{"id":13651,"date":"2013-02-26T08:26:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T15:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.web-strategist.com\/blog\/?p=13651"},"modified":"2014-04-03T21:27:48","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T04:27:48","slug":"collaborative-economy-brand-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/26\/collaborative-economy-brand-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborative Economy: Brand Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0few days ago, I announced that\u00a0I’ll be leading a research effort to understand the impacts of the growing Collaborative Economy trend. \u00a0I also listed 200 startups that are in this space (and a few big brands)<\/a>. \u00a0For those who are new to this topic, there’s an unstoppable wave of people trading, renting, and borrowing all kinds of services and goods. \u00a0The disruptive impacts to brands are potentially very high. \u00a0Consumers are already buying and trading among themselves, often without purchasing items directly from the brands themselves. \u00a0Companies that don’t pay attention to this trend are leaving themselves in a state of risk, as technology and society continue to quickly innovate.<\/p>\n

[To stay relevant with this unstoppable trend,\u00a0every<\/em>\u00a0corporation must evaluate a business model of products as a service, marketplaces, tapping the maker movement and crowd collaboration as market behaviors shift]<\/h2>\n

This trend has some major impacts for our social understanding of commercialism, materialism, and marketing. \u00a0Yesterday, I was with some young entrepreneurs who mentioned that the “American Dream is not about ownership of products, but just access to them.<\/em>” \u00a0Renting, borrowing, and trading to live the lifestyle they want, with no worries, is suitable for their personal and vocational lives. \u00a0For example, my long-time tech contact, entrepreneur, and friend,\u00a0Andrew Hyde, only owned 39 things<\/a> in an attempt to simplify his life.<\/p>\n

Recent history is littered with companies that didn’t adapt to this Collaborative Economy model. \u00a0From Blockbuster to Netflix, from newspapers to Craigslist, a few were able to harness this change. \u00a0Much of the media has deployed a variety of methods to curb peer-to-peer sharing. \u00a0As part of my research method, I like to lean on the community to source examples and case studies. \u00a0The following list contains examples of companies which have harnessed Collaborative Economy tactics to supplement their business strategy of innovation. \u00a0Here’s what I see:<\/p>\n

