Consumers Designing for Consumers
No. This isn't another blog entry bitching about how everyone with Microsoft Word and a clip art collection thinks he or she is a graphic designer. It's about a beverage company who has figured out a way to build community around its product by getting consumers involved with the design process.
Jones Soda is a small company with offices in Seattle, WA and western Canada. And to compete with the big boys, they have differentiated their product in a very important way.
No. Not with what's in the bottle (high fructose corn syrup, caramel color — the usual crap). It's what's on the outside that counts.
Since 2001 the company has been using photos on their product labels. So, where do they get these photos? Their photo gallery, of course (or via regular mail). How do the photos get in the photo gallery? You, the soda drinking shutterbug, put them there or mail them in.
But, with over 400,000 images in the gallery, not all are selected for prime positions on the bottles. Only a few are chosen. According to the site, the selection process is "very, very secret", but photographer input, staff recommendations, and user voting is part of the process. Those whose photos are selected also receive a credit on the label. Pretty cool, huh?
Whether your are fond of this practice or not, it's an ingenious concept because anyone who likes soda and owns a camera has extra incentive to buy the product — to see their photo somewhere other than on their computer monitor or in a dusty photo album. And with a couple hundred chosen each month, there's an actual chance your photo will be picked to appear on your new favorite beverage.
Many of the photos aren't professional quality. And although they have that amateurish snapshot feel to them, they are pretty interesting. In fact, that calculated amateurish look seems to be part of the label style.
In the STEP online exclusive article "What's Your Tribe?", author Jonathan Ford says that consumers are forming small communities and tribes that allow them to maintain their individuality and that strategies in branding and marketing address tapping these new groups.
One solution he presents is:
"brand owners could look at brand and product options that allow the consumer to collaborate in the creation process of the brand, like providing them with the means to customize the packaging to create something as unique and individual as they are."
So there you have it. Jones Soda Company has successfully created a community based on its product. Using advances in technology such as the Web and digital photography, consumers maintain individuality by customizing soda labels, yet enjoy a sense of belonging in the ever growing Jones Soda label-creation tribe.
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