Commentary

Just An Online Minute... Dove's Amateur Hour

Unilever's Dove is asking consumers to create a 30-second spot for a new Dove Cream Oil Body Wash. The company promises that the ad that "best captures the essence of the new products and the brand's philosophy" will air during the Oscars.

With this initiative, Dove becomes the latest in a string of companies using consumer-created ad campaigns. For instance, Frito-Lay recently solicited consumers to create an ad to air during the Super Bowl. And NBC invited fans of "The Office" to post promotions for the show on YouTube.

But before ad agencies feel too threatened by this reliance on amateur ads, they should keep in mind that such efforts are hardly free for marketers. Rather, the costs of running these contests, culling winning entries and, in the case of Dove and Doritos, transforming those to TV ads, are likely to be quite hefty.

Also, eventually, the talent is going to want to be paid. Consumers might be willing to create video clips for free for now, but once the novelty wears off, chances are they'll want as high a price as the market will bear.

In the long run, marketers, also, might not going to be willing to sacrifice the control that comes with having paid professionals at their beck and call.

In some ways, the current efforts to solicit user-generated media aren't that different from the jingle contests of years past. And, just as consumers of bygone eras, like Evelyn Ryan--subject of "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"--didn't displace the professionals, it's hard to imagine that the current crop of consumer-creators will put any agencies out of business.

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