This case study demonstrates how you can use crowdsourcing to explore the needs and desires of your international markets. Find out how building smart partnerships and engaging relevant participants through local channels drives your successful co-creation. More case studies here on SlideShare.com or at: https://innosabi.com/en/crowdsourcing-case-studies/

1. crowdsourcing
case study
1innosabi crowdsourcing case studies
homeshopping channel Japanet Takata. This part-
nership became a crucial element for the entire
project’s success: Japanet Takata functioned as a
link between the manufacturer and the end user. In
addition, the shopping channel could draw from its
extensive knowledge and experience with Japanese
consumers and the Japanese market. By involving
the product distributor early on, this valuable infor-
mation could be used throughout all project phases.
Engaging the relevant participants
through local, wide reaching
channels
In order to involve as many customers as possible
and to facilitate their interaction with the project,
the co- several channels were used simultaneously:
Japanese consumers collaboratively design a new generation
of Kärcher high-pressure cleaners
This case study demonstrates how you can use
crowdsourcing to explore the needs and desires of
your international markets.
Building successful co-creation
projects with smart partnerships
As a globally operating manufacturer of cleaning
equipment and systems, Kärcher’s success heavily
depends on knowing and satisfying the particular
customer needs in the various markets. To get a bet-
ter understanding for the Japanese market, innosabi
and Kärcher jointly developed a crowdsourcing plat-
form that enabled Kärcher’s Japanese customers to
co-create a new and innovative high-pressure clean-
er. The open innovation process was implemented
with the help of Kärcher’s Japanese distributor, the

2. 2innosabi crowdsourced innovation case studies
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innosabi offers software and services for collaborative innovation management and crowdsourcing.
We help our clients to engage passionate customers in the creation of new products and servic-
es. This is how they can strengthen brand loyalty, increase revenue and react on trends faster.
We create and develop virtual places, recruit the right participants and transfer that dialougue
into new product- and service concepts.
ed their wish for a Kärcher model that can be used to
clean the bathrooms in their homes. Since Japanese
bathrooms are typically entirely covered in tiles, they
can be conveniently cleaned with a high-pressure
cleaner.
Additionally, participants expressed a desire for
appropriate equipment that could remove moss
from trees and wood without damaging the soft and
delicate material. The new high-pressure washer
should also function effectively while producing as
little noise as possible, in order not to disturb the
neighbours in Japan’s densely populated residential
areas.
By involving its customers in a co-creation proj-
ect, Kärcher was not only able to develop a high-
pressure cleaner that satisfied the specific Japa-
nese needs, but could also gain valuable insights
that might be applied to other markets as well.
Participants were able to access the project via the
Japanese social network Mixi as well as Kärcher’s
Facebook fan page. In addition, the project was also
accessible through Japanet Takata’s Facebook
page.
To generate detailed insights into the customers’
needs and to give the creation process a goal ori-
ented structure, innosabi separated the project into
two consecutive and interdependent phases. The
objective of the first step was to explore the needs
and various usage scenarios of the consumers by
asking them “What needs to be cleaned?“. Based on
these initial insights, the participants then developed
concrete product suggestions in the second phase,
guided by the question “What functions and tools
are needed to clean that?”.
Understanding consumer habits
through co-creation
The project’s potential to explore and probe the us-
age habits of the Japanese customers was particu-
larly valuable for Kärcher. In doing so, the company
was able to identify new needs and usage scenarios
that had not been included in previous product de-
velopment processes. For example, during the co-
creation project, the Japanese customers formulat-
www.karcher.co.jp
www.japanet.co.jp/shopping/internet/
karcher-wash.html
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