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The Ideas‟ Hive
Customer Made Program based on the
Alphas and the Bees
How product and service innovations are generated, incorporated
and diffused within population (customers or professionals) ?
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The Buzz Chain
Lunatic Fringe
2 %
Alphas
8 %
The Bees
20 %
Mainstream – Massa
50 %
Late adopters
20 %
Two key targets to reach if we want accelerate the product adoption
phenomenon:
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The Alphas and the Bees (*)
(*) Developed by M. Salzman, I. Matathia and A. O’Reilly: Buzz, Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand, 2003
The Alphas
Trendsetters
Migratory birds
Inventive, creative
Be the first in living new experiences, in
being informed
Looking for new stimulations
No conventions
Their own style and way of thinking
Multiple sources of information
The Bees
Taking ideas coming from others and
making it more accessible
Supra-connectors, sharing with
others
Disseminating information
More imitation than creation
Need to be reassured
Enthusiastic and able to “sell” their
passion for something
How to recruit them ?
Based on different criteria covering the following dimensions :
• their level of personal involvement in the concerned category (cfr
Kapferer definition of the “involvement in a category”),
• their networking and ability to create contacts around the concerned
category,
• their openness to novelties in the concerned category,
• the information sources that they tend to consult regarding the
concerned category,
• and specific personality and attitudinal criteria to distinguish alphas
and bees
And where ?
Identifying panel of Bees and Alphas in a concerned category through presence
in forum, chatroom, newsgroup, contest freaks, fairs, blogs, ecommerce sites,
„good deal‟ site, fan club, comparative sites, visiting physically the key
places,...(especially for the Bees = heavy users of LinkedIn, Facebook,...)
BUT ALSO WITHIN YOUR OWN COMPANY ! 4
The Alphas and the Bees (*)
The Alphas and the Bees = key factor of success to generate and
disseminate innovations !
• The synergy between these two profiles = permanent stimulation of ideas and able to
anticipate changes
• Working with dedicated alphas and bees in the concerned category !!! They are not
the same for all domains... They have their own preferences
• If they are really stimulated in generating or fine-tuning new ideas, they will
become real brand ambassadors... The buzz is starting !
• Possibility to have different socio-demographic profiles according to concerned
category and research objectives
Because not all customers or professionals have the same ability to support
innovation...
Why working with these two targets?
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SynapsesCentric: a customer Made
Program in 6 key steps
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1.
Identifying and Recruiting the Alphas and The bees in your concerned category
2.
Kick off sessions: encouraging creative
trance
3.
Permanent interaction with quali panel
through web platform: Synapsesroom
4.
Stimulating by dedicated tasks and topics proposed to
panel
5.
BrandStorm sessions, from ideas to real
concepts
6.
Extending this research initiative to
broader Brand Activation
1. Identifying and Recruiting the Alphas and The bees in your
concerned category
a. through presence in forum, chat room, newsgroup, networking sites, contest freaks,
fairs, blogs, ecommerce sites, „good deal‟ site, fan club, comparative sites,...
b. Through specific criteria of recruitment evaluating their profile and personal
involvement in the concerned category
2. Kick off sessions:
a. Involving and ensuring total engagement in the process
b. Sharing with them some creativity techniques: helping them to open their mind and
their senses and Encouraging a “creative trance” attitude
3. Permanent interaction with them through web platform:
synapsesroom
a. Centralised forum platform (completely secured) where they may post all their
thoughts/ideas and see what is said by others: cross-fertilisation
b. Possibility to send their messages via sms and via email, all information are
afterwards posted on the dedicated forum
c. Possibility for marketing teams to have a permanent access to this forum
SynapsesCentric: a customer Made
Program in 6 key steps
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4. Stimulated by dedicated tasks and topics proposed to them
a. Moderators intervening regularly in order to encourage the “creative” trance and
fine-tune rough ideas
b. Regularly (depending on target (one a week/two weeks/month), proposing a
dedicated task/topic to cover in order to be more alert and orienting a bit their
creativity
5. BrandStorm sessions
a. When the information is collected and partly treated, creative sessions will be
organised including internal task force and/or customers in order to develop
detailed product concepts or other brand activations
b. Ensure to nourish the innovation pipeline with concrete ideas coming from
customers
6. Extend this research initiative to broader Brand Activation
a. Possibility to work with a web agency in order to develop a extended customer made
program : real marketing and communication program involving all customers and
the whole company in this process
b. The alphas and the bees having participated to the research playing the role of
Brand Ambassadors
SynapsesCentric: a customer Made
Program in 6 key steps (cont‟d)
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SynapsesRoom
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On the company level:
The expected effects
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Real customer innovation driven
program !
Real interaction and cross-
fertilisation with customers at
different levels and leading to real
innovations !
Possibility to include intern
customers / employees in whole
process
On the customers level:
Generating ideas and disseminating
them.
Facilitating launch of innovations
and brand activations
Reinforcing brand bonding
Possibility also to reinforce internal
employee empowerment and
engagement
Time frame (per country)
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Recruitmentprocess
3 weeks
Kick off sessions and
creativetraining
One week
Forums enriched by
specific tasksand collecting
insights
3 weeksminimum
Two weeksanalysis
BrandStormsession
Definingproduct
concepts/Brand activations
One week
Possibility to repeat the process with the same
panel of respondents or new ones.
10 weeks…
Contact us
• Office: +32.2.759.91.99
•Pedro Zaragoza:
• Mobile: +32.478.28.77.16
Ready for a “creative trance”
experience ?
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