You kin do it – create a new product for Dunkin' Donuts!

I admit it, I’m a DD coffee addict. I hardly ever go anywhere without my trademark pink & orange extra large styrofoam cup (security blanket?) in hand – especially staff meetings and my son’s hockey games…

But personal addictions aside, I know a smart company when I see one and Dunkin is smart.

They come up with new products all the time, test them in the market, and voila – a winner is added! Their counter service could use a bit more poka yoke, but their knack for getting at the voice of the customer is impressive. And they have an amazingly diverse and loyal customer base – low brow, high brow, heck – even uni-brow. I am not the only one carrying the ‘cup’ everywhere.

So imagine my delight at their new contest! Anyone ‘kin do it’ – including me! Submit up to 3 fantasy donut ideas and potentially win $12,000.

I don’t how they usually generate ideas, but this brainchild is a great example of user innovation/crowdsourcing. User-innovation guru Eric Von Hippel may disagree as to whether this is an effective implementation, but from my standpoint it’s brilliant.

They’ve designed the contest in such a way that they will learn about customer preferences across the board (shapes, ingredients, etc.) in addition to gaining new ideas. At $12k, the cost of the prize is low, and I bet they get a huge response.

I plan to keep my eye on the results, not only because I entered the contest, but I really am curious. If your company is interested in using the web for user innovation, do take a look. Even if your own personal preference is Starbucks.