YouVert

Good Friday

Seeing as it is good friday and all.........

Only 260 Days Left Until Halloween!

Nothing says D.I.Y. Media like making your own brand costume. This ancient (well, last year) article discusses fast food costumes you can make for you, your kids and your pets.

As if it were not bad enough that your supersize me diet of XL fries is on heavy rotation on your playlist, you can proudly use your creativity and show your brand love by unbecoming the brand and showing off to your friends.  Up the # of impressions by marching in your local Halloween parade.

I will be interested to see how many YouTubes, Yahoo and Wiki costumes pop up this year. We will personally pay $5 to every person who wears a creative YouVert costume this year. Game On!

LINK: Ultimate Brand Devotion

Now, that's what i'm talking about....

Roto Rooter has done it again!

CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A BIGGER VERSION

Consumer Generated Everything

So you have made your mash-ups of your favorite movie trailers, remixed your favorite songs, created the ads for all your favorite products and shaved your favorite sport into your head. Why not simply brand every aspect of your life as your own. Perhaps every company should simply OEM their products and let the consumer brand it as they want. You can already do stamps, shirts, credit cards and now (thanks to Guerrilla Innovation for finding...) BEER!

Yes, as long as you order 30 bottles or more you can create your own
label and have it sent to your house in under 4 weeks. Granted, you have to live in Denmark, but that is simply a hurdle to get over in your quest for the YOU branded life.

LINK:  Guerrilla Innovation - Personalized Beer Labels

The OG in CGM

There is so much buzz in the CGM space right now. I have spoken to 2 reporters on the topic in the last week and a bunch of other marketers (some of whom are already sick of it and others who love it). In fairness though, some of the first CGM for brands started way back literally in the hands of people.

Yes, I am talking about Corporate Tattoos.

Check this:
According to the International Trademark Association, the Harley tattoo is still the most widespread corporate logo tattoo in North America (Sheldon, et al. 2001).  In recent years, however, logo tattoos have spread out into other corporate brands: Nike, Adidas, Budweiser, Corona, Apple computers, Ford, Chevy, Volkswagen, just to mention a few.

This is from 2003, I can only imagine that the increased instances of inking (i³ of course) and the glut of more youth focused brands have increased the variety of brands that people are getting permanently implanted in their skin.

The fact is that people love brands. They think that certain brands (Nike, Apple, etc.) reflect who they are, what they stand for. It used to be The Grateful Dead, now it is Manga. Where once they were willing to be walking billboards, they are now using their creative thinking to communicate their passions (both branded and not) with the current tools of expression -  video/audio/animation/etc.

So while we are hot on the current trend, let's pay a little respect (cringing all the while) to those who were willing to go where we dare not.

LINKS:
Apple Ink
Disney Ink
Nike Ink
Harley Ink
VW Ink

Consumer Generated Emotion

Marc from EA shot this clip over to me earlier today. It is a great example about the power of YouTube and consumer generated content. Their is a real-ness to what users can bring that is often lacking in forced communications. The emovitve power and authenticity of how people present themselves and their passions is what gets me excited about the possibilities that CGM can bring. Users expressing themselves are always more interesting than some brand telling you what you 'should' feel about them.

Link: Check out YOUTUBBERS.

BONUS: If you have not viewed it yet, check out the vid of Noah Taking A Photo Of Himself Everyday for 6 Years.