We sat down with our CEO Marc Sampogna to talk about the latest trends in marketing and branding. This month we asked him the following questions, “Recently, we’ve noticed a lot of brands sharing user-generated content across their digital channels. What is the most effective example of this that you’ve seen? What do you think are the benefits of having consumers create and share content for brands that they love?”
There’s no doubt that user-generated content is extremely effective for brands to market their products or services. It provides content to populate the brands digital platforms and allows them to build brand loyalty by fostering unique experiences for their customers, both digitally and in real life.
We all remember the Doritos activation, “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, which yielded thousands of submissions, all culminating with the winner’s spot airing during the big game. While that’s certainly a very effective and memorable one, there are others that I believe have a longer tail.
Take Jones Soda — they literally place consumer photos and stories on their labels to celebrate the quirky nature of the brand and those who enjoy it. They’ve been doing this for years, and others have followed in different shapes and forms. Such as Twisted Tea, and even Coke for that matter, taking it to another level with their custom shareable cans campaign. And who can forget Mt Dew’s Democracy, where they asked consumers to design the packaging for their latest flavor or Starbucks’ MyStarbucksIdea.com, where consumers share and vote on the coolest idea that they think Starbucks should integrate into their stores. My favorite was coffee flavored ice cubes — avoids the watering down of your ice coffee with regular ice cubes. Simple, yet genius.
No matter how you slice it, brands will always benefit from empowering their consumers to participate in their story. Whether it’s designing it, naming it, or sharing how you enjoy it, we just want to be a part of it. This results in broader exposure for the brand, as well as newfound perspective on exactly how they’re audiences experience their products and engage their brand. So, I certainly believe that brands will continue to embrace the “power to the people” approach, and find new and unique ways to do so.