The Summary

Media: Photos only
Winners Chosen By: Public, Panel of VIP Judges

The Oly Awards were created by Adhack, to celebrate the best of brand advertising during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. A Flickr group, several photowalks near the Olympic venues and a Strutta photo contest comprised the low-cost, highly interactive campaign.

The Execution

From February 12 to 28, The Oly Awards collected crowdsourced photo submissions of advertising associated with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games (from official Olympic partners, and "unofficial" advertisers as well) on the popular photo-sharing website Flickr.

Adhack CEO James Sherrett wanted to guage the interest in the idea before proceeding with a contest. They met and exceeded the targets that they set for themselves: 50 photographers and over 500 photographs in just over a week. In the end, more than 85 photographers contributed 800+ photos of Olympic-related advertising campaigns.

The second phase involved using Strutta to determine the public and VIP panel of judges' picks for the best advertising execution at the Olympics. Marketing representative Janis Behan led several photowalks in Vancouver, and rallied photographers to submit photos.

The Adhack team also set goals for the photo contest. They wanted to have over 100 of the best photgraphs entered in the contest before the start of judging, and once again they met their targets in a very short time.

A "Pro" Strutta account was used, and Adhack provided their own design and administration.

The end of the campaign was an awards "show" featuring Behan and Sherrett:

The End Game

The contest was designed to measure a number of different metrics that are relevant to Adhack and its community. First, the level of participation around the Olympic advertising and Flickr photo group was measured and considered before proceeding with the contest. During the contest, the number of submissions, votes, comments and feedback were considered. Judges were also given an extensive evaluation form, where they rated the leading brands selected during the public voting round.

The contest was a success on several levels. Adhack community participation numbers were way up, and the Adhack concept was exposed to a large number of new creatives and ad agencies by way of the campaign. Adhack even received thanks and feedback from many of the brands they were evaluating: both official Olympic partners, as well as some of the "unofficial" advertisers as well.

The Analysis

By setting specific goals for the campaign, the Adhack outlined a plan for themselves, and stuck to it. It's important to note that the success of this campaign did not happen automatically. In a testament to the effectiveness of (properly executed) social media and online engagement, Janis rallied community members at every turn - planning photowalks, conversing on Twitter, reaching out and commenting on Flickr, and along with Sherrett publishing several blog posts and videos during the 17 day campaign.

Additionally, Adhack was anything but shy about letting people know what the campaign was about. As a footer to most of the blog posts and campaign announcements, they ran this call to action:

Want to talk about how crowdsourcing and creativity can help your brand?

AdHack works with agencies and brands big and small to put crowdsourcing to work for them.

• Call us: 1-877-477-5697
• Email us: sales@adhack.com
• Get the full AdHack contact details.

Do get in touch now and we’ll find the right fit for you.

The Numbers

To boost the awareness of Adhack among the advertising agencies working on the Olympics, the local advertisers trying to ebenfit from Games-related exposure and among creatives, Sherrett decided that by setting goals from the outset, they would drive the success of the campaign. It worked, and introduced Adhack to a number of new prospects, while garnering them plenty of online attention in the process.

Flickr photo pool of Olympic advertising: 88 members, 837 photos to date
Strutta photo contest: 115 photo entries and over 4000 unique views

The Winners

With the help of their expert panel of judges, Adhack selected an overall brand winner, as well as a "Best Photgraph" from among the submissions. Both were presented with a prize of an original piece of artwork from Vancouver artist Rachael Ashe. And the winners are:

Best Brand: Coca-Cola

Best Photograph: Kim Werker

Hudson's Bay Co. Downtown Covered in Its Own Ads - kpwerker on Flickr

If you have questions about running your own photo or video contest, contact us and we'd be happy to help you get started. 1-877-477-5717

In a brave move that could prove to be a major turning point in big brand marketing, Pepsi has decided against doing a Super Bowl ad in 2010, and investing their $20M or so in social media instead.

Meanwhile, at Strutta HQ, we collectively raise an eyebrow. We used to point to Doritos' crowd-sourcing efforts to produce their Super Bowl spot as the ultimate use of user generated content in advertising. After all, that (now 3 year) campaign was birthed in part by our CEO, Ben Pickering. Now, a huge brand has publicly opted out of the bloated Super Bowl advertising one-uppance pissing contest, and is diverting all (not just some) of the funds they would have spent into connecting with Pepsi drinkers online. It makes you wonder whether the next step will involved abondoning tv ads altogether. Time will tell.

