Introduction
Once upon a time, it took a professional advertiser to make an advertisement. Now that we have computers and the internet, that's no longer true.
As chronicled in iMedia Connection.com, advertisers have been systematically learning the creative and attention-getting power available from the ranks of their own consumers. By using "Consumer-Generated Advertising" to harness the love of a target audience for a specific brand or product, an advertiser can position itself on the receiving of vast amounts of grass roots creativity, industry buzz, media attention and consumer interest-- all at a bargain price.
Whether you call it Consumer-Generated Media, Consumer-Generated Content, Consumer-Generated Marketing, or Consumer-Generated Advertising (CGA), the idea and the executions have been spreading like … well, like a virus, to the point where millions of consumers have generated or voted on hundreds of hours of product-centric material, most of it unlike anything you could extract from your favorite agency.
Let's examine five executions within this trend and see how things in the world of CGA are going:
Author Notes:
Robert Moskowitz is a consultant and author who speaks and writes frequently in the United States and abroad on such topics as white collar productivity, knowledge management, practical use of the internet, telecommuting, caring for aging parents, and business applications of information technologies. He has authored several books, including "How To Organize Your Work and Your Life," and "Parenting Your Aging Parents," and teaches several online courses.
