Ok so this is obviously in response to a former post but i think its worth a seperate discussion. As we see that this “trend” of consumers designing their products comes through, isnt this a clear indication of the slow shift in the way people think of their products and how they shop for them.
We used to give choice in real life to express a desire for personalisation: a coffee cup offered in 5 different shades on a shelf. But now we are offering the opportunity for a consumer to customize without having seen the product physically and therefore directly link production to demand and shiftling towards a better understanding of how people choose to buy and why.
Another interesting point is for example the NikeID thang… its fun, its virtual, it gives instant visual gratification but the choices are not that unlimited… there is still a degree of control over what is produced, just like there arent 56 colors of coffee cups offered on the shelf. The medium that we use to communicate choice or personalisation is different and most of it has to do with how people perceive the service of choice… i see many interesting things happening to traditional production and how businesses adress that shift.
Any thoughts???