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WikiBranding in action

A great example of wikibranding in action. Rats in a fast food joint is nothing new. Rats in a fast food joint on the evening news is nothing new. Consumers taking this story and making their own content on YouTube to spread the word about rats roaming freely in a Taco Bell/KFC is wikibranding in action...much to the brand's detriment.

Comments

Don Longfellow said…
I like the Wikibranding concept. To me, GM's sponsorship of The Apprentice feels like Wikibranding in action. Recall that they created a website that allowed people to make their own Tahoe commercials. The best commercials could win prizes like ski trips. Not surprisingly, a number of very negative commercials were created. More surprisingly, these commercials that lambasted Tahoe as a gas guzzler were left on the Chevy website (foul language and all) for a long time for all to see.

I don't think the moral of this story is to guard and protect your brand. Whether marketers like it or not, people want and are getting more control over the way brands are perceived. I say find ways to share information about your brand. Find the right people (your biggest fans?) to give a peak behind the curtain. Invite participation. But by all means, use some common sense. If you are selling gas guzzlers, tobacco, fatty fast foods... you may not want to invite a mass market of TV viewers to make commercials that will get posted for all the world to see.
David Murphy said…
Totally agree. Very brave and smart of Chevy to not bury those negative consumer-generated commercials. It's like the old saying...be careful what you ask for -- you might just get it!

Your point reminds me of another good example of WikiBranding. Apple is confident enough on its website to post customers' negative reviews and give them the same weight and exposure as it gives to positive reviews.

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