One of the things I love to do is prove to people that Marketing with Meaning is not limited solely to big brands with million-dollar budgets. It can be something that helps small businesses and even not-for-profits succeed in driving customer engagement and loyalty. Recently I witnessed an example of a small not-for-profit that is doing something unique and meaningful, and if this organization can do it, surely the big brands can get onboard.

The letter above from the nearby Cincinnati Nature Center arrived in our mail. On one side was a note addressed to my 8-year-old daughter, Grace, inviting her to attend a meeting to give her ideas for a natural playscape that will be created in the year ahead. On the back was a letter to parents that describes the natural playscape initiative and the purpose of the children’s involvement. This is the kind of direct mail that stands out in a sea of junk.

Of course Grace was thrilled, and at the dinner table that night she started coming up with ideas. She’s quite the “nature child”—reading books about plants and animals continuously and never being afraid to pick up bugs. Last year when a bee stung her, Grace ignored the pain and carefully helped the bee remove the stinger from her hand, knowing that if the stinger comes off, a bee will soon die.

Overall, this is a brilliant example of meaningful marketing: By enrolling the target audience (here, both parents and kids) into the process of building the “product,” people feel a deep, personal connection to the Cincinnati Nature Center. Whatever comes out of this session, everyone who is involved will feel a sense of ownership that lasts a very long time. The result is more visits, more word of mouth, and more donations of money and time when the requests come.

So why isn’t your brand building customer feedback into the product development process? No, I don’t mean traditional closed-door research in focus groups and surveys. I mean enrolling brand fans and openly asking them for advice and ideas. To paraphrase a few people, “Research is the new marketing”—as a call for input in a direct, public way can help brands gain valuable input while winning customers for life. Examples in the “big brand” world include the My Starbucks Idea program and the beta test of the video game Call of Duty 4.

I actually do know why your brand isn’t openly asking for input in the development stage; you’re worried about whether or not you can change to what they ask, your R&D team thinks it knows better, you fear that the competition will see what you’re doing and adjust accordingly, and you don’t know how to set up such a system. All are rational arguments, but the time has come to start breaking some of these rules. Today’s consumer knows better than you, and she expects to be involved in the brands that she loves best.