\n

Collaborative Economy: List of Brands and Corporations<\/strong>
\nRight now, at the start of this list, there are five companies, all in the auto space. I’ll add to it over time, as this trend takes off.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. BMW Drive<\/a>\u00a0NOW Premium Car Sharing by BMW i, Mini, and Sixt<\/li>\n
  2. Volkswagen<\/a>\u00a0Quicar Car Share by VW (Hanover)<\/li>\n
  3. Peugeot<\/a>\u00a0Mu Mobiliy Services Rentals<\/li>\n
  4. Daimler<\/a>\u00a0Car2Go Sponteneity on Wheels<\/li>\n
  5. RelayRides<\/a> Uses OnStar technology, partnered with GM<\/li>\n
  6. Toyota Rent a Car<\/a>: Offers a wide range of cars to be rented, at dealer, Feb 2013<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Barclays Cycle Hire<\/a>: Barclays, a Financial Services firm offers Bike Share (2010<\/a>?)<\/li>\n
  8. BarclayCard Ring<\/a> crowdsources many functions, including content and crowd determines where profits go, more from Lithium<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  9. Minneapolis and ST. Paul have a bike sharing program sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield, called Nice Ride<\/a><\/li>\n
  10. Radiohead<\/a> gifts media, asking consumers to pay what they want, (2007<\/a>) hat tip\u00a0Nico Ibieta<\/a><\/li>\n
  11. Dodge Dart Registry<\/a>: \u00a0Crowdfund your next car<\/li>\n
  12. Ford now was crowd sharing in Germany<\/a> (submitted by Ford’s Scott Monty)<\/li>\n
  13. Walmart considers having customers ship their own products<\/a> (Submitted by Joe Chernov)<\/li>\n
  14. Google rents Chromebooks<\/a> for $30 (Submitted by\u00a0Ned Boyajian)<\/li>\n
  15. Enterprise Ride Share<\/a> and Vanpool for individuals, employers, government. and has also acquired car sharing IGO in Chicago<\/a><\/li>\n
  16. Patagonia is now partnered with eBay (Commmon Threads)<\/a> to foster a marketplace of used goods for sale, and also partnered with Yerdle to support swapping<\/a> –instead of buying<\/li>\n
  17. NBC partners with Yerdle<\/a> as a media partner for one year to promote idea of reduced consumption from brands, and instead swapping<\/li>\n
  18. Virgin Airlines partners with Taxi.to<\/a> to enable social matching of guests who want to carpool after a flight<\/li>\n
  19. Citibank sponsors Citi Bikes in NYC, my coverage here<\/a><\/li>\n
  20. Microsoft Windows taps into crowdfunding<\/a>, paying 10% down and asking for others to chip in. Via Stefano Maggi<\/a><\/li>\n
  21. ScotteVest promotes used goods to be purchased and sold on eBay<\/a><\/li>\n
  22. Two community banks partner with LendingClub a peer to peer financing site<\/a><\/li>\n
  23. Retailer West Elm features Etsy creations<\/a> in their physical stores, I was able to see this first hand in Palo Alto<\/li>\n
  24. A number of companies, like REI are cooperatives<\/a> that have shared ownership and or a democratic governance system.<\/li>\n
  25. Enterprise Holdings purchased Zimride from Lyft, July 2013<\/a><\/li>\n
  26. Quirky and GE partner in co-ideation and working with crowd.<\/a> Thanks to Dan Mallin<\/a> for link.<\/li>\n
  27. Regus and Zipcar (Avis) partner<\/a>, Aug 2, 2013 (hat tip Dave Frankland<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  28. ING co-working space<\/a> in downtown Toronto (hat tip Howard Hecht<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  29. Marriott experiments <\/a>with Liquidspace for rapid booking. On Sept 23rd, Marriott and Liquidspace double downed their bets<\/a> making lobbyist a collaborative workplace.<\/li>\n
  30. Lincoln Motors partnered<\/a> with CustomMade<\/a> to allow the maker movement to create custom artifacts for new owners. Added Aug 2013, program started spring.<\/li>\n
  31. Comcast has invested $1m in Maker’s Row<\/a>. \u00a0Publish date, July 2013, hat tip J.T. Ramsay<\/a><\/li>\n
  32. Google Ventures invests $258 million into Uber<\/a>, (hint: Google Mine<\/a>, and self driving cars<\/a>), August 2013<\/li>\n
  33. W Hotel has partnered with DesksNearMe<\/a>, added August 2013<\/li>\n
  34. Ikea has encouraged ride sharing in Canada<\/a> and France<\/a>, added August 2013, hat tip Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  35. NFL has partnered with Uber<\/a> to curb drunk driving athletes, Sept 2013<\/li>\n
  36. eBay launched SecretGuru in UK<\/a>, a services marketplace, in Oct 2012,\u00a0hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  37. B&Q<\/a>, a home improvement retailer in UK launches neighborhood sharing, called StreetClub<\/a>,\u00a0hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  38. Retailer, Argos, launches toy swapping website<\/a>,\u00a0hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  39. EasyJet<\/a>\u00a0airlines launches a car sharing service called Easy Car<\/a>,\u00a0hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  40. General Electric launches partnership with skill sharing startup \u00a0SkillShare<\/a>,\u00a0hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  41. Home Depot rents delivery trucks and tools<\/a>, hat tip Lou Gutheil<\/li>\n
  42. Uber partners with GE <\/a>in promotion in SF with Delorean cars<\/li>\n
  43. UHaul investor club allows for peer to peer lending based on assets<\/a> (videos dated 2011)<\/li>\n
  44. Kaggle<\/a>, a marketplace of top global scientists is tapped by GE, AllState, and Merck<\/li>\n
  45. Razorfish, a digital agency, provided free bikes (that Tweet) at SXSW in Austin 2013 called Use Me Leave Me<\/a>. (thanks Adam Helweh<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  46. H&M takes in older clothes<\/a> and provides store credit (hat tip Ruth Bender from WSJ)<\/li>\n
  47. Uber partners with StubHub <\/a>(owned by eBay) for game day.<\/li>\n
  48. Nordstrom and Etsy partner<\/a> for original hand crafted goods to be sold at retail scale, (Feb 2013)<\/li>\n
