Now, consumers script advertisements

A prominent banner on the home page of an Indian advertising website, Agencyfaqs.com, screams, "I am sacking my agency." The message is from Darshan Mehta, CEO, VF Arvind Brands. The message is not targeted at advertising agencies, which can launch a quick pitch for the denim brand Lee's account.

Instead, this communication is targeted at ad enthusiasts to think up a witty ad slogan for Lee jeans. After brands, such as Sunsilk, TVS Apache and Cadbury's, set up interactive sites for brands, Indian companies are now gearing up to channel consumer-generated content. And it's happening with the active role of advertising agencies. Mehta says their
initiative was designed in consultation with their ad agency, Alok Nanda Communications.

This is not a stray instance. There are others who are moving up the same alley in India and abroad. Consumers created more than 22,000 ads on Chevy's site for the automobile brand, Tahoe, that's primarily sold in North America. In another international example, students at the University of Kent are designing advertisements for restaurant chain
Chipotle.

Even in India, the trend is also moving beyond just creating advertising campaigns. Biscuits major Britannia has presented a marketing challenge to business schools for devising a strategy for the launch of a sugar-free range of biscuits and a Marie variant. The final results will be judged by a panel on November 3 at Mumbai's engineering and
management school, NITIE.

However, while consumer-generated content is much in vogue, it can also be a double-edged sword - consumers may not always upload positive content. Leo Burnett's global chief Tom Bernardin cited the example of automobile brand, Chevy Tahoe, when he was in India some time back.

Consumers created online commercials for the Tahoe, putting together video clips and music tracks and writing their own copy. However, only 16 per cent of the 22,000 ads submitted were negative and more than 5.5 million people interacted with the site.  Chevy also used its blog to directly address criticism.

Mehta firmly believes that interactive advertising and communication is the way forward. "Traditional advertising is moving to new-age media," he said.

In Lee's case, the contest leads Internet users to navigate Lee website, which has contests and interactive forums. Advertising agency executives agree. Santosh Padhi, executive creative director, Leo Burnett, said, "With more customers preferring to spend time surfing the Internet, it becomes easier for brands to reach to their right audience.

However, the added advantage is the response generated," Pranesh Misra, president and COO, Lowe Lintas, added, "Consumer-generated content builds their involvement in the brand." But he is quick to add that it cannot replace the role of the ad agency, as there is more to advertising than creative ideas.