User-Generated Content
Image by Chris Haslup
Trend Predictions
03.05.2009
In:
Interactive,
Social Media
These are just a few of the stats. The fact is, if you don't capitalize on social media in 2009, your brand will be paying the price.
Like all new advertising avenues, UGC is intimidating. Many advertisers don't have experience in this realm. Even for those that do, there are no definite rules that ensure success. But UGC provides opportunities that traditional advertising doesn't. It allows brands to build credibility, awareness and trust. Plus, it engages the consumer more willingly than an unwelcome commercial, print ad or a sparkly flash banner.
So what exactly is UGC? Technically, it's defined as any information created and uploaded on a website by the end user. It comes in the form of blogs, wiki pages, product reviews, video reviews, YouTube uploads, MySpace pages, etc.
UGC creates brand credibility, engages consumers by relying on their contributions, permits them to feel a degree of ownership over the brand and subjects the brand to candid online scrutiny - pressuring it to provide products and services of real quality and value.
A textbook case of UGC success is RayBan's YouTube video "Guy Catches Glasses with Face." RayBan's agency, Cutwater, posted a home video of a man catching a pair of sunglasses on his face as his friend throws them from different heights, speeds and angles. Fascination with the video generated thousands of comments from viewers debating whether or not the video was real and how it worked. It was viewed 17 million times in its first week on YouTube and was passed around virally online for weeks after. The key to RayBan's success was offering its audience compelling, engaging content that challenged them to think.
UGC provides infinite possibilities for brand building. Some of the more popular implementations include brand wrappers or skins that transform an Internet page into branded wallpaper. Brand profile pages are also popular - milk has its own MySpace page and 20,673 friends. Some advertisers capitalize on UGC to strategically place advertising messages. For example, when a user types "pizza" into a Google search box or sends a friend a message on Facebook about skydiving, relevant ads will appear next to the user-generated content. Other brands, such as Adidas, have created "online communities" where members interact with each other. And recipe-sharing sites like allrecipes.com create the perfect forums for companies like Williams-Sonoma to reach a specific audience with relevant product information.
As consumers become more and more involved online, the possibilities for branded UGC may increase exponentially. So if you haven't already, in 2009 you better get with the pixels.
Sources:
"User Generated Content, Social Media, and Advertising - an Overview." Interactive Advertising Bureau. April 2008. www.iab.net/media/file/2008_ugc_platform.pdf
"Online Marketing Trends in 2009". November 5, 2008. Strange Corporation. www.strangecorp.com/news/view/online-marketing-trends-in-2009
