John Winsor, CEO of Boulder-based crowdsourcing agency Victor & Spoils tells an interesting story on his personal blog about a friend who in the outdoor equipment industry.
According to Winsor, his friend’s company is well supported by its customers, some of whom have posted popular fanmercials on YouTube. (Yes, I just made that word up.)
People, who love his brand, are making their own spots by the hundreds. And, they’re popular. A half dozen of the videos have been viewed by over 1.5 million people.
While the cost of the 9,000,000 viewers is $0, my friend has lost some of the control he had over his brand when he used his agency. The trick is moving from a creation mindset of controlling the message and broadcasting it to a curation mindset of inspiring and guiding the people who are creating and sharing the digital videos.
What do you think?
I think consumer generated content on YouTube is a parallel universe.
Brands still need to develop their own voice and drive the ship, as it were.
Co-creation is another story entirely. When brands work with their customers to make something together, it can be a win-win.
