Online research communities bring consumer perspectives into innovation, while creative changemakers add a fresh spark of thinking to generate and develop new ideas.

“Creativity isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity!” With these words, Duncan Wardle, former Head of Creativity & Innovation at The Walt Disney Company, argues that creativity can give companies the competitive edge they need. Just think about Apple, a brand that became a synonym for creativity and has dominated BCG’s top 50 list of most innovative companies for the last 15 years. But creativity doesn’t just spark innovation, it fuels business growth. Research by Forrester shows how companies that exhibit creativity grow 2.6 times faster than their peers. No wonder creativity is in high demand.

How do you innovate with research communities?

Online research communities can support innovation at different stages, from exploring emerging needs and generating ideas to developing concepts and gathering feedback. Bringing creative changemakers into the mix adds another perspective. They can challenge familiar thinking, explore unexpected possibilities and help brands turn consumer insights into new ideas.

Bringing creative changemakers into research can help brands:

• Generate a wide range of ideas quickly
• Bring fresh perspectives into innovation
• Challenge conventional thinking
• Develop and refine concepts
• Connect creative thinking with real consumer insights

Experts by a hungry mind

Creative minds are a rare breed. Scientists have found that the creative brain is ‘wired’ differently, with creative people better able to engage brain systems that typically don’t work together. This gives creatives a unique ability to approach situations differently and challenge the status quo. They look at familiar problems from new angles and make connections others might miss.

But creativity can be scarce within an organisation. Sometimes, you need to look beyond your company to find a fresh perspective.

The outside spark that can ignite your innovation

Collaborating with creative people gives brands access to a continuous supply of fresh ideas and inspiration. To support brands with creative challenges, we tap into our proprietary network of creative changemakers, including designers, copywriters and creative thinkers. The network brings together professionals and students from around the world. Many have a creative background but haven’t had the opportunity to practise their creative skills professionally. For them, the network provides a creative outlet.

James, for example, is a graphic designer from the UK. His experience includes directing photoshoots, creating fashion magazines and press adverts, as well as direct marketing and promotional materials. In his current role, he mainly focuses on executing creative concepts. What he really loves, however, is graphic design work for big brands across different sectors. That’s why James joined our network in 2016. He has since participated in 245 contests, winning 35 of them.

These creative changemakers bring fresh thinking to a range of business challenges, from product and service innovation to communication campaigns and packaging development.

From creative ideas to consumer insight

For Nestlé’s KitKat brand creative changemakers were invited to come up with funny and relatable stories where people react dramatically to frustrating situations, where only a KitKat could help the individual(s) “snap out of it”. The ideas inspired the brand to launch the successful Kätapult video which quickly went viral.

For Fanta, the challenge was different. The soft-drink brand was looking for fresh inspiration to fill its innovation funnel. The brief asked changemakers to create a new Fanta drink for teens that would offer a new taste and a fun experience. The creative changemakers generated 110 unique ideas. From there, 54 ideas were selected to present to stakeholders and 21 concepts were further evaluated and refined in an online consumer community with 172 teens.

The process brought together two valuable perspectives:

• Creative changemakers → generate unexpected ideas
• Stakeholders → identify the strongest opportunities
• Consumers → evaluate and refine the concepts

That combination helps brands move from creative possibility to ideas grounded in real consumer needs. As Sandra Savonitto, Sensory science manager at Coca-Cola, says: “I was amazed by the speed and creativity of the community. Within two weeks, the community provided us with more than 110 ideas responding to the brief we sent them. Ideas were all well detailed. Out of the 110 ideas, we selected 54 to present to our stakeholders to further evolve them. I found this process very efficient.”

Creativity can come from anywhere

How many creative changemakers do you have in your company? Probably fewer than you think.

The next spark of creativity might already be out there. By bringing creative people and consumers into the innovation process, brands can open up new perspectives, generate more ideas and turn fresh thinking into meaningful innovation.