Executive Interviews: Interview with Gaurav Bhalla on Co-Creation
March 2010 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Gaurav Bhalla
Gaurav Bhalla, has 30+ years of global experience helping companies implement innovation, strategy, marketing, and business growth programs.

• What specific trends do you think are warranting the companies to look beyond the traditional value creation and embrace co-creation as the new competitive platform?
  I am sure you’ve heard the expression – this is not your grandfather’s economy. One of the main reasons why its not our grandfather’s economy is that today’s customer is better educated, better informed, more collaborative, more networked, and Internet enabled. Today’s customers don’t tolerate being talked to. They want to be part of the conversation, especially as it applies to the creation, delivery, and consumption of value. They are unafraid of using their voice, and are very willing to use their collaborative clout to set up their own forums for creating and exchanging value. Notice the boom in product review sites, in people making recommendations on what to buy and what not to buy, and in people evaluating experiences ranging from credit cards to Ayurvedic spas in Kerala. Collaboration and co-creation are the new platforms for marketing and innovation, and companies just can’t afford to be MIA (missing in action).

• Many argue that co-creation can at best work in B2C companies. Do you think co-creation can work equally well in B2B businesses? Does cocreation have applications in industries such as steel, petroleum, airlines, pharmaceuticals, and electronics?
  I don’t believe that collaboration and co-creation are limited to B2C industries. These platforms have applications in a variety of industries, including B2B applications.

  • Companies like Boeing and Lufthansa collaborate routinely with cabin products companies like Recaro, to co-create cabin interiors that are innovative in terms of comfort, lightness, materials used (in terms of recycling), economy, and green.
  • The P&G Connect and Develop model and IBM’s innovation jams are also examples of B2B collaboration and co-creation. Several Fortune 500 companies, including pharmaceutical and chemical companies, tap into the collaboration and co-creation capabilities of forums like Innocentive, launched by Eli Lilly.
  • Even in a B2C context, business partners like retailers, benefit. When companies like Hallmark and Crayola engage in co-creation programs with their primary target market, namely mothers with young children, retailers benefit as well. Why? Because the outcomes of co-creation improve the functioning of their stores through improved design, layout, merchandising, and product mix.
  • In the field of consumer electronics and home appliances, Nokia’s Beta Labs, Sony Ericssson Labs, and Electrolux Design Labs were all created for the explicit purpose of collaboration and co-creation.
    So, I can’t think of toomany instances where collaboration and co-creation are not relevant. What about steel mills you might say? Even if we assume that collaboration and cocreation is not for them, it is definitely relevant and viable for many of their customers, like Herman Miller and Godrej who make office furniture. Consequently, it is relevant for the steel makers too, just like it was relevant for retailers working with Hallmark and Crayola, because cocreation with customers affected their retail operations.

• What is the difference between personalization and customization? Can it be construed as the difference between buffet system of dining and a-la-carte system of dining? Do you think in the new world of co-creation these boundaries get blurred?
  I like the analogy – buffet vs. a-lacarte. Let me answer the last part of the question first – do boundaries get blurred? Yes, they do. Part of the reason is that researchers and authors who introduce these terms are not always diligent in defining them, and differentiating them from other similar terms. Letme illustrate this for you with an example. Take a men’s clothing company like Paul Fredrick, which sells its offerings through a catalog. If you want to order dress shirts, you have two options. You can either buy the color and pattern you prefer in your size based on all the shirts displayed in the catalog, or you can order a customized shirt. Customization allows you to mix and match the fabric, collar and cuff styles, fit, pleat style, pocket, among other things! But wait, there’s more. You can also have the shirt personalized, by having your initials monogrammed in several different styles, in different colors, on either the cuff, or the pocket. Customization, personalization, or both?
  What is important to note is that customization and personalization are possible only within the boundaries of choices permitted or offered by the company. To go back to the shirt example the only way, I can order a shirt with kurta sleeves, is if the company offers that option. If the company does not offer that option, then all that I can do is pick from the sleeve styles offered. This is in sharp contrast to co-creation. If the shirtwas being co-created, then all options would be on the table, including kurta sleeves, because the starting point would be a blank canvas, not a menu of predetermined options and styles.

• Can P&G’s ‘Design Thinking’ initiative and ‘Olayforyou.com’ be good examples of co-creation? Was it the reason why P&G could reinvent itself?
  Yes, they are very good examples of co-creation. But why not hear it directly from the horse’s mouth! AG Lafley, the ex-CEO of P&G, and Ram Charan have written an excellent book called The Game Changer, in which they provide an in-depth look on how and why innovation and cocreation helped P&G reinvent itself.