A range of apparel companies are putting online design and configuration tools into the hands of their customers. Online shoppers can pick and choose clothing details, colours, styles, fabrics and sizes – in effect, creating their own unique threads.

Marketing has always been about understanding what a customer’s needs are, and then delivering products and services to fulfill those needs. Customizable clothing helps take the guesswork out of that process.

The advantage for companies that embrace co-creation is that they only manufacture items that have been configured and paid for in advance. So supply always equals demand, making the model both clever and efficient.

More specifically, there are three consumer needs that custom fashion fulfills: the need to be part of the design process, the need for individuality, and the need for the perfect fit.

The need to be part of the design process

Customers want to have input into the goods they purchase. Academics have dubbed this the “Ikea Effect”: Consumers place a higher value on goods they create (or assemble) themselves, even if the end product is less than ideal.

Fruit of the Loom’s Pick Your Perfect Pair website allows shoppers to create their own bra to fit their exact size (choose from “just about” or “exact” cup sizes), unique shape (combine different left and right cup sizes), individual style (mix and match patterns) and support needs (adjust the band width).

Here’s the problem, though. The tool gives users free rein to make bad design choices. What’s needed is a balance between total creative freedom and total constraint. There is nothing on the site, for instance, that prevents customers from choosing bizarre colour or pattern combinations.

I’d like to see some sort of “configuration rules” that help users match colours, or a “fashion alert” that warns them if patterns aren’t complementary. That way customers can be assured they’re making sound design choices.

The need for individuality

By involving consumers in the process, businesses are moving away from the “company knows best” model to “consumer knows best.”

As Tom Peters argued in his 1997 article “The Brand Called You,” self-commoditizing has become the norm. Egosurfing, commonly known as “Googling yourself,” becomes more palatable when it’s referred to as online identity management, but the activity still betrays an increasingly me-focused mentality. The Internet has made us all into brands.

Shoe shoppers can unleash their inner designer at the Australian-based Shoes of Prey website, where the motto is “Your design. Our craftsmanship.” Customers choose the heel, toe, fabric, colour and embellishments, and the shoes are then hand-made by the company’s craftsmen.

The site puts the consumer in control, transforming them from passive shopper to (nearly) full-blown designer. Move over, Jimmy Choo: With a $185 to $335 price range, ladies get one-of-a-kind creations for much less than designer shoe prices.

The need for the perfect fit

Perhaps the strongest argument for customizable clothing is that it gives customers a fit that off-the-rack clothing just can’t match.

Boston-based custom menswear site Blank Label has built this notion right into its mission statement: “Brands claim superior fit, but the only true fit is custom.”

And it’s the same story over at California-based Indi where its motto is “Clothing for INDIviduals who know what they want.” Indi’s in the business of designing custom-made jeans for all body types, seeking to convert skeptics with its “perfect fit promise.” Not satisfied? Buyers can return their garments for alterations.

With all of these examples, the value proposition is pretty clear: When brands relinquish some control and let consumers in on the design process, what’s lost in brand recognition is gained in customer satisfaction.

©istockphoto.com/Stepan Popov

What do people want? It’s an age-old question, but the answer is simple: Just ask them.

Ask them about their preferences, and how they want to be communicated with. Then ask them to help create and design their own products. Then ultimately, provide them with the necessary tools and platforms, and they will tell you exactly what they want.

The idea that company knows best is being challenged by the realization that consumer knows best. As a result, business models are starting to change. Closed, proprietary systems are shifting to an open-source approach with more transparency. One-way communication is being replaced with two-way communication that is both social and collaborative.

Mass customization

A number of start-ups, along with some more established brands, have recognized the demand for bespoke products and services at mass-production prices. Known as mass customization, this trend has been enabled by technologies like the Internet, product modularization and lean production.

Mass customization represents the apex of market segmentation as every customer can have exactly what they want. In other words, the customer creates his or her own segment – a market of one.

