Social Networking Refines Product Line
Category: Mark Cline
I was recently traveling to a client site and had some down time on the plane to catch up on my reading. Even though I am a tech guy, I really enjoy Inc Magazine. In the June 2008 issue, there was an article about Threadless (http://threadless.com/), a company that creates and sells t-shirt designs. What's interesting is their use of "social networking" to help define what products they will sell. Artists create and submit designs to the site and other members vote on their favorite designs. The winning designs are then used to create t-shirts that Threadless sells. You can read the full article here: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080601/the-customer-is-the-company.html
Normally, businesses use social networking features to allow customers to communicate with each other, not necessarily having a direct impact on product development. In this example, social networking is being used as a tool to help the business determine which "products" their customers would really purchase, so they are not wasting money developing t-shirts that no one will buy.
Something to think about.
Posted By: Mark Cline | Date Published: 6.19.2008 | Comments (1)