Consumer produced advertising is still making a buzz- browse the latest. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Remember when citizen journalism was a novel idea? Now, average people equipped with video cameras, notebooks and mobile phones regularly cover everything from fires and overflow to violence on the streets of Myanmar. Combine this do-it-yourself movement with the idea that every thought and personal event is Facebook-worthy, and it seems sensible that citizen marketing is the newest form of consumer activism — one looked at by marketers as a potential holy grail.
980 million in 2006, according to PQ Media’s word-of-mouth marketing forecast. Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba in their publication, Creating Customer Evangelists. People, of course, have always acted as brand ambassadors by sharing suggestions with friends and associates. And for decades, marketers have built buzz with preview product and parties samplings, albeit targeted at influential mostly, often celebrity, customers. Now, however, these connections have become supercharged thanks to a new breed of brand ambassadorship programs that formalize the partnership between marketers and average consumers interested in their products. These programs “hire” consumers, via incentives and rewards, to act as part PR agents, part sales reps and part evangelists.
They blend the spontaneity of buzz building with technology to instigate, guide and measure what repeat customers say to each other about their brands. Sony, Unilever, Microsoft, McDonald’s and JetBlue, amongst others, are incorporating such programs into their marketing mixes. Consumers are selected based on their devotion to something and the size of their interpersonal circles.
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They are anticipated to tap into friends, family, resources and organizations through interactions, blogs, live occasions and online public media. These scheduled programs, which provide marketing materials also, sometimes ask these consumers to drum up local press coverage and coordinate brand sponsorships of charity or community events. Their activities are measured by things such as online traffic, amount of blogs, reader comments and e-mail responses, and just how many people participate in real-world events. Often, these reps create their own branding gimmicks.
700 worth of free consumer electronics equipment to discounts at local golf programs. Plus, they get insider access to company information, such as new products or services in the ongoing works. In order to avoid charges of deception, ambassadors are advised by marketers to openly reveal that they are representatives. Also, ambassadors’ online interactions and activities tend to be branded. Ambassadors do not need to over be 18 or.
Unilever’s “Go Green and Small With All,” that used in-classroom journal and Web advertisements to recruit individuals, targeted elementary school kids via a contest kept in October and November that looked for the greenest quality school in the united states. Its ambassadors were motivated to get their families to make small, green changes at home (like using concentrated All detergent) and also to spread top quality, eco-friendly messages.