User Generated Pollution

 
I had the opportunity to be a part of a great dialogue Wednesday night at the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AIMA) event discussing Branding 2.0. Thanks to the Spunlogic team and all of the great AIMA sponsors and supporters for a truly wonderful event I was happy to be a part of. One of the hot, recurring topics was dealing with the risks related to consumer generated media and how to embrace user generated content. There is strong concern among large, conservative Fortune 1000 brands that CGM will erode the very fabric that brand stewards have fought so hard to protect.

The truth is that consumers already own the brands. They interact with them day in and day out. They evangelize and criticize. They share, throw away and often take a second look. For good or bad however, the consumer is in control. The consumer not only pays for the right to do so, but also has earned the right for sifting through the nonstop propaganda they are forced to endure. Being a peer to the process was raised as being a great way to embrace the digital currency that is user publishers. i must agree. Providing tools and inspiration is far more productive - and genuine - than dictating or setting up so many filters that the product will only be brandspeak.

We must be prepared to wrestle with the fact that not all engagement is flattery, but recent examples suggest that consumers are far more endearing to the brands they interact with than they are to condemn. Dove, Burger King, Doritos and even General Motors have made their brand highly vulnerable to the wishes of the consumer, but by and large the consumer is excited to engage and passionat about the brands they like. It is not a recipe for CGM execution, but it is an awakening for all those quick to criticize the idea, throw up shields of brand protection and retreat to one-way media.