What does your business do to engage its clients/customers?

Ben & Jerry’s are a company who recognise the importance of involving customers in their brand. They created the ‘Do the World a Flavor’ campaign that allowed members of the public to design their own ice cream, for the chance to see them sold on the high street.

In a specifically developed piece of software customers could choose the base flavour, chunks, swirls, and name of their unique creation. The recipes that were chosen would be released at Ben & Jerry’s outlets for a year, and standout successes such as ‘Cherry Garcia’ would continue to be produced.

This proved an effective strategy for two reasons. One: the company received hundreds of thousands of suggestions that would indicate what trends were popular, without the need for major investment in developing new flavours. Two: by encouraging their customers to participate they stimulated a higher level of engagement with their brand.

Therefore, this method of crowdsourcing proved both a shrewd investment in terms of product development and marketing – a win/win situation.

How could you involve your clients/customers more to create greater interest and loyalty to your brand?