Photo courtesy of Robin-GK.
It's no secret that Millennials enjoy participating in the creation of programs, fundraisers, campaigns and products and want the opportunity to personalize their experience whenever possible. Innovations made possible by emerging technology have fueled the demand for creative ways to get involved - we're designing our own shoes, water bottles and advocacy campaigns, rather than waiting for an institution to tell us what our options for participation are. Empowering Millennials to support a cause or product their way has been a proven way to engage our generation, and nonprofits and businesses alike continue to experiment with new ways to give us individual options. Here are just a few of the most recent examples:
"Make It Your Own" Burgers
This week marks the grand opening of 4food, a fast food restaurant that says "meals are necessarily social events," and means it. Customers can order online, on an iPad in the restaurant, and will soon be able to do so via their mobile phones. The menu board changes based on what's most popular at the time and what ingredients are most available at that location. But 4food is not just a tech-savvy restaurant with a social media presence. Not only do they have community groups, a blog and active profiles on Facebook, Twitter and foursquare, 4food encourages and enables its burger-loving customers to become salesmen as well.
You can create your own burger, name it, and it will be saved in the system for future visits. Not only is that convenient for people who are likely to forget which of the dozens of tasty combinations they had last time, but it also gives them the opportunity to market their personalized sandwiches to their friends. Each time someone orders the creation by name, you earn a royalty of 25 cents, which is credited to your online account.
"Make It Your Own" Music
Watching music videos might be so early 90s, but music video director Chris Milk, along with the folks at Google and the band Arcade Fire, are trying to make it interesting again with music that takes you home again. No really, it takes you to your home. The new video for "We Used to Wait," from the band's new album allows individuals to personalize the video by entering their address. Google satellite images take you on a jog through your neighborhood and to your house and even let you send a note to your childhood self. It's the perfect thing to indulge a homesick student...and to introduce them to both Google Chrome and Arcade Fire's new album.
"Make It Your Own" Fundraising
Endorse for a Cause, which launched last week, is an example of one socially conscious application of our love for personalization. While there have been many experiments around giving back at the cash register, whether it's online or offline, In addition to similar donate-while-you-shop models, Endorse for a Cause takes these experiments a step further by tapping individuals to market items for stores like Target and Starbucks and rewarding them by kicking money from affiliate fees to their cause when a friend purchases the product. For now, there are a limited number of nonprofits that can receive funds from Endorse for a Cause, but the individual-friendly platform allows users to nominate additional nonprofits for participation.
If someone is too shy to ask their social media friends for money directly, they can play the slacktivist card and post something already popular like a Starbucks card or a pair of Old Navy espadrilles to their Facebook and Twitter profiles through Endorse for a Cause. Hopefully their friends will be tempted to click through, buy the product and thereby earn a donation for their cause. While some might criticize this concept as another enabling platform that leads people to satisfy their desire (or duty) to help out by clicking a few buttons, which excuses them from doing things that are actually helpful to their cause - or doing as much as they might have if this platform didn't exist.
At the end of the day, success for burger joints, bands, fundraising tools and other products will be based on their quality - not just their inclusion of user-generated and user-personalized content. But these innovative ways to involve individuals in the creation and marketing of products can draw in new users and loyal supporters for products and organizations with staying power.
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