Co-creation as a business model.
Last week, I talked to Bart Dijckmans, founder of Cast, an animation video agency for the healthcare sector. In recent years, Bart has created a special business model in which he lets his clients work together. I asked him all about it.
Video as part of patient experience
CAST repeatedly encountered the same problem in the communication departments of hospitals. Hospitals invest more and more in communication because it is an important part of good healthcare. They also believe in the power of video communication, but video is too expensive. So an idea started to take shape. Hospitals have similar needs in what needs to be explained, so why not work together? CAST created the ‘group purchase’.
This CAST group purchase is somewhat more ingenious than a classic group purchase. It is not about volume, but about co-creation and co-financing. Interested hospitals received a price range, since the number of registrants would determine the exact cost. For this first video, 16 hospitals participated. The video explains to patients how the emergency department works. Conflicts in emergency departments, usually based on a lack of understanding, are a well-known pain point in many hospitals.
Governance in co-creation
Each participant took part in the co-creation but would end up with a video with personalised colours, logo and outro. The co-creation process involved a communications worker and an emergency department worker for each hospital. CAST took care of a tightly controlled governance. This started with defining a clear objective for the video. This was followed by the joint development of the scenario. CAST thoroughly prepared (online) workshops, preceded by individual questioning of the participants using detailed online questionnaires. The scope of the project was maintained by always returning to the initial objective: does something contribute to it or not?
During the co-creation process, satisfaction with the process was also systematically surveyed (online). This allowed CAST to refine the governance even further and keep everyone on the same page. The collaboration resulted in a successful first explainer video.
Next level partnerships
This new business model grew, because even hospitals that had not participated showed interest afterwards. CAST discussed this with the co-creation group. They concluded that other hospitals should be given the opportunity to buy their version of the video. It was decided that these video sales would partly translate into credits for the hospitals from the co-creation group. They can use these credits when participating in new video projects of CAST.
And so a totally new form of collaboration between CAST and its customers was born. The process also led to new ways of exchanging value. All participants agreed that the co-creation process led to a better result than if they had ordered individually. It produced a sustainable result and partnership for all partners. A good example that provides inspiration for new types of collaborations which we need so much in a sustainable economy.
Want to talk about video? Talk to Bart! Want to talk about new forms of partnerships in sustainable digital technology? Talk to me!
