For my homework assignment I came up with two examples. The first example that came to mind was the Dutch company Boomerang. The company is well known in the Netherlands for its free cards which you can get at nearly every bar, cinema or school. The thought that advertising should be that much fun, that people come and get it out of the racks by themselves. So how does it work? Well, let’s say you have a company and you wish you could advertise your products or brand, but also like to do that with a humorous twist. The company submits a command to Boomerang, which they will post on their BoomerangCreate platform. About 14.800 creators are registered here (some more active than others), who will start designing. When their creation is done, they can upload it on their online portfolio and after that, the voting begins. Other creators but also non-registered users can vote 1-5 stars for each design. The creations with the most votes can win prizes and might be selected by the client company to end up in the card racks. There’s another fun thing about this concept. On the Boomerang website, you can also select cards to send as an e-card, or even as a real card. And this isn’t even where the fun stops; creations don’t always have to be related to a company’s command, making it the perfect online platform for creative outbursts.
Another example of engaging consumers and prosumers is from the retail company Nike. For years, Nike’s shoes have been popular amongst all ages. Since a few years, they started a new part in their company called NIKEiD. Here you can see and buy all lines of shoes every created by Nike, for men, women and kids. What makes is unique, is that you can customize every shoe you’d want in whatever way you want it to be. Really nothing is too crazy. Glow in the dark leopard print? They have it, they make it. Or do you want a neon yellow sole, left side green, right side pink, red interior with a polka dot and purple shoe laces? Nike has it, Nike will make it. It’s the perfect way to express your individuality and uniqueness through your favorite shoe brand.
