Marketing: Co-creation means increasing perspectives, covering more overlooked spots.

Le Meridien launched its LM100 program with a vision to sign up 100 art and design experts as consultants to further differentiate the hotel chain from rest of the world. In this saturated space, hoteliers need to look for blue ocean to stay profitable and competitive. I thought it was kind of cool to see such an innovative marketing program (launched in 2007) and would really love to see what kind of hybrid ideas come out of it. I've not (yet) stayed in Le Meridien KL before but some quick visits brought back vague artsy impression. Time to check in perhaps?

On a separate note. This co-creating thing. I'm thinking how to redefine researches - turning cold, unfriendly focus groups to consumer think tanks. I know creative will hate this. Because they feel that no one should ever dictate creative boundaries. But I thought sometimes, having outsiders to share view points gives us a different perspective to things. And yes, I am pretty adamant about that whether creative likes it or not. We shall see.