At Chocri, a German-based start-up with a web presence in the U.S., you can create your own chocolate by picking your favourite base (white, milk or dark) and toppings (fruits, spices, nuts or grains). You can even give your bar a personalized name, which is printed on the packaging.

You can also unleash your inner designer at Shoes of Prey, an Australian start-up whose motto is “Your Design. Our Craftsmanship”. You choose the heel, toe, fabric, colour and embellishments; your shoes are then hand-made by their craftsmen.

Hallmark, the 100-year-old U.S.-based greeting card company, has introduced a number of products that users can personalize. At the Hallmark site, you can upload a photo to create and personalize your own printed party invitations, cards and disposable paper plates.

Hallmark proves that even large and established companies can get into the innovation game.

While mass-customized products can cost more than mass-produced ones, the extra premium is worth it for the savvy, design-conscious consumer who values originality above price.

Co-creation

Customers aren’t just looking for the ability to shape products. They also want to have a say in how products are being marketed to them – and how brands are communicating with them.

This goes well beyond opting in to receive a mass-marketing message. It’s about consumers having a say in how they experience and interact with a brand.

My Maybelline New York offers users the chance to opt in to receive a personalized beauty guide. As part of the subscription process, the user is asked to answer a few questions about her eye colour, skin type, and makeup style.

In return she receives a 20-page digest-sized catalogue that provides her with tips on how to create looks that suit her style and features. They even personalize the guide by using the customer’s name throughout the printed piece and provide personalized coupons with the customer’s name on them, which is how they track response rates.

U.K.-based mobile phone company giffgaff takes co-creation a step further with its collaborative business model. Decisions about what products and services the company offers are left up to the customers themselves, who even provide service support to each other. With this type of collaborative approach, the biggest benefit is that its standard rates are less than half of those of the large carriers.

What are the benefits to companies and brands offering a custom experience? For one thing, it generates increased customer engagement and interaction. Secondly, companies gain consumer insights because they get to know what their customers want. As for consumers, they get exactly what they want and how they want it. They are made to feel unique and part of the process, rather than lost among the masses.

If there’s one lesson that social media has taught companies it’s that they can no longer broadcast their messages to customers. Over the past few years, brands have opened up the channels for two-way conversations that let customers engage with them. Now, marketers are providing customers with the tools to co-create and place themselves in the brand, creating a truly immersive content experience.

Hang out with the Sex and the City gang

To promote the opening of Sex and the City 2 this summer, HP set up a photo booth in the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. Fans posed in front of a green screen to have their digital photos taken, which were then super-imposed onto the film’s poster as if they were one of the girls.

Participants received a printout of the photo on the spot. They were also given a card with a personal code and Web address that lead to a Facebook page where they could download a high resolution version.

The tie-in makes sense when you know that HP and fashion designer Vivienne Tam worked together to create a beautiful special edition notebook that provided a great – though controversial­– product placement opportunity for HP.

Mad Men Yourself

Last year, to promote the beginning of Mad Men’s third season, fans of the critically acclaimed AMC series were able to go online and create 1960s-style avatars of themselves with the wildly popular online application Mad Men Yourself.

To keep things fresh this year, the application offers new clothing, new accessories and new backgrounds. Fans can now share their creations on both Facebook and Twitter as well.

In another new twist, Banana Republic has sponsored a contest where fans can submit a photo of themselves in Mad Men-style outfits to win a walk-on role in Season 5. This ties in with their line of retro fashions and fantastic style guide which instructs customers on how to pull off that 60s look.

Design a Chiquita sticker

Who isn’t familiar with the little yellow and blue Chiquita banana sticker?

You have to give the company credit for being able to brand a simple piece of fruit. With their most recent promotion, Chiquita Brands is inviting consumers to visit Eat a Chiquita.com and put their own stamp on the classic sticker. Eighteen winners of the Chiquita Banana Sticker Design Contest will have their design featured on millions of slippery peels.

