Co-creation in creative services: the role of client in advertising agencies' innovation

The authors examine clients' involvement in the innovation processes of creative-intensive business services (CIBS), namely advertising services. Previous research has widely documented the contribution of CIBS providers to their clients' innovation. By contrast, little evidence exists on the involvement of clients in agency's innovation processes, despite the important role of clients as service co-producers and source of knowledge. In order to fill this gap, the authors develop a framework for the analysis of agency-client co-innovation by integrating studies on customer involvement, service innovation and relationship marketing. This conceptual contribution is aimed at advancing the understanding and, thereby, the proactive management of clients' involvement in CIBS innovation.