Collaboration and Co-creation

Dr. Gaurav Bhalla is a management professional with 30+ years of global experience helping companies implement innovation, strategy, marketing, and business growth programs. He has worked on three continents – Asia, Europe, and North America – and has consulting experience with companies in over 25 countries, in a variety of sectors, such as finance, technology, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, educational services, and consumer packaged goods. During this period he has experienced the business world as a corporate executive, business consultant, entrepreneur, and educator. Some of the leading companies he has worked with are GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squib, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, MedImmune, Texas Instruments, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Hughes Electronics, Seiko Epson, Coca Cola, P&G, Heinz, Capital One and NASDAQ. Through his research, teaching, and consulting he has also had the privilege of working on some of the largest brands in the world, such as Zantac, Imitrex, Plavix, Vicks, Hershey, Nescafe, Coke, and Sprint. Currently, Dr. Bhalla is the CEO of Knowledge Kinetics, a company focused on customer value innovation. He blogs frequently on topics related to customer driven innovation and value co-creation at www.gauravbhalla.com. Prior to this, he was the Global Innovation Director for TNS, where he helped develop processes and competencies for implementing innovative solutions across all TNS’ commercial businesses. Previously he was the President of G. Bhalla & Associates, Inc., a strategy consulting and research firm, which he ran for over twelve years, before it was acquired by TNS in Feb. 2003.    Gaurav holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and Strategy from the University of Kansas, an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a BA (Hons.) in Economics and Mathematics from Delhi University. He has published research papers in leading technicaljournals dedicated to marketing and strategy, and has presented to companies and professional audiences in several countries. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is currently an adjunct professor at University of Maryland’s R. H Smith School of Business. He travels globally and his physical office is located in Vienna, VA (a suburb of Washington, DC).

Today’s consumers are more knowledgeable, networked, and vocal. For them consumption is not merely an act of buying products and services, but an expression of their creative potential. Consequently, they are demanding a say and a voice in how companies conceive, develop, and deliver value to them. It is not surprising, therefore, to hear that a large number of companies are transforming how they innovate—not only in terms of developing new products and services, but in how they are created, delivered, and supported to customers. Open Innovation thinking, where companies collaborate with suppliers, distributors, and customers to co-create unique value, is fast replacing traditional thinking that viewed innovation as a proprietary activity and marketing as a static, one-way broadcast. However, while there is significant advocacy and buy-in for collaborating with customers, there is little guidance for companies on how to undertake the journey from applause and appreciation to execution. Only reading about others’ success stories – Nike, Hallmark, P&G, Mozilla, etc. – is not sufficient for helping a company develop a blueprint for themselves. In Customer Driven Innovation, strategy and branding consultant Gaurav Bhalla presents a concrete framework to help companies systematically and effectively design and implement collaborative innovation programs with their customers that can be applied in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer contexts. The authors describe how today’s technologies allow companies to create dynamic dialogues with their customers through shared networks, virtual marketing techniques, and blogs to develop deeper relationships that reinforce brand loyalty and ultimately drive growth. They challenge traditional approaches to market research that measure "customer satisfaction" from a rear-window perspective, and help companies and their customers look forward instead.