CGC between enthusiasm and skepticism
January 4, 2007 by Ancutz
Customer generated media is the newest marketing channel, offering companies the opportunity to build a trustful relationship with their customers.
Allowing the consumer to have a part in the creative process means two things in my understanding:
- for the customers, is the easiest and the most unconstrained way to talk about their needs, their relationship with the products and future expectancies;
- for the company, customer generated advertising is more than advertising, is an invaluable resource that if is researched and well understood surely can create a better brand loyalty;
According to a new study from the American Marketing Association, adults aged 25 to 64 years believe that companies using CGC are more creative (56%), more innovative (55% ) and more customer - friendly (65%) than the ones using professional, classical advertising. On the opposite side, the younger adults, with ages between the 18 and 24 years, are more likely to say that organizations using customer created ads are less trustworthy and less customer friendly.
How is it that young adults, dreadfully creative at this age, are so skeptical? What is the reason behind their skepticism? Why them and not the oldest respondents? After a long discussion with my friends the only answer to these questions we found it out was: the experience. 