Not a graphic designer? Not a problem. Those of us who are not artistically inclined can participate in the fun by uploading our designs at the Zazzle store and creating our own custom gear. Kudos to Chiquita for maintaining its iconic brand for over 50 years – and for daring to try something new.

Co-creation at its trashy best

If you’re a fan of the MTV reality show Jersey Shore you can Jersey Shore Yourself with a silly application that transforms both guys and gals into a so-called “Guido” or “Guidette.”

Whatever you think of the show, this is a fabulous application that caters to its target audience. It’s tacky and trashy, but that’s the point.

The Fun Factor

These four examples show that co-creation marketing apps can work for a wide range of products and demographics. For brands, it’s a great, relatively cheap way to engage customers and earn some buzz. For the rest of us, it’s just a whole lot of fun!

©istockphoto.com/Stepan Popov

In this ho-hum holiday season, turns out that the only retailers who experienced a surge in sales, according to the New York Times, were those who let customers do the handiwork themselves.

Design-it-yourself websites such as Zazzle, CafePress and Scrapblog reported a whopping 80% increase in sales compared to last year’s gift season. At Spreadshirt, where customers create t-shirts, bags, umbrellas and even underwear, orders have doubled. Sales are also up 43 percent at Blurb, which lets customer craft their own photo or art books.

Mass customization, a niche that’s growing 10 times as fast as online retail, isn’t limited to Web 2.0. start-ups. Major international brands are enabling customers to personalize products through slick online portals and promotional offers. Adidas encourages amateur athletes to design their own one-of-a-kind running shoes. Prescriptives lets ladies create their signature lip gloss by choosing a shade, finish and flavour. Meanwhile, sweet tooths can visit the My M&Ms website, upload a photo or company logo, select a colour and even write a message to create their own custom candy.

But when you think about it, no industry is as ripe for customization as travel. After all, everyone’s travel experience is completely unique and deeply personal. Here are some examples of how travel brands are giving their customers the tools to customize their own adventures.

Disney and Personalized Video

Mass customization works for services as well as products. At Disney’s Epcot Theme park, customers can design their own personalized roller coaster ride— The Sum of All Thrills—on a touch table using rulers and speed tools to create twists and turns. The design is saved on a special card, which is then swiped at a launch station—a giant carriage controlled by a robotic arm. Kids watch a video version of the ride they just designed while the arm jerks them around and a giant fan blows air in their face, simulating the feel of a rollercoaster.

Last year I went to Disney’s website and created my own personal faux news video, which announced that for the first time ever the entire Magic Kingdom park would be dedicated to one person for the whole year – Me! I counted 13 instances in which my name appeared in the video, superimposed on signs, rides, menus, and other places in the park. The video was even hosted on a personalized microsite.

Considering how much this delighted me as an adult, I can only imagine how special a child would feel seeing her name plastered all over the Magic Kingdom. Talk about emotional branding.

Maine Event: Personalized Travel Guides

Seeking a competitive edge in the battle for tourist dollars, the Maine Office of Tourism decided to mail a free personalized travel planner to anyone who visited its website and volunteered information about his or her travel plans. The variable elements included photos of attractions the traveller said they intended to visit, a calendar listing events taking place during the time of their stay, a custom letter, and a document featuring the regions and activities in which they expressed interest. The package was printed on demand and included a feedback card that offered respondents the chance to win a shopping spree at L.L.Bean, one of the state’s most famous retailers.

Mailing the personalized package cost approximately 15 percent more than mailing the standard info package, but the results clearly outweighed the costs. According to Xerox 1:1 Lab, which piloted the project, 24.1 percent more people responded to the personalized package, with over 50 percent of those responding providing feedback, and 73 percent indicating that the guide was helpful.

That’s what marketing is all about—figuring out what customers want, and how they want it. So why not go ahead and ask them to spell it out for you?