• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, February 1, 2006

There's a tangible buzz these days surrounding UGC (user-generated content) and I'm not doing much to slow the hype by continually writing about it, but what is it, really, and how can it be harnessed?

I've mentioned before that the Web is about 99 percent user-generated if you really dive deep into it. Of the billions of pages of content available to read and interact with, only a few million of these pages are created by some corporate entity, and that's probably a generous estimation. That doesn't mean these pages don't create some sort of revenue for their creators, it simply means it was not necessarily commissioned, and it wasn't part of a corporate environment.

UGC is hot, but what has most marketers interested in it is, "what does it mean for me?" What most marketers want to know is, "how do I harness the consumer to create content focused on my brand?" After all, the users are the best source of information about your brand, because they interact with it and they're field-testing it every single day. Who better to ask for input or feedback than the soldiers down in the trenches, so to speak?

Some UGC can be requested by the brand, but it typically cannot be commissioned. You may find unique ways to incentivize the consumer with prizes and contests, but for it to be truly user-generated, it should be inspired by the brand and expressive of the consumer.

For example, this piece here was developed for Tylenol, and even though it might have been created as part of a contest or of some other incentivized program, it's a great example of what a user can create when given the opportunity:

http://www.ouchthewebsite.com/page.jhtml?id=ouchthewebsite/timgreenburg/catalogueofpain.inc.

This piece was put together by fans of the Apple brand, and demonstrates how a parody or some other lighthearted jest can be developed that doesn't place the brand in a negative light, but is expressive of a fan's overall passion for a brand: http://gprime.net/video.php/ipodflea.

The Converse Gallery was a commissioned example of UGC that ran about a year ago. The commercials that were created were completely expressive of the brand, while coming wholly from the minds of the consumer. This is an example of an ad that was created during that program: http://www.sharkle.com/?a=video&id=19667

There are examples of brands taking advantage of UGC all over the Web right now. Ban Deodorant recently ran a contest to harness UGC, with the winners to be broadcast in March-- http://www.feelbanfresh.com.

Burger King recently ran a program to encourage people to record content featuring that eerie Burger King Mask, and submit it to Heavy.com. Even P&G has been in the game to some extent over the last five years, by running their Connect + Develop program, which asks consumers to help develop P&G's next wave of products. Out of this program have come such products as the Swiffer Wet Jet and Crest White Strips. Though not an immediately consumer-facing opportunity, this is an example of how users can be harnessed and empowered to work on the development of a brand!

UGC is certainly a hot topic, and I hope it gets even hotter, but marketers need to be smart when applying it to their brands. They cannot create programs that don't truly empower the consumer, because the consumer is much too smart for that. Marketers need to empower the consumer and be willing to take the good with the bad. The example that Volkswagen saw in 2005 with the "terrorist ad," whether it was created legitimately or not, is a definite risk when utilizing UGC, but it's a risk that a smart brand should be willing to take. After all, that ad never made it to the mainstream press and it never made it into everyday conversation. The reason it didn't was that it was not truly indicative of the brand. It didn't point out a fault in the product, and it certainly didn't expose a fault in the image of the company. It was created by some overzealous consumer, and it may have been interesting, but no one truly believed it was a Volkswagen message. It never acquired true credibility in the eyes of the consumer.

That is the truth of USG: for it to be damaging to a brand, it must be based in truth. If you listen to consumers and they do pose a valid concern, then you need to respond and act accordingly. If the statement is not based in truth, then your consumers, who are intelligent people, will pass it by.

True USG efforts demonstrate truth about the brand. Don't you agree?