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User-generated trends
11 March 2008
More and more brands are letting consumers take part in their ad campaigns. Tom Himpe identifies five new models of co-creation
When brands embrace user generated content, it tends to be through creative competitions. They invite consumers to produce a piece of content or co-create and design new products in return for a reward. Although this mechanic certainly has its merits – if done in the right way – new and more advanced tactics are emerging, driven by people's need for more control and deeper involvement.
Here are five strategies that demonstrate how user-generated content has matured, offering brands and agencies alike even more exciting opportunities.
User-Generated Activism
It's not just brands, but also cause related organisations that are discovering the benefits of open source thinking. Activists have the great advantage that their cause is often a reason enough for people to join in rather than having to promise fancy financial benefits.
Case Study: Green my apple
Greenpeace set up the Green My Apple campaign, in which it urged Apple fans worldwide to collectively challenge the brand to go green. The site invited people to blog, as well as create poster and t-shirt designs. It was the first time Greenpeace had openly invited people to run a campaign to achieve its goals. Company boss Steve Jobs has responded by promising a greener Apple.
User-Generated media
Rather than having people co-create mere content, why not involve them in determining your media strategy? After all, who's better placed than your core fans to tell you where you should be present. Although it seems slightly ironic to ask people how and where they would like be reached, it does make sense for brands with limited means and a complex target audience.
Case Study: Fluevog Shoes
Vancouver-based Fluevog Shoes asked consumers to help with its media buy. The shoe brand was torn between three magazines – Alarm, Beautiful Decay or Juxtapoz – so it decided to get consumers to vote on the “VogPopuli" section of its website. Voters were eligible to win subscriptions to one of the three titles.
Community-Generated Content
Recent youth research by MTV revealed that, because 14 to 24-yearolds are never disconnected, they no longer operate as individuals but act as a group. By this analysis, decisions are not made in isolation, but arrived at by group consensus. So rather than appealing to the individual, brands should appeal to the collective decision making of a community or group of people. The solution of mixing social networking with user-generated content gives brands a whole new series of opportunities.
Case Study: Myspace
MySpace teamed up with Vertigo Films and Film 4 to create the world's first user-generated feature film, under the title MySpace My Movie Mashup. The brilliance of the project is that it runs in 10 phases, from searching for a title and a director to organising the marketing and the distribution.
Everyone can get involved in or vote on specific phases. So far, it has been decided that the film, directed by Vito
Rocco, will be called Faintheart and will be a comedy about the lives of a group who re-enact Viking battles as their hobby.
User-Generated Reviews
Many online channels are allowing people to express their feelings about products or brands, from tripadvisor.com to the more recent expo.tv. Smart brands are now trying to come up with ways to channel people's honest and authentic opinions, feedback and stories.
Case Study: McDonald's
As a response to the negative publicity generated by Supersize Me and Fast Food Nation, McDonald's selected a group of ordinary, sceptic yet open-minded people to become their quality scouts. They were sent to McDonald's farms and had to report back via a special website – www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk.
On top of that, the website gave everybody the chance to ask any question they wanted. Because there was no censorship from McDonald's, even the toughest and harshest questions – for example: Is there really cow sperm in the burgers? – were published and answered.
User-Generated Products
We've seen co-created products many times over. Think Nokia, Electrolux, Muji, Lego and many others. But if brands want to truly follow open-source philosophy, why don't they share the resulting products more openly? Why don't they let consumers become owners of the products they create?
Case Study: Open Source Beer
Flying Dog Brewery, Denver's largest brewery, started an Open Source Beer Project, allowing the friends of the brewery – homebrewers across the country or just regular guys that love beer – to create and recommend changes and modifications to the recipe. The result was baptised “Collaborator". The beer – yet to come out – will be an extremely limited edition, in hand-filled, corked and labelled 750ml bottles. Only 5,000 bottles will be available to the public.
When brands embrace user generated content, it tends to be through creative competitions. They invite consumers to produce a piece of content or co-create and design new products in return for a reward. Although this mechanic certainly has its merits – if done in the right way – new and more advanced tactics are emerging, driven by people's need for more control and deeper involvement.
Here are five strategies that demonstrate how user-generated content has matured, offering brands and agencies alike even more exciting opportunities.
User-Generated Activism
It's not just brands, but also cause related organisations that are discovering the benefits of open source thinking. Activists have the great advantage that their cause is often a reason enough for people to join in rather than having to promise fancy financial benefits.
Case Study: Green my apple
Greenpeace set up the Green My Apple campaign, in which it urged Apple fans worldwide to collectively challenge the brand to go green. The site invited people to blog, as well as create poster and t-shirt designs. It was the first time Greenpeace had openly invited people to run a campaign to achieve its goals. Company boss Steve Jobs has responded by promising a greener Apple.
User-Generated media
Rather than having people co-create mere content, why not involve them in determining your media strategy? After all, who's better placed than your core fans to tell you where you should be present. Although it seems slightly ironic to ask people how and where they would like be reached, it does make sense for brands with limited means and a complex target audience.
Case Study: Fluevog Shoes
Vancouver-based Fluevog Shoes asked consumers to help with its media buy. The shoe brand was torn between three magazines – Alarm, Beautiful Decay or Juxtapoz – so it decided to get consumers to vote on the “VogPopuli" section of its website. Voters were eligible to win subscriptions to one of the three titles.
Community-Generated Content
Recent youth research by MTV revealed that, because 14 to 24-yearolds are never disconnected, they no longer operate as individuals but act as a group. By this analysis, decisions are not made in isolation, but arrived at by group consensus. So rather than appealing to the individual, brands should appeal to the collective decision making of a community or group of people. The solution of mixing social networking with user-generated content gives brands a whole new series of opportunities.
Case Study: Myspace
MySpace teamed up with Vertigo Films and Film 4 to create the world's first user-generated feature film, under the title MySpace My Movie Mashup. The brilliance of the project is that it runs in 10 phases, from searching for a title and a director to organising the marketing and the distribution.
Everyone can get involved in or vote on specific phases. So far, it has been decided that the film, directed by Vito
Rocco, will be called Faintheart and will be a comedy about the lives of a group who re-enact Viking battles as their hobby.
User-Generated Reviews
Many online channels are allowing people to express their feelings about products or brands, from tripadvisor.com to the more recent expo.tv. Smart brands are now trying to come up with ways to channel people's honest and authentic opinions, feedback and stories.
Case Study: McDonald's
As a response to the negative publicity generated by Supersize Me and Fast Food Nation, McDonald's selected a group of ordinary, sceptic yet open-minded people to become their quality scouts. They were sent to McDonald's farms and had to report back via a special website – www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk.
On top of that, the website gave everybody the chance to ask any question they wanted. Because there was no censorship from McDonald's, even the toughest and harshest questions – for example: Is there really cow sperm in the burgers? – were published and answered.
User-Generated Products
We've seen co-created products many times over. Think Nokia, Electrolux, Muji, Lego and many others. But if brands want to truly follow open-source philosophy, why don't they share the resulting products more openly? Why don't they let consumers become owners of the products they create?
Case Study: Open Source Beer
Flying Dog Brewery, Denver's largest brewery, started an Open Source Beer Project, allowing the friends of the brewery – homebrewers across the country or just regular guys that love beer – to create and recommend changes and modifications to the recipe. The result was baptised “Collaborator". The beer – yet to come out – will be an extremely limited edition, in hand-filled, corked and labelled 750ml bottles. Only 5,000 bottles will be available to the public.
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