"A revolution in both marketing thought and practice is at hand," say three researchers in an interesting new report on brand marketing.

In their research, these authors examined "consumer co-creation in an empirical context"—specifically, creative consumer behavior in nine brand communities across a wide array of products, including Apple Newton (a personal digital assistant), the BMW Mini, Jones Soda and even Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

The results? "Our findings suggest that there are specific recipes for managers to follow to foster brand community," they report. Among their tips:

Seed innovation. Marketers need to move beyond observing/rewarding consumer behavior to seeding innovation in brand communities, they advise. Example: If your fans are engaging in brand-based online activities, but not really connecting with each other, foster or sponsor more social-networking practices at your site (think image- or music-sharing) to get them thinking.

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