Create value with consumers

On August 16 this year, the second generation of Xiaomi was born. The next day, Xiaomi Technology CEO Lei Jun said in an interview with reporters that Xiaomi is building a characteristic ecological chain, that is, a "system" consisting of "consumers + partners + competitors + Xiaomi Corporation". In this system, consumers are put in the first place.

The birth of Xiaomi's mobile phone is the best explanation for Lei Jun's words. Like his brother Xiaomi 1st generation who was "born" at the same time last year, Xiaomi 2nd generation is not only Xiaomi company, but also many "mi fans" creative and creative. The crystallization of wisdom - more than 600,000 "mi fans" participated in the design and development of Xiaomi's MIUI operating system, and according to their opinions, MIUI is updated every week.

It is a wonderful thing to bring consumers into the process of value creation. The most well-known case is Procter & Gamble's "open innovation" - the company's CEO Lai Fuli requires 50% of innovative ideas From outside P&G. In China, this practice culminated in the release of Xiaomi Mi 1, and it continues to ferment this year. Under the guidance of this trend, Haier began to let users design the appearance of cloud TV, Peak customers can customize running shoes online, and the birth of Xiaomi Mi 2 can be regarded as the best example.

The time has come for consumers and businesses to create value together. In the past, people adopted the value of enterprise as the core, but now it is the value of co-creation with experience as the core. In the past, companies positioned consumers as sales targets, but now they regard consumers as value co-creators.

Increasing the "involvement level" of consumers

CK Prahalad, an American economist and professor of business school at the University of Michigan, in "Consumer Dynasty" in 2003 The book proposes: In the future competition, your customers are no longer just buyers of your products, but your partners. Only companies that can create value together with consumers can stand the test of the times.

President of Xinrong Group, the famous psychologist Feng Yun mentioned in this selection: There is a term in psychology called "self-involvement level", that is, people's participation in one thing degree. The higher the level of involvement, the more enthusiastic and supportive he is about the matter. The so-called co-creation of value is to increase the level of consumer involvement in a product. Consumers have used their brains for this product, and even the product has his shadow, which can make users more determined to become fans of the product.

In the expert judge's vote, Feng Yun voted for Xiaomi, believing that Xiaomi has given customers a wider range of choices - before a product is formed, customers have already participated in it and are full of their own expectations , which is the highest "involvement level".

In Xiaomi's view, customers are not only consumers, but also partners in technology research and development. Therefore, Xiaomi allows enthusiasts to participate in the development of mobile phone systems, and continuously improves them according to the feedback of enthusiasts, and updates them every week. According to Lei Jun's words, MIUI's functions are 1/3 determined by Mi Fans, and 2/3 determined by Xiaomi itself.

The rise of the Internet has provided a variety of ways for consumers to get involved. Just take a look at Xiaomi's forums and you'll find that the Xiaomi forums are surprisingly popular, where "Mi Fans" interact and share without reservation. For example: A post that simply described how to adjust the settings to make the phone run faster has 9670 replies from 9:00 pm to 9:00 am the next morning.

With the participation of 600,000 "Mi Fans", an innovation that conforms to the usage habits of Chinese people was born on Xiaomi mobile phones.

Finding touchpoints with consumers

Do you think we're still talking about "consumer-driven"? No, we're talking about "co-creating value with consumers". Lu Taihong, a professor of international marketing at Sun Yat-Sen University, believes that the difference between the two is that for the latter, the concept of value has changed, it is no longer the inherent substance of products or services, and value cannot be determined by the producer of the product. or service providers to instill, and consumers must participate, the two sides create together, and realize value through consumers' personal experience. Therefore, it has nothing to do with how companies target consumers and are highly sensitive to consumers, but rather how to create opportunities to engage consumers. The key to that is finding the point of contact with consumers.

Many companies provide for co-creation of value with consumers at various stages of the product life cycle, including product innovation and refinement until the end of the sales cycle. Every touchpoint is an opportunity to have a conversation with consumers and build consumer loyalty.

A survey by Frost & Sullivan, a well-known market consulting firm in the United States, shows that initiatives to create value with consumers are often concentrated in the early stages of product development. And creative output is the most common result of crowdsourcing (the practice of outsourcing work to the Internet public). For example, Xiaomi allows enthusiasts to participate in the development of mobile phone systems, and even encourages users and media to disassemble mobile phones.

In later stages of the product life cycle, companies can leverage the power of co-creation to help consumers make better use of products and services. For example, companies like Apple and Dell have large, active communities where consumers can ask questions about their products and find answers. Doing so not only provides direct assistance to users who need answers, but also further brings together influential opinion leaders and brand advocates, who themselves, as part of the community, are happy to respond to other users' questions in a timely manner.

Can't just rely on consumers

Senior Drucker management research practice expert Zhan Wenming believes that Xiaomi's success is entirely dependent on co-creation with consumers (the so-called "mifen"). value model. Through interaction, fans’ favorite products are generated, which strengthens the sense of experience and participation. In addition, Xiaomi does not have any competitive advantage.

Xiaomi has received frequent quality complaints recently. There are many calls for returns and exchanges in the Xiaomi forum, and there are even incidents where senior "Mi Fans" turned into "Mi Hei". The argument that Xiaomi's mobile phone advantage is gradually lost is even more clamorous. It can be seen that even if consumers are actively and highly involved, companies still have a lot of homework to do.

None of the businesses will deny the important role consumers play. If they don't support it with their cash and bills, all businesses will have to close their doors. Successful companies never forget this unbreakable truth, and they strive to provide thoughtful service, reliable and durable products, and fair prices—at all times.

In June this year, Xiaomi announced that it had received US$220 million in financing, with a valuation of US$4 billion. At a time when capital is getting colder, international investors are the platform for Xiaomi and are willing to accompany Lei Jun to make Xiaomi mobile phones bigger. This is an opportunity for continued development. For Lei Jun's team, the most important thing after obtaining a large amount of financing is to do a good job in after-sales service and product experience. "Otherwise, it will be dragged to death by after-sales service."