This news came to us in the form of a presser released this morning by our neighbors at Adhack. We also found this interview with a spokesperson for PepsiCo.

“Pepsi’s $20-million commitment to social media instead of its Super Bowl commercial is a substantial shift in where they put their marketing efforts, and a groundbreaking shift in how they can measure their return on investment," said Adhack Founder James Sherrett. "It’s a smart move.”

PepsiCo Spokesperson Nicole Bradley confirms that the soda pop company has given this some thought, and they expect it to be a better investment, long term. "...our beverage brands' marketing strategy in 2010 [is] less about a singular event and more about a movement, said Bradley. "We are always looking to further develop our two-way conversation with consumers."

So what comes next? How should Pepsi divert those funds to get the most out of the web, and best connect with fans of the syrupy, bubbly stuff? If you're asking us, we'd like to see some of that invested in online contests and with the talented creatives that make-up the Adhack community, for starters. Seems to us to be a great way to reflect Pepsi's fanbase, and help to distance them from the Britney Spears/Michael Jackson high budget spectacles of old.

If you want to know more about how to invest in marketing on the web and put online photo and video contests to work for you, contact us. We'd be happy to answer your questions. During office hours (Pacific time) we can be reached at 1-877-477-5717.

Amid the champagne, caviar, yachts and glamour (we assume, as we've never had the pleasure) of the International Cannes Advertising Festival, 'twas an online video contest that took three Grand Prix Awards; surely stunning the crowd in attendance.

And this was no user generated Super Bowl Ad, but rather an elaborately planned tourism campaign for a small island in Australia. But then, if you haven't heard of "The Best Job in the World," you may have to trade in your rock for better accommodations.

Fast Company's Rohit Bhagarva gives a great post-mortem of the campaign, and offers "6 Lessons from the Best Marketing Campaign Ever."

Here's a taste:

6. Give your promotion a shelf life. The best thing about this campaign may just be the content yet to come. Ben, the winner, just started blogging and sharing videos and photos, but the content is already engaging, high quality and inspires you to dream of making it to Queensland yourself. Over the next six months, his itinerary will take him across the state of Queensland and unlock many other unique opportunities. Best of all, this content will live on far beyond the time span of the campaign.

We're all on our feet, applauding the agency behind this little stunt, Nitro- who we understand have done quite well for themselves after turning the $1.7M campaign into a very impressive calling card, and quite literally putting an island (not to mention the online video contest industry) on the map.

In case you hadn't already heard, this week Motrin (the pain medication) released a new commercial. Days later they had already pulled it and issued a public apology.

Before we go into too much detail, let's start by watching the video in question, and then we'll try to figure out what all the fuss is about:

After the release of the commercial, the online buzz started. "Mommy bloggers" the internet over were incensed with the ad, and demanded a public apology. Twitter was, as they say atwitter, with requests for boycotts and plenty of other commentary on the matter. One letter, from the President of Babywearing International Inc (a non-profit promoting the benefits of wearing your baby) reads: 

We are deeply troubled by this campaign for the following reasons:

- It disparages babywearing mothers by portraying them as victims of a painful fashion trend;

- It falsely states that baby carriers "put a ton of strain" on the wearer's back, neck, and shoulders;

- It falsely implies that mothers who wear their babies "cry more" than those who don't;

- It portrays the research-proven benefits of babywearing as rumor or speculation subject to doubt;

- It disparagingly implies that babywearing mothers look "tired and crazy;" and

- It was timed to run during International Babywearing Week, November 12-18, 2008, when nonprofit babywearing groups all over the world are celebrating babywearing, and thousands of volunteers are working to publicize the benefits of babywearing and to encourage the practice of babywearing.

Just as we are working to create community support for this beneficial practice so that no parent will ever again be harassed or ridiculed for babywearing, McNeil is perpetuating an image of babywearing parents as silly people who make irrational choices to be in fashion. Your "mom-alogue" could hardly be more ill-timed, off-base, or damaging to babywearing parents or to parents who have yet to reap the benefits of babywearing.

That should help clear up why moms responded so passionately, but the real question is, "What was Motrin thinking?" 

Maybe it's the fact that I'm a dad who occasionally finds himself wearing just such a carrier, or maybe it's just the marketer in me, but I have to side with the baby wearers on this one. If Motrin had meant to target moms with their ad, then they had to have known it would be a dismal failure. The ad drips with sarcasm and flippancy, and offers very little in the way of empathy for moms at all.

A common response to the mommy blogger backlash has been to dismiss their response as hyper-sensitive, and I'm sure there are bloggers out there that fit that stereotype. But here's a newsflash: every parent I've met is sensitive in one way or another about their child-rearing practices, so a room full of ad agency-types should have known they should tread lightly around such a touchy subject. 

There's been plenty of discussion about it here in the office as well. James has already published his thoughts on the Adhack blog, linking to spoof vids that have already found their way to the web. Since he has already said what i intended to, I'll just reference him:

Perhaps Motrin will commission their next ad from their customers. They’ve proven able to create compelling ads. They’ve proven passionate about the products. They’ve proven they can connect and direct attention.

So, instead of guessing what they want, why not work with them and let them say what they want?

Now that sounds like it provides some pain relief.

Well said. I would go even further and say that since Motrin's brand has suffered such a huge blow, that they have no choice but to reconnect with that most influential demographic as quickly as possible, and only a sincere effort to listen will heal the wounds. 

Marketers, remember first and foremost that your customers now have a voice too, and you should never speak about them as if they're not listening. Instead, engage them at every opportunity and adapt to their feedback. Not just in a reactive way just when things go bad, but all the time. Their stories are more powerful than the ones written by your agency anyhow. 

Oh and Motrin...If you're listening, we'd be happy to provide the software platform that lets you bring these stories to light, and even lets the public or a panel of judges tell you which ones are the best ;) 

In November of 2005, two dudes in white lab coats and protective glasses dropped pieces of Mentos (the fresh maker!) into bottles of Diet Coke. Geysers of soda erupted from the bottles, video cameras recorded the action and the resulting video of "Experiment #10" was just the start of what can only be described as an internet phenomenon.

By the time they had reached Experiment #137 (above), kids were already buying Mentos by the handful and making their own fountains and rockets the world over.

To their credit, Mentos was thrilled. In spite of early indifference, Coke managed to finally come around to appreciating the new life its brand had found on the web as well. This serves as just one example among many of regular folks using the internet to discuss, evangelize or even criticize brands and products, of their own will. Like anything new and exciting (not to mention cheap or free), advertisers were scrambling to find a way to generate viral successes of their own, sometimes with undesired results. 

When done right though, advertising that comes directly from fans of brands is the very best kind. It's the new media equivalent of a testimonial, but also proof that the creator was dedicated enough to put a considerable amount of time into creating it. To say that this kind of advertising is more genuine and convincing than the status quo would be something of an understatement.

New business models are even springing up as a result of this exciting trend. Take for example Adhack, a local startup based around "people powered advertising," offering advertisers a chance to access the talents of all manners of small creative agencies and home-based media creators for considerably less expense than a traditional mainstream media model. 

To recap some of the more successful examples of User Generated Advertising, we talked to Adhack's Founder, James Sherrett via email, who pointed us to a few successes in this space. 

James' picks:

1. Doritos. (Also currently running a UK contest on YouTube)

Their main web presence is now dedicated to "Snack Strong Productions," which is all about user generated ads, and a conest that could see those ads run during the most expensive airtime on North American network TV. As James notes, "They've bought Super Bowl ad space for 3 consecutive years for user-generated ads." 

2. Heinz. Their "Top This" TV Challenge is now in Round Two, having already chosen a winner from the first round.

3. Utilikilts. Not the biggest brand in this list, and something of a niche product (kilts for everyday wear!) but they've been accepting and running "Mock-u-mercials" since their beginning. As James notes, "It's not trendy for them, it's just the way they roll." They've got loads of them too; a great exmaple of brand affinity among their customers.

4. Apple. Nick Haley's iPod Touch commercial went from fan-generated "for fun" project to being aired on TV, seemingly overnight. Haley explains it best: "I loved the look of the new iPod Touch, found this music, and thought it was perfect for it. I made a commercial using material from apple.com and editing in Apple's Final Cut Pro." 

Watch it in full, complete with YouTubey grey messiness at the front: 

Our thanks to James for these suggestions, and a tip to would-be advertisers thinking of using this model: Make sure that the video player you choose to use for your submissions has an option to embed the commercials on sites other than your own! That is, after all, the point of all of this, is it not? 

If you have more examples of a great fan-built advertising or media submission contests, or if you just want to share your thoughts on the above, feel free to do so in the comments. 

*James Sherrett photo by Kris Krug.