Co-creation vs. Customization

Thanks to some very insightful comments on my recent Drew, David, we've hashed out the difference between co-creation and customization. We were discussing two scenarios: ordering a half-caf mocha latte at Starbucks versus creating a new Lego kit at Google's API is actually an example of customization, not co-creation. Developers use Google's API to create tools for their own purposes; to my knowledge, these customer-created tools are not then "cycled back" to be made available to other customers. OK, perhaps all this is semantic, but customization has been around for a long time. We've always been able to order eggs over-easy instead of scrambled. Co-creation is much deeper... it's about relinquishing control and turning buyers into partners who have a say in what gets produced and made available to everyone else. Which means that they should be rewarded in some way. Obviously this idea of co-creation will make a lot of companies rather uncomfortable. For more on this subject, visit Trendwatching.com's overview of Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Mantra Brand Communication. She has extensive experience in brand/marketing strategy, market/customer research, integrated marketing communications and channel support.