Does User Generated Advertising Start Here?
This video raises so many questions - the first one being is it really user generated? Trader Joe’s is certainly the kind of brand that could inspire such a high form of praise from its customers - their products, the in-store experience, as a regular there I’ve always found everything about the place to be exceptional. But this is still really slick. The whole trying-to-make-it-look-like-it-was-filmed-on-a-Treo-even-though-it-clearly-wasn’t-filmed-on-a-Treo thing could be a giveaway, or not.
The real questions start when you assume it is genuine. What then? This is a clear departure from viral marketing instigated by the company that stands to benefit from it, and the rules are very different. Trader Joe’s, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn’t produce an ad where the narrative was quite so focused on the honestly come-by experience of a single fan. But that is it’s genius. Is there a point in the future when non-user generated ads will no longer be credible? If this catches on, shouting too much about your own company might become socially unacceptable, like creating your own glowing reference on Wikipedia.
We are already at the point where companies are under more pressure than ever to be transparent, create real meaning rather than empty slogans, and genuinely add value to the customers lives with their ad campaigns. Is the next logical step, or perhaps the step after that, the death of the company-generated advert? It sounds ridiculous now of course, but then again so did user generated music distribution.
February 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
[…] quando o próprio público começar a fazer propaganda. Ou já começou? O Matt Mason discute isso a partir do vídeo acima - é viral? é real? As únicas certezas são a infâmia ao usar “Águas de Março” e […]
February 12th, 2009 at 9:27 am
User generated advertising has been happening for some time. All the apple I’m a mac mashups, or this 2.8million views logitech “ad”, which I’m sure helped inform and sell some product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o32oHGTOzTE
If you are a smart marketing department, advertising has been free for a while.
February 12th, 2009 at 10:54 am
In my opinion, what matters in this case is that the idea was very creative and most brands should welcome this sort of initiative. However, brands can’t count on this sort of ‘love’ manifestation to communicate with the market. That would be the reason why marketing and ad professionals would be necessary’…’for now’.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I doubt it was user generated, how could they get a before and after shot of the products dissapearing? Unless they went in every day and filed a bunch of stuff in case it dissapeared. And I doubt the manager would be so funny while kicking them out. But I guess this si where we are going, where companies try to imitate amateurs to make it look less like advertising.
February 12th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Great post. The “before and after” is easily faked. The manager is a plant. No prob. But a great vid. And, more importantly, a great commentary on piracy.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:51 am
As far as I know, Trader Joe’s is owned by a German outfit, Aldi, itself a privately held company. Anyway, we have a Trader Joe’s just up the road and I like it a lot. I think there keen prices are due to their MASSIVE buying power of such things as obscure Belgian dark chocolates etc. (sorry, off topic a bit)
February 15th, 2009 at 9:52 am
As far as I know, Trader Joe’s is owned by a German outfit, Aldi, itself a privately held company. Anyway, we have a Trader Joe’s just up the road and I like it a lot. I think their keen prices are due to their MASSIVE buying power of such things as obscure Belgian dark chocolates etc. (sorry, off topic a bit)