Marketers are constantly looking for a new way to have social media work for them. I think Converse may be on to something big. The only questions is, how many customers will put in the time and effort to make this profitable for Converse and the customers creating the next masterpiece in footwear? Converse is venturing out on a new frontier. They are creating an app on Facebook where the fans of converse can create their own Converse shoe and sell their creation to their friends. They can create their own storefront to sell their shoes and then as a reward they can get shoes free based on their sales.
The customers become the designers and the marketers of the product. This opens the door to possibilities for customers and it will allow Converse to see what people are wanting in a new research method. Converse could have millions of designers creating shoes combinations they never thought would sell. Some people may not be happy arguing that they are paying for a Converse product so Converse should create it, but others are excited for the chance to create something personalized and see the response from others. If this works well for Converse, I wonder how many other designers will follow the trend. The next option, designing our own cars. Maybe we should wait on that one.
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I think this is a crazy good idea. I would agree it would be exciting to create a personalized product, no one could take that experience away from them. We live in a society where we want personalize attention and getting rewards is just a bonus. Who is the target audience for this venture? I believe Levi's has a website where you can design your own jeans also.
ReplyDeleteConverse is on the right track with this approach. Anyone can participate in the program and everyone has their own ideas about design and fashion. Just the amount of information obtained from the consumer alone should make any money spent by converse well worth it. Offering participants reward based compensation is also a money saver. Harley-Davidson has had some success with customer aided design so converse might also.
ReplyDeleteThis idea is a fantastic way to have social media do what it does best – create conversation. Brands want to be the topic of discussion among the social media buzz. By creating a consumer driven market, Converse is opening the door to an untold amount of buzz. Even if, as you stated in your post, some of the buzz comes back as negative, Converse will still be the topic of discussion.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are some unforeseen dangers within this strategy. What if inappropriate images are used on the shoe? What if images protected under copy write are used? What other unforeseen dangers could come from this strategy?