Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of consumer-generated marketing.
In only a few short years, consumer-generated marketing has increased exponentially. It’s also known as consumer-generated media and consumer-generated content. More than 100 million Web sites contain user-generated content. You may be a contributor yourself if you’ve ever posted something on a blog; reviewed a product at Amazon.com; uploaded a video on YouTube; or sent a video from your mobile phone to a news Web site, such as CNN.com or FoxNews.com. This force has not gone unnoticed by marketers—and with good reason. Nielsen, the TV ratings giant, found that most consumers trust consumer opinions posted online. As a result, savvy marketers encourage consumers to generate content. For example, Coca-Cola has more than 3.5 million fans on Facebook, mothers can share information at Pampers Village (www.pampers.com), and Dorito’s scored a touchdown with consumer-created advertising during the past several Super Bowls. Apple even encourages iPhone users to develop applications for its device. However, consumer-generated marketing is not without problems—just search “I hate (insert company name)” in any search engine!