Co-Creating Solutions: Turning Consumers Into Co-Authors.

Young people want real influence. Power is shifting from surveys to shared decisions.

Participation Is Required

A report by BBMG and GlobeScan, Radically Better Future, found that 85% of young people want to share ideas with companies to solve social and environmental problems. This is the new standard for legitimacy. This generation, raised on collaboration through remixing culture and organizing grassroots campaigns, expects to shape business decisions.

They won't wait for an invitation; they're already deciding a brand's survival based on whether they have a seat at the table.

Tokenism Is Obsolete

Corporate playbooks often use engagement tactics that are just a pretense for gathering information. These include a survey or a focus group, with the results disappearing into a report that never cites what participants said. Young people see through these gestures instantly. They know when their input disappears with no impact on the final product.

Token engagement is more damaging than silence. It shows that a brand wants their energy but not their influence. Once that's clear, loyalty disappears.

Real Co-Authorship

Genuine co-creation is difficult because it gives up control. It means bringing communities into the design process before a prototype even exists. It requires opening strategy to outside critique and showing how that feedback changed the outcome. It means creating councils where customers, employees, and neighbors debate with leaders and see their ideas in the final product.

These aren't just "listening sessions." They are a visible, permanent transfer of authority that turns critics into allies.

The Consequences of Refusal

Brands that cling to one-sided control may think they're protecting efficiency, but they're actually showing their weakness. A younger generation that already uses boycotts as a routine tool won't waste time on companies that exclude them. They will leave, organize, or build their own alternatives.

Digital networks ensure that stories of exclusion spread quickly. Refusing to co-create is a form of reputational self-harm.

The Bottom Line

Co-creation is no longer just a business tactic; it's a matter of survival.

The next generation wants to be authors, not just participants, and they have the tools to enforce it.

Brands that open their doors will gain relevance and allies.