"Partly, it's the American Idol phenomenon," says Ben Wiener, CEO of WONGDOODY, a full service advertising agency doing interactive design and PR from offices in Seattle and Los Angeles. "Consumer created advertising allows the consumer to vote for something to stay or to get rid of something."
"If the campaign does engage and get people talking," says Mike May, an interactive media analyst and consultant with The Acorn Group, which programs and produces conferences on interactive media, marketing, and commerce. "The amount of budget you have to put behind that is reduced. If you get consumers talking about your brand, you don't have to spend to talk about it yourself. Of course, there's no point in saving money if you're not being effective. But if the consumer-generated campaign does work, it could result in more cost effective marketing."
Of course, not every product or brand can sustain a CGA campaign. Wiener suggests that nobody feels all that strongly about their underarm deodorant, for example. He explains the criteria for determining if a product or a brand can successfully support a consumer-generated campaign include having consumers who:
- Feel passion for your brand and want a relationship with it
- Are inclined to be creative
- Have enough spare time and the technological means to participate.
Note: iMedia Connection also covers Consumer Generated media in Creative Showcase. Here are two examples: