How Mature is UGC?
I thought about that question as I read an article in the NY Times about Joel Levinson and his knack for taking home the top prize. If you watch the video I have posted above you may agree with me and say that Joel is hilarious.
When I did a search for ‘video contests’ I saw that there were over 11 brands competing for the first page of results in the sponsored results. The first page of the natural results was made up entirely of user-generated video contests (some of which may have expired).
I also thought that there must be places where people like Joel get their info. And there was, a site such as Online Video Contests is very reminiscent of the sweeps sites that give “sweepsters” a continual list of places where they can “enter to win.”
What I’m getting at is, what’s this form of promotion worth anymore? It used to be an innovative way to capture unique expressions from customers on your brand? Or is this a mature market that doesn’t even have the ROI (where return is sales) that typical retail/sales promotions tie themselves to?
“Joel Moss Levinson always knew he had a calling in life. But it took cheap video cameras, YouTube and some desperate corporations to show him what it was.
Mr. Levinson’s skill is turning out homemade corporate commercials — what advertisers call a form of “user-generated content.” Companies, frantic to connect with younger consumers, sponsor contests seeking these commercials to find new ways to advertise their products, often attracting hundreds of entries and lots of attention.
So far, Mr. Levinson, a college dropout with dozens of failed jobs on his résumé, has won 11 contests — earning more than $200,000 in money and prizes. His success has made him into the digital age version of Evelyn Ryan, the woman from Defiance, Ohio, who supported her family by winning commercial jingle contests in the 1950s and ’60s.”
