The Kings of User Generated Content Marketing

Five Brands Thats Have Harnessed The Power of User Generated Content Marketing...

User Generated Content (UGC) can be defined as anything on the web that users have had a hand in making. This can include videos, photos, blog posting, and snapchats etc. The key to modern day marketing is user engagement, and brands have tapped into the idea of using User Generated Content as a form of marketing.  In recent years UGC has risen with the number of global smartphone user and social media platforms (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012). According to predictions, nearly 155 million U.S. internet users consume some form of user-created content -- up from nearly 116 million in 2008. This article will look at the brands that got their foot in the door, and developed some of the best User Generated Marketing Campaigns the world has seen.

1. Red-Bull 

Arguably the best form of content marketing to date, Red Bull's Stratos Jump made headlines intentionally and a view rate of 8 million people. The brand managed to hook users by defining the jump as "death defying", the more and more people became engaged. The more they shared the story causing the marketing campaign to reach vast levels (Warren-Payne, 2013). Red Bull certainly captured the publics imagination, thus creating an event that many will never forget. This campaign proved that the power of word of mouth still exists. 

2. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola's share a Coke campaign took the UK public by storm in 2013. The world's largest beverage company replaced its usual branding with 150 of the UK's most popular names. Each of these carried the hashtag #shareacoke to encourage users to promote the brand online through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This caused a social media frenzy, and caused the consumption from young consumers to increase by 7%, and their Facebook page's traffic to increase by 870% (Grimes, 2013). However, this campaign had little effect on Coca-Colas older generation audience. 

3. Starbucks

Starbucks is one brand that is using Instagram to fantastic effect. And, as is typically the case User Generated Content marketing, the customers are doing much of the legwork for them. In 2013, Starbucks began writing the name of the customer on their coffee cup once they made their order. Customers would then take a picture of their cup and upload it to Instagram, twitter, or Facebook with the #Starbucks. This a prime example of UGC marketing, whereby the customers are marketing the product themselves. This was a highly effective and inexpensive method of marketing for Starbucks. 

4. M&M's

Another UGC campaign which took social media by storm is M&M's "FanPic Friday" campaign. This involved customers uploading an image of themselves with M&M's and the Hashtag FanPicFriday. Each week this would cause a surge of pictures to be uploaded to Instagram, causing the brand to be advertised more and more. However, unlike other UGC marketing campaigns this campaign was restricted to one day a week.

5. Doritos

The Super-Bowl is the king of advertisement, with up to 100 million people viewing the event globally. The savvy marketeers at Doritos realised the potential for a UGC campaign, and implemented it to great effect. The "Crash the SuperBowl" campaign invited customers to create their own Doritos ads, with at least one fan-made commercial being guaranteed to air during the Super Bowl. An incentive for consumers was that whoever won would be granted a $1 million prize. By including the hashtags SuperBowl and Doritos, UGC flooded social networks and provided Doritos with endless commercials, whilst a low cost. The company did not have to pay for casting, filming, directors, producers etc, which is one of the main benefits of UGC marketing. Below is an example of some of the content that flooded social media sites, and caused Doritos to become known as one of the best digital marketers.

Although User Generated Marketing campaigns appear to be highly effective and inexpensive, there is a downside to this strategy. The problem with user-generated content, however, is the loss of control it involves, and this can have a negative impact of brand reputation. By putting the content into the hands of the public, you are giving them the opportunity to voice any negative views they may have.

Please visiting the link below to find out more about User Generated Content:

http://mashable.com/2013/01/30/brand-marketing-user-generated-content/

http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/5-ways-to-boost-marketing-campaigns-with-user-generated-content/

References:

Grimes, T. (2013) 'What the Share a Coke Campaign can teach other brand'. The Guardian  [Online] 24 July. Available at http://Http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jul/24/share-coke-teach-brands [Accessed 1 May 2014].

De Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. (2012) 'Popularity of Brand Posts on Brand Fan Pages: An Investigation of the effect of social media marketing'. Journal of Interactive Marketing 26, (2) 83-91. Available at http://Http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S1094996812000060 [Accessed 1 May 2014]

Warren-Payne, A. (2013) 'Five Content Marketing Lessons from the Red Bull Stratos Jump'. E-Consultancy [Online] 16 October 2012. Available at http://Https://econsultancy.com/blog/10897-five-content-marketing-lessons-from-the-red-bull-stratos-jump#i.1lkvuolhhdcjw8 [Accessed 1 May 2014].