ChangeWaves - Observations on the Future from Social Technologies

Entries in Customization (2)

Google, Kodak, and the Localization of Content

"Location, location, location," is increasingly becoming the mantra around new media services, and 2008 seems poised to be a year of growth for hyperlocal content delivery and other location-based services.

Google recently unveiled a new feature on its Google News page--Google News Local, allowing readers to get news occurring only in their local area. Google is moving into this space at a time when GPS is making people more aware of their surroundings and driving innovations in localized content in the form of location-based services like mobile ads for local businesses. Google's local news service joins dominant localized news site Topix.net and newcomer EveryBlock in this content area, and many Internet users will benefit from having better access to news in their area.

Google isn't the only major company taking advantage of hyperlocalized content.

Click to read more ...

Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 by

Simeon Spearman in Technology, Media, Advertising, Marketing, Customization, Information

Consumer Creation: Modding from Cars to Footwear and Beyond

Crocs, the plastic clogs that look weird but feel great on the feet, are in hot demand in the United States, and their popularity is spreading to other countries such as South Africa, the UK and Australia. Kids are wearing them, and adults are too. From unknown in 2002 to today's latest suburban fashion rage, Crocs show the power of peer-to-peer marketing and consumers' growing love of design, functionality and color. In the first quarter of 2006 alone, the company added 900 retailers to its channels, rapid growth indeed.

Of course, with rapid growth comes rapid commoditization. But before they can become passé, consumers are stepping in and adding their own twist, "modding" their Crocs. There is a social networking aspect of it among the younger set—according to the New York Times, swapping the colored straps on the shoe with others is a hot trend. So is taking a hot glue gun and dressing up the shoe with ribbons, sequins, and whatever else you can find to make it yours. While this is surface-level personalization, it shows the extent to which consumers now fully expect to be able to take a product and modify it in some way straight off the shelf to suit their own demands. Crocs is feeding this with the sale of straps separate from the clogs, grasping the lessons learned from the growth of other personalization ecosystems, such as the giant "iPod economy" of accessories that has grown up around the iconic media player—some $700 million last year according to one estimate.

The trend is increasingly broad-based. Toyota's youth-oriented brand Scion is built around this concept of pre-market customization. Nintendo sells "pre-blinged" DS handheld game units. Tylenol allows consumers to change the taste of Children's Tylenol with flavor packets.

The implications? Beyond a rising expectations among consumers that they can change, or should be able to change, products quickly and easily, the trend of consumer creation is having an impact on the product development process already.

Companies are scrambling to figure out how they can unbundle—even deconstruct—their products to provide greater choice.
They will need to pay greater attention to the quality, flexibility and "leveragability" in the larger product ecosystem of even the smallest component.
Some may even develop lazy or atrophied innovation processes as they lean on consumers to provide new ideas.
The lines between pre-market and aftermarket will continue to blur, creating new challenges for companies' development of channel relationships and marketing strategies.

Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 by

Scott Smith in Marketing, Customization