deepen belonging with sincere co-creation "dialogue", a new mindset will be nurtured in the "ordinary" : equality and parallelism; and thus create unique value: co-construction, co-creation and co-existence.

During the dialogue, questions arise; during the dialogue, ideas surge; after the dialogue, the future is imagined.

This is a beginning. We are standing at the beginning.

Author: Brand Yuan, WeChat public account: Brand Yuan (ID: brand-yuan)