The Marketing Firm and Co-Innovation: The Case of the Banking and Finance Industry

The marketing firm refers to the primary goal of contemporary firms, which is to acquire and keep customers by providing them with profitable services in a cutthroat competitive market environment. The foundation of all contemporary firms in affluent economies, such as the banking and financing sector, is “its being an organisation that responds profitably to the imperatives of customer-orientation” (Foxall, The theory of the marketing firm responding to the imperatives of consumer-orientation (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86106-3 , 2021, pp. 3–4). By using the marketing firm’s behavioural analytical approach for empirically measuring the co-innovation process, this chapter addresses the need to study co-innovation from different perspectives. We selected case study as a research strategy (Yin, Case study research: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage Publications, Inc., 2017) as it was the most appropriate choice for our research question from both an analytical and a pragmatic perspective. An organization from Norway’s banking and finance sector with prior experience using social media for co-innovation was involved as a case company. We used interview, survey, and content analysis to get a more holistic understanding of the co-innovation lab. Findings from our case study demonstrate that the banking and finance company has successfully developed new, valuable online services due to customer co-innovation activities by utilizing web-based interaction. Consistent with the previous research in the co-innovation of value literature, this chapter reports the effect and value of co-creating with customers. The information access customers have, which earlier was limited to the companies, leads to a power shift, and findings show that the case company are currently using this in their favour. Using a co-innovation lab, companies can contact customers and users. Geographical limitations erode when using the web as a meeting place for exchanging suggestions and ideas.