  49. Toyota releases a new 3 wheel I-Road<\/a>, intended tob e shared –not bought. \u00a0Oct, 2013, hat tip, Dan Ziman<\/a><\/li>\n
  50. Nokia released 3D printing software files<\/a> to encourage people to print out their own phone cases. \u00a0Many use Shapeways (thanks Duanne, from Shapeways)<\/li>\n
  51. MasterCard sponsored NY’s CitiBike<\/a> bike sharing program, as a Preferred Payment Provider (May 2013)<\/li>\n
  52. Shapeways, 3D printing as a service, is a successful spin out and investment from Philips<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  53. GE and TaskRabbit team up for free delivery, under the Brilliant Machines campaign<\/a> (Oct 2013)<\/li>\n
  54. Fon launches a wifi router that’s designed to share<\/a>. \u00a0It produces a second signal for all Fon<\/a> customers, via Facebook connect. (Oct 2013)<\/li>\n
  55. Patron offers Halloween revelers a safe ride home<\/a>, by partnering with Uber (Oct 2013)<\/li>\n
  56. Samsung taps crowd innovation startup Marblar<\/a> for crowd innovation and partnerships with Samsung. hat tip Vivian Wang<\/a> (Oct 2013)<\/li>\n
  57. Ikea launches second hand marketplace<\/a>, encouraged used goods to be sold –rather than bought anew. hat tip\u00a0Juho Makkonen<\/a><\/li>\n
  58. Western Union partnered with Airbnb<\/a> for international payments<\/li>\n
  59. TOMs launches a marketplace <\/a>featuring 30 makers for social good<\/li>\n
  60. Uber partners with GM and Toyota<\/a> to get more cars on road –in exchange for price discounts<\/li>\n
  61. Uber partners with Ford <\/a>to provide free rides, and promote a new vehicle.<\/li>\n
  62. Uber partners with Home Depot<\/a> to deliver Xmas trees on demand in Dec 2013<\/li>\n
  63. Uber and Paypal partner at LeWeb<\/a>, Dec 2013 to give entrepreneurs a unique place to pitch<\/li>\n
  64. Philips is partnering with Indiegogo<\/a> to host this competition and help bring your ideas to life through crowdfunding, including $100,000 from Philips. \u00a0Hat tip Lisa Gansky<\/li>\n
  65. Kelly Services and oDesk partner, Dec 2013<\/a><\/li>\n
  66. Thredup and Diapers.com partnered for recommerce<\/a><\/li>\n
  67. Walgreens and Taskrabbit partner to deliver cold medicine, Jan 2014<\/a>\u00a0(link via Mike D Merrill<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  68. Hotels like Hyatt, Kimpton Hotels are now renting\u00a0jewelry, hairspray, waffle irons, and clothes<\/a> (link via Collaborative Labs<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  69. Home Depot and Quirky partner to co-innovate new products for Home Depot shelves<\/a>. (Youtube date, Sept 2013)<\/li>\n
  70. Uber and Pepsi partner for Superbowl celebrations to bring a half time show to your local corner in NY<\/a> (Jan 2014)<\/li>\n
  71. Uber partners with the Cosmo hotel in Vegas, providing ride and room from LA to Vegas <\/a>(Jan 2014)<\/li>\n
  72. Rent a Runway partners with Cosmo hotel for dress rental<\/a> (Dec 2013)<\/li>\n
  73. Uber and Mastercard partner for 2014 Valentine’s day<\/a> (Feb 2014)<\/li>\n
  74. Ford and Techshop celebrate one year of partnership for employee innovation<\/a><\/li>\n
  75. Virgin Airlines partners with Circleup for crowd funding of consumer packaged food on flights<\/a>, hat tip Lisa Gansky<\/a>, Feb 2014<\/li>\n
  76. Hasbro enables customers to 3D print toys in partnership with 3D systems,<\/a> Feb 2014<\/li>\n
  77. Westin rents workout gear to hotel guests<\/a><\/li>\n
  78. ENI, an energy company in Italy lead a car sharing effort<\/a>, press release<\/a>, submitted by Luca Gatti<\/li>\n
  79. Comcast works with Airbnb to upgrade properties<\/a>, submitted by JT at Comcast, April 2014\n<\/li>\n
  80. Boating Manufactured Brunswick partners with Boatsharing company Boatbound<\/a>, submitted by Lisa Gansky, April 2014<\/li>\n
  81. Walmart offers trade in of pre-owned goods, offering access over ownership, March 2014<\/a><\/li>\n
  82. Many more B2B examples<\/a> from Juho<\/a>, the CEO of Sharetribe<\/a>\u00a0(white label marketplaces), who’s provided many-a-links.<\/li>\n
  83. Add a brand or corporation to this list, by leaving a comment below<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Opportunities for Corporations; Your Business Model Will Change
    \n<\/strong>The brand business model will need to completely shift. \u00a0My thesis is that for some retail and CPG companies to sustain, they will need to extend their business models to rent and allow for bartering. \u00a0That’s right, I’m going to explore future use cases where Walmart, Macy’s, Gucci, Nordstrom, Target, Apple, BestBuy, Audi, P&G, will offer products for rent or lease –not ownership or consumption. \u00a0Service based companies like Manpower, Kelly Services, HRBlock, may all need to develop methods that allow for independents to be involved in workforce, extending the model to peer to peer based services market where they take a margin cut. \u00a0Even the hospitality space is impacted, expect companies like Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, to not only rent rooms at their hotels, but to certify individual home owners houses to be rented out on second market exchanges like AirBnb or create their own market. \u00a0 In most radical use cases, brands may give away products for free as gifts, in expectation for donations, a promise for customers to come back later, or to receive a barter, or for no reason at all. \u00a0Crazy? \u00a0Not really, consumers are already doing this, and businesses must often model consumer behaviors to stay relevant. Lastly, assume there will be lots of acquisitions of startups to corporations, again,     here’s my list of startups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    If you’d like to get involved with this research, please do the following:
    \n<\/strong>I’m an industry analyst, which means I conduct research, and publish reports, see my     Body of Research<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n