Best Consumer-Generated Advertising?
What’s your favorite consumer-generated advertisement? (See Joseph Jaffe’s dated but comprehensive iMediaConnection article to get a better understanding of what CGA is).
A classic is when iPod lover and teacher George Masters creates his own online campaign for Apple iPod.
HappySlip’s Mac Beautiful is one of my favorites, and it was seen more than a million times on YouTube.
I’ve done my own — some for money and some for passion. To see the paid ads, click here. But here’s an example of a video I did simply because I like Kellogg’s Caramel Nut Crunch. It appears on the first page of Google when you search for the product by name. Likewise my “Poor Man’s Healies” remains the top search result on Google if you misspell Heelys and search “Healies.”
Some more popular video creators are charging brands $2-$5K for videos (based on their audience size, recognition and creativity), but still others are promoting brands simply because they love them.
Got a favorite? WordPress may cue your response if you include a URL, but please do.
I’m having trouble with the links in this article. I couldn’t pull up the George Masters thing or the healies thing.
My favorite is still mugglesams iphone/blackberry one, even though I’m not sure those words are even spoken in that video. I can’t believe apple hasn’t picked that up.
Kellogg’s Caramel Nut Crunch, Still. What is wrong with those people?
What are they waiting for?
I’m also a little surprised a drug company hasn’t picked you up yet. Well, maybe not…
The Geiko guy comes close, but that was a fluke.
And th McDonalds guys were ok.
I positively adore this CGA thing. In fact, I just made my first one for the XLNTADS people… You can check it out here, if you’d like… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncOBGK7PUWg
In a world where people (particularly the ever-important 18-34 demo) are getting more and more tuned in to the BS factor of “conventional” ads, what better way for products to be promoted than by regular folks? Like a lot of people nowadays, I’d sooner believe the testimony of a friend, or even “some guy,” than I would the stereotypical Madison Avenue-type spots that have ruled the roost for lo these past several decades… However, there are certain aspects of conventional advertising that I think still hold true in a CGA format:
1) Don’t forget to make it about the product. As a CGA creator, it’s great that your spot is funny and entertaining. It should be. But make the comedy pertinent to the task at hand — which is to promote the brand. Ask yourself sincerely: Is this about me, or about the product?
2) If you’re specifically hired to make CGA media, don’t forget, you’re making an ad… It doesn’t have to look or feel like an ad, but you do have clients to satisfy. Make sure you and the client are in agreement over who the ad should speak to, and what it should contain and/or depict.
3) Think in round numbers. 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds. It’s just easier on everybody…
4) If you’re making CGA just “for fun,” in hopes of your idea being “picked up,” prepare to have it picked up, walked away with, and passed off as someone else’s. If the idea is good — REALLY good — someone will want to steal it. Be careful. Nothing would burn my you-know-what worse than if I did a YouTube video for sneakers, say, and then saw my idea ripped off and broadcast during a ball game 4 months later with other actors and stuff…
Looking ahead, I think one of the toughest things to do is to convince companies that this IS a viable medium through which to market their products… There are still a TON of CEO’s and other, you know, “grown-ups” who still don’t know what YouTube is, let alone its value.
Maybe we CGA creators should be making videos about that subject…
By the way, Kev, your Kellogg’s spot was excellent.
What, now any old schmoe with a camera can make ads?
Yes, but any old schmoe can’t necessarily make GOOD, EFFECTIVE ones.
That still takes talent.
Thanks, Brett! You ad is awesome! Can’t wait to see more from you.
Bah. How would some schmoe know what it takes to make good ads!
All facetiousness aside…it’s not enough that you can make an ad. It’s not enough that your ad is popular. You still have to not only prove yourself, but you also have to prove that you have a viable marketplace and a captive audience.