Enter Tivo/ PVR and the internet. For the first time consumers gained a level of control over brands that marketers couldn't ignore. And whilst consumers couldn't control the message, they could certainly decide when, and if at all, they wanted to view it. In other words, the consumer became the channel planner, while the brand messaging, the big idea and the creative execution was still left up to the marketing departments and advertising agencies.
This was until the birth of a phenomena called User Generated Content.
With millions of consumer generated content submissions to date, YouTube is probably one the best examples of this trend. Last year a consumer shot and posted an ad on this site for Doritos. It cost next to nothing and apparently took only one day to produce, yet it ended up flighting as the new brand commercial for Doritos during the Superbowl, probably the most coveted advertising airtime slot in the States.
So, all of a sudden the consumer is not just planning the media schedule, but is actually generating ideas and developing the kind of executions they would like to see. Fundamentally, the way consumers engage with brands has changed, and we're seeing more of it every day.
For example, in a recent campaign for Joe Soda Co, consumers were encouraged to send in photographs that were then selected and used for the packaging of the drink. As a result an online gallery of over 400 000 shots exists.
Or, if you recently bought a pair of shoes from certain Camper shoe stores in Europe, you received a set of pens with which you could assist with the store design, leaving your scribbles of inspiration on the shop walls.
All of this of course raises a very interesting question. If consumers are not only controlling when and if they see a brand message, but also what that message will say and what it will look like, is there still a role left for an ad agency? I believe that our latest installment of American Idols gives us a clue to this answer.
There were thousands of entries into American Idols, numerous elimination rounds and votes often in excess of 30 million per episode. Yet still, somebody who must be the worst singer – Sanjaya - in the history of Idols, if you've watched it you will know, made it through to the top seven!
How? Because the consumers were voting for the “best” contestants and therefore dictating content. There was no quality control. It's a prime example of how consumers were controlling, and in turn wreaking havoc with a brand and people's perception of it.
Further proof of this can be found in YouTube's treasure trove of user generated content. Spend some time browsing the submissions and you'll soon realise that 95% of the content is complete and utter trash, with the gems very, very few and far between. Now I know I should not be so critical of the consumer, after all it was David Ogilvy that said ‘the consumer is not a moron, she is your wife', but the truth is that when it comes to recognising good musical talent, sharp art direction, great copy, or trying to create great ads, the consumer is not always the best candidate.
This makes it very clear that the role of the advertising agency in the ideas and creative space, undoubtedly continues to be a very necessary one.
In fact, most of the great consumer generated campaigns have been initiated by a big idea developed by an agency and then managed carefully off a platform that allows the consumer to interact and play with the brand in a controlled environment. Consumers managing channels and contributing to content signal an insistence on more engaging and more entertaining brand communication. The lesson to be learnt from all this is that consumers are enacting a zero tolerance policy on unimaginative brands, which is great news for advertisers as consumers seem to be asking for exactly the kind of advertising that agencies enjoy making.
However, the consumer is a far tougher client than marketers ever were and their demand for a relevant and entertaining platform off which to engage with their brands is very real. The advertising agencies that will be able to deliver this will be the ones that succeed in this new dispensation.
