Sunday, March 18, 2007

Loser Generated Content


The hot topic in marketing this year is, of course, "user generated content." This is where your customers make commercials for you. I'm torn on this.

On the one hand, ignoring the customers who are passionate enough about you to make a commercial for you would be a huge mistake. And the future of the 30-second TV spot hasn't been bright for some time. I do believe that brands that take risks and engage with their customers are those that are going to thrive over the long term.

At the same time, I've got to think that we're in the middle of a fad right now. Have you watched any of the schlock out there? I'm a big fan of the "I've got Lance in my pants" radio commercials, but spend 5 minutes watching the user generated content they've got out there and tell me: Am I the only one who just lost my appetite?