What's Next In Marketing

The Official Consumer Generated Glossary

Great piece over at ClickZ by Pete Blackshaw (one of the founders of the Word of Mouth Assoc.) about the nomenclature being used about Consumer Generated Media.

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625153

You Tuber's Video

I found this video over on Pete Blackshaw's terrific blog www.notetaker.typepad.com.

http://notetaker.typepad.com/cgm/2006/10/must_see_tv_you.html

As Pete says, it says a ton about what's happening with online videos and the Consumer Generated phenom.

I was amazed at some of the quotes, such as:

"The whole word is going to see this."
"I guess I should say something meaningful."
"I want to be acknowledged and recognized."

The low cost of technology (digital cameras for computers, bandwidth) has fueled an incredible rise in the consumers ability to reach out and communicate with the world quickly and easily. As this video highlights, there's a ton of people with something to say. And a ton of people watching.

What's Next is figuring out how to harness all that energy for your client's brand.

Doritos And What's Next

Doritos has just announced that they will be running a promotion that will ask consumers to shoot a commercial that tells the story of their love for Doritos.

http://promotions.yahoo.com/doritos/

Consumer Generated Media at it's best? We'll have to wait and see. What will be interesting is how Doritos uses all of the content that is submitted and how much mileage they get out on interacting with consumers during the promotion. Currently they say that consumers will be able to submit their own and look at other people's video's.

We'll see.

LonelyGirl15

Some of the most popular videos on YouTube these days are posted by a young girl who calls herself LonelyGirl15. She talks about the trials and tribulations of being a teenager, her family, her friends, her religion, and other matters that bring to light her teenage angst.

These videos have garnered millions of views, so LonelyGirl15 is quite popular.

She's also a fraud.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/youtubes-lonelygirl15-outed-as-a-phoney/2006/09/11/1157826853893.html

No one is really sure who's behind this but there is some strong speculation that it is one of the talent agencies, like CAA. Likely this was an experiment in determining if this type of soap opera format could attract a large enough audience through online video channels.

What if a brand had done the same? How would consumers feel about being mislead? Would they laugh? Would they shrug their shoulders and move on to the next piece of entertainment? Would they be pissed?

Brands need to tread cautiously here. There's great opportunities to do some really unique things. Just be sure how far you want to take it.

OK Go

Many of you might have read about the success of OK Go, the band who launched themselves on MySpace, and then found themselves a year later on the MTV Music Video Awards.

http://www.myspace.com/okgo

First, let me say I like the their music. A little Pop. A little Rock. Fun.

So what does this have to do with advertising or marketing? Well, I think theor success ties into the current consumer generated media situation. MySpace page? Free. Their video for their hit "Here It Goes Again" (which is in the MTV Top 20 countdown)? Looks like it cost about $500 to make (Remember the video for Van Halen's "JumP' which cost $300 bucks to produce? This is better.)

The web is allowing rock bands to become stars overnight by leveraging social media and the internet. Viral videos are making brands famous. And everyone and their mother can produce and then distribute video/animation/any sort of idea inexpensively.

Agencies need to start to think about how the garner this enthusiasm for the brands they represent. It's a wonderful opportunity, if we're willing to look at it as a new platform, not a threat.

Content Generating Teens

The Pew Institute just came out with a study that says that 57% of all teens that use the internet could be considered "Content Creators".

They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations.

See the whole report here: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/166/report_display.asp

These kids are growing up in an engaged society, which means that they have come to expect, no, demand, that they want to be engaged by brands, just as they are engaged by their friends. If you want to be successful with this generation of consumers you need to understand that What's Next needs to be a two way dialogue if it is to succeed.

The Agency Of The Future

Stole the headline, apologies. But this is a really good article about how Consumer Generated Media is changing the marketing landscape. Some of the examples are a bit dated, but still relevant and interesting.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/9265.asp

Consumer Generated Burnout?

Nice post on Clickz by Pamela Parker about how likely is it that consumers will become sick of all of the content they are asked to generate.

Don't think we are there quite yet, but it does raise a really good point: if you are going to ask consumers to participate in your media campaign, it better be something they care a great deal about (like ipod's) or is a lot of fun (like the Converse Gallery).

http://www.clickz.com/experts/brand/buzz/article.php/3600706