Manufacturing CGM

There was a time not too long ago when "CGM" and "UGC" were terms used to describe a broad category of digital communication originating with consumers about products and services. From discussion forums and review sites to blogs and social bookmarks, CGM represented a market dialog over brand reputations. At about the same time that these terms gained popularity (2H '05?), a kinder and gentler marketing sensibility started to take hold - one based on the idea that marketing departments need to listen, participate, become more transparent, take some lumps, and work hard to bring the market dialog into alignment with product development and brand marketing.

In the post-YouTube era, however, these terms have become much more narrowly focused to represent short, amateur video clips (pirated or otherwise) shared through ad-supported hosting services. And in a perfect storm of marketing dollars looking for opportunities to aggregate fragmented audiences, an overly exuberant market, and consumer hobbyists enjoying easier and higher quality video technologies, Madison Avenue has taken notice. Now associations for advertising professionals are hosting conferences on CGM and "creative shops" around the world are pitching contests to motivate consumers to submit video content that mention a product or service.

And now with exquisite predictability reporters on the beat are churning out story after story calling into question the wisdom of brand marketers who are launching CGM campaigns and getting scoops about how hard and expensive it is to harness the power of UGC for marketing objectives. The coverage in the major dailies over the past two weeks is impressive, not to mention all the writing in the trades. 

New York Times: The High Price of Creating Free Ads
Wall Street Journal: Anheuser Gives Web Channel Another Try
USA Today: KFC Mines Consumers' Videos for Ads

It seems to me that we have traded in what was once so compelling and powerful about CGM-driven marketing strategies - a model rooted in at least a modicum of authenticity which empowered customers to articulate and repackage value propositions based on real experiences and in a vernacular much more resonant than a piece of high-production advertising or marketing collateral. Now, for brand marketers, CGM is a hammer and every marketing objective is a nail - in particular, reach objectives. Unfortunately, CGM does not equal viral distribution. And under the dominant paradigm it rarely even involves message. 

Last week I had a conversation with a leading market research firm and the person I was talking to mentioned that they had recently been commissioned by a professional association to conduct a research program to determine if the explosion in CGM-driven brand marketing campaigns would siphon advertising dollars away from creative agencies because of the "low cost of production." We sure have come a long way in the last couple years. 

Tags: marketing advertising