Trend: Crowdsourced Food Flavors

Food and beverage companies turn to their customers to create new products

People feel strongly about their favorite snack foods. This hasn’t escaped food manufacturers, who are tapping the power of the Internet — more specifically, social networking sites — to crowdsource ideas for new products. The enthusiasm of online communities helps these participatory campaigns succeed without the need for expensive advertising or highly paid product developers.

For the full posts check the CScout Japan site:
Calpis and Mixi collaborate on crowdsourced beverage
Crowdsourced cup ramen via Mixi SNS

Cases

Acebook

The instant noodle company Acebook has been collaborating with Japan’s largest social networking platform, Mixi, to crowdsource new flavors and marketing slogans to go along with them. Over 4,000 users voted for the following winning flavors that will be debuted in December: Collagen Noodles, Milk Tantanmen, Ginseng Chicken, and Bacon, Egg, and Vegetables.

Calpis (Japan)
Beverage manufacturer Calpis has followed suit, crowdsourcing flavor combinations, package design, and ad copy from Mixi users for their Fruits Calpis series. The winning combo was a blend of apple, pear, mandarin orange, and banana.

Trend Impact
Both crowdsourcing activities represent great examples of how brands can harness niche fanaticism/expertise about various subjects and products to create new products while inviting consumers to participate in the marketing process, thereby galvanizing their loyalty to the brand.

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