May 26th, 2007
YouTube on Memorial Day? Forget the ketchup
Picnic ideas for Memorial Day? Who needs ketchup!
So suggests ABC in Chicago in a handy Dos & Don’ts for the holiday celebration:
“Since burgers and hot dogs don’t travel well and you won’t be bringing them, you don’t need all the condiments like ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, etc.”
That won’t be Memorial Day music to H.J. Heinz, ketchup that is. As the company is finding out as well, who needs user-generated ads, for ketchup?
“The High Price of Creating Ads,” New York Times:
“From an advertiser’s perspective, it sounds so easy: invite the public to create commercials for your brand, hold a contest to pick the best one and sit back while average Americans do the creative work.
But look at the videos H. J. Heinz is getting on YouTube.”
What is the problem?
“Companies have found that inviting consumers to create their advertising is often more stressful, costly and time-consuming than just rolling up their sleeves and doing the work themselves. Many entries are mediocre, if not downright bad, and sifting through them requires full-time attention. And even the most well-known brands often spend millions of dollars upfront to get the word out to consumers.”
So, users are NOT really in control, after all? Moreover, who really wants them to be!
I have been documenting and analyzing the user-generated ads movement, but I call it “User Involved Content,” because, at the end of the Web 2.0 day, multi-billion dollar brands MUST remain firmly in control! SEE:
Super Bowl 2007: Social media kickoff
MySpace, Facebook, NBC: Brands rule, not users
Intuit: Bad with YouTube, REALLY bad with IRS
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
ALSO: Why YouTube is a losing video proposition
