As marketers rush to embrace cutting-edge user-generated marketing techniques, 121Media's senior marketing manager warns it could put their brands -- and their selves-- at risk.

There is a fine line between being an early adopter and just doing something because you can. Everyone wants to be ahead of the curve, be a trend setter, the zeitgeist. And there is no denying the potential power of user-generated video and establishing a dialogue with your customers. Engagement is the object of the game these days, despite the fact that we've yet to figure out how to measure its real impact.

However, the mad dash to wrap brands around user-generated content sends chills down my spine when I think about the potential of it backfiring. Spin the roulette wheel kids, place your bets. There's a brand out there that is going to suffer some devastating consequences to their brand equity at the hands of extremely negative viral content gone extremely viral.

The internet has changed the way record labels sign and develop new artists. Instead of rolling the dice and signing a young band to a major label record deal, A&R guys can sit back and let the fans find what they like on their own, wait for critical mass and then make an investment. I'm not suggesting that this is a bad thing; just that it eliminates the need, or at least reduces the value of, your A&R team. Who would be the biggest artists over the past three decades if we hadn't put our faith in the golden ears of Clive Davis? Would Bruce Springsteen have made it out of Asbury Park? Would Billy Joel have made it out of the Hofstra bars?

User-generated media is opening the doors to thousands of aspiring singers, actors, musicians, writers, film makers, comedians and now marketers.

Marketers? Is user-generated content the new intern of the creative department? Are we looking to put ourselves out of work?

Not quite yet, but what signal is sent when you believe that some random teenager with a webcam and love for Doritos can come up with a better idea than your agency and their creative team?

This year a number of brands have put a new twist on their Super Bowl promotions, calling for people to come up with their own commercials. Instead of being creative and strategically promoting a brand's product, services or values, advertisers are calling on their audience to do their work for them. Are we running the risk of devaluing our own experience and expertise in understanding what works?

I'm quite sure that the Super Bowl vetting committee has a close eye on these promotions. And I'm fairly confident that the agencies will professionally re-shoot the spots they select, even though it reduces, if not eliminates, its raw, edgy, "of the people" credibility.

One user-generated promotion that stands out as a particularly curious venture is for Alka-Seltzer. Alka-Seltzer is asking people to create new arrangements of the classic "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz" jingle. I simply do not understand this. Jay Kolpon, head of consumer marketing for Bayer Consumer Care told USA Today, "We're looking for any kind of interpretation ... whether it's rock, classic or rap." Is a rap version of PPFF going to tap into a new market? If there is a strategic initiative to reach rap fans, why not sponsor a rap tour and give away samples? Is anyone with indigestion going to take the advice of a punk rocker with a pierced lip growling out PPFF during the Super Bowl pre-game show?

In my opinion, this is going down the UGM road just because it's there. Contestants aren't asked to come up with a new marketing slogan or brand message, just a new tune. On the other hand, the series of commercials for Pepto-Bismol, with people line dancing to "Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea," has lowered the bar far enough to make this a competitive marketing tactic.

Marketers encouraging UGM need to be wary of the pitfalls of relinquishing control of their brand. For all the good a happy consumer can do for you, a disgruntled customer with a digital camcorder is just as capable of unleashing a scathing -- yet fun to watch and share -- commercial of their own. I don't believe that YouTube, Sharkle or Grouper will have any reason to remove videos that simply poke fun or disparage a brand. It won't help a brand's reputation when they become known as the company that sued someone for holding a bottle of Coke in the YouTube video without securing the proper copyrights and licensing first.

Jack Nicholson, as Col. Jessep, gave a stern warning in "A Few Good Men," that -- with a few minor edits -- is good advice to those of us who intend to keep our jobs in the advertising industry: "We live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with creativity… You have the luxury of not knowing what I know… And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, sells products… Deep down in places you don't talk about at ad:tech parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall…"

Corey Kronengold is senior marketing manager for 121Media. Read full bio.