Monday, February 28, 2011

Crash the Super Bowl

Doritos and PepsiMax decided to try something new and teamed up for Super Bowl XLV advertisements. They ran a competition called Crash the Super Bowl in which the winning video received a cash prize and was featured during the Super Bowl promoting either PepsiMax or Doritos. This competition allowed their consumers to be actively participating in the marketing process. They were either filming and submitting videos or choosing their favorite videos to be featured during the commercial spots.





This video, "Pug Attack," was the winning film chosen out of 5,600 competitors. The producer uses a "cute" pug dog and humor to set the scene. This commercial became a hit because of a viral marketing campaign set in place by the creators weeks before it was put on TV. In just a couple of weeks the video had tens of thousands of views on YouTube. This specific commercial was tied for the top commercial with another fan-favorite featuring dogs, "Dog Sitter," a Bud Light commercial.

Four of the consumer-created ads from PepsiMax and Doritos made the top-ten ratings from the USA Today Ad Meter. The success behind these consumer-created advertisements proves that you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money to create a successful or popular commercial. The idea of a competition involving the consumers is a correlation to the growing success of blogs, social networking and websites. These don't cost a lot to maintain but if done well, they can make a big impact on consumers and lead to success.

Do you think using consumer generated advertising is a good strategy for PepsiMax/Doritos?
Could the success behind consumer generated advertising change the advertising strategies for companies?

10 comments:

  1. I believe using consumer generated advertising is an excellent strategy because it gets the consumers more involved with the products being sold. I don't know much about advertising, but I would think it would be hard for advertising companies to keep up consumer generated and still make enough profit to keep their companies going. I guess that would just be a risk that they will have to be willing to take.

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  2. If I hadn't been told that this commercial was consumer made I never would have known! It definitely speaks to the fact that consumers can make effective and professional advertisements themselves. This could quite possibly be the next generation in advertisement, strengthened by the American public's obsession with the internet and related technology.

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  3. Thank you for your responses. Kasey, I definitely believe it's a strong strategy as well because companies can build brand loyalty as they allow customers to be involved. I do think the profit will be sustaining. Advertising costs will decrease with consumer-generated ads versus those created by executives. Nora, I really like your last statement.. our obsession with the internet and social networks could definitely contribute to this rising trend in advertising.

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  4. I find this commercial to be not only entertaining, but original. I believe the way larger corporations have dealt with advertising campaign budgets in the past, will change and shape the future on the marketing strategy. As this world becomes more socialized, interconnected, and outspoken, the potential for talent is endless. Take into account what people will do simply out of their creative nature to make something for free, so that others may enjoy. This consumer generated advertising campaign will surely shape the future of the way we market our product, services,and ideas...

    -Barrett

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  5. The Doritos commercial is one of the best consumer generated advertising. This type of advertising will create innovative ideas at a very low cost. Consumers are more likely to listen to people similar to them- it is the ultimate "word of mouth". Microsoft's I'm a PC compaign was generated by experts but used the consumer successfully to sell. I believe strictly "consumer generated advertising" as found on you tube,and other social medias will work best with known products- Nike, Honda, Apple,etc all have been successful. Consumers will not want see hundreds of these for every product out there. I don't believe this type of advertising is the end of the professional advertiser, just another way to market known products inexpensive and creatively. Consumers know what they want at the moment but may not see the long term vision of a product.

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  6. I agree with Lori. Consumer generated content will not be the end of professional advertising agencies. However, I'm sure some firms will feel the heat and pressure from their clients asking for more value and clear evidence of ROI. I would hope that the new competitive landscape will increase the quality of creative works.

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  7. Thanks for your input. I also agree that professional advertising will still be a presence. The success of consumer generated advertisement will just encourage companies to think outside the box and allow consumers to participate in the marketing process. I feel the statement made by Lori is a strong one, "Consumers are more likely to listen to people similar to them" this is very true. Using word-of-mouth in such big way is the reason social networking has become such an important tool for marketers. This same idea can translate to consumer generated advertising and may be a reason why more companies will turn to more creative ways to market in the future.

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  8. Here's an example of another consumer ad, by a digital arts student for a new phone. I watched it a couple times because I liked it - not something I would normally do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHkPiU9YAQk

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  9. The above is a good example of a consumer generated ad- but not all have shown companies or products in a positive light. One that proved to have a negative effect was when Chevy had a contest and at least one discussed the Chevy Tahoe as gas guzzling and many had comments that were anti- SUV.

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  10. I like this video too. It creates a sense of excitement for the Windows phone similar to the iPhone ads from Apple. Much better than the real ads from Microsoft.

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