After being introduced to SuperVirals.com recently I thought it was worth mentioning in a post because this seems like a great step in the right direction of letting people create content for companies. Yes, they’re promotions, but they’re content…user generated content in fact.

SuperVirals is an Australian based company that is coming soon to the United States. The idea behind SuperVirals is to create a destination where companies can sponsor contests where the people create the commercials. The contest winners are those who generae enough votes during the contest. The prizes range from free products to cash.

I really like this concept because you have people creating content for products rather than the companies creating ads or commercials themselves. In order to win each contestant has to drum up support for their work…which of course is promoting the product in the process. This user generated content is less likely to be considered advertising by the people who watch it because it’s user generated but we all know, of course, that these are advertisements in the end. That being said, a recent SuperVirals contest winner had just over 15,000 views for her video. That’s not bad but I don’t know I’d quite be able to call it viral. The quality of the content isn’t too super either. It’s pretty much what you expect…YouTube with a prize. This is still a good concept and one that, in time, can really take off. The users will make or break it here. The opportunity for the advertisers is low cost with a potentially high reward. I’m going to be very curious to see how it does in the States.

Yesterday I referenced a 2008 iMedia Brand Summit video talking about the blurring lines between ads and content. There were some great stats provided on the video and here were some that really stood out to me.

• 62% of consumers feel “there are too many ads in media.” (source: Yankelovich)
• 65% of consumers feel “constantly bombarded by ads.” (source: Forrester)
• 65% of consumers feel “bombarded by too many ads.” (source: McKinsey & Company)
• 75% of consumers feel “overwhelmed by the amount of media.” (source: NBC)
• 18% of consumers say they dislike all forms of advertising. (source: Doubleclick, January 2007)
• 39% of consumers claim they avoid advertising as much as possible. (source: JWT/Adweek survey, 2007)

Regarding trust in advertisers:

• In 2005, 25% of consumers said they trusted “people in who work in the advertising industry”…which means 75% don’t trust people who work in the ad industry. (source: HarrisInteractive)
• In 2007, 17% of consumers had any confidence in advertisers or the advertising industry…which mean 83% don’t have confidence in ads or advertisers. (source: mediaVillage.com)
• Today, 6% of consumers say they believe marketers’ ad claims…which of course means 94% don’t. (source: Forrester)

Conclusion: Forget the big fish.

I’ve noticed that people who have opinions about blogs and bloggers see them in one of two ways: either as fish or rats.

Fish are:

• Beautiful
• Admired
• Valuable
• Prized

Rats are:

• Disruptive
• Sneaky
• Hated
• Pests

The reason I bring this up is because some of us who happen to think blogs and bloggers are fish work with, for, or around people who see them as rats. It’s a huge divide when you think about it. If someone thinks they’re rats how can you convince them otherwise? You could talk about blog growth and hope they’re convinced that 100 million bloggers worldwide can’t all be wrong. You could give anecdotes of stories where bloggers have made and changed news stories or rallied around causes to help people. You could tell them that generating content is the new promotional strategy (and I would insert personal stories here) but that may not be enough either.

If I know I’m talking to someone who sees blogs and bloggers as rats rather than fish I generally try to find out how they arrived at their conclusion. Many times this idea developed from an experience (either one they had or something they heard about) where a blog was used in a negative way. Perhaps it was an attack blog or some kind or the perceived lack of control with a blog that made them uncomfortable. Whatever the case I haven’t yet discovered a sure-fire method of changing someone’s mind and I don’t think there is one but the best thing to do is to deal with the issues that led to the conclusion they now hold before dealing with their perspective of blogs and bloggers. Forget that they think blogs are rats. Deal with the reasons they think that. Take the time necessary to reconcile those issues. Only then will you have a chance to turn that rat into a fish.

I contend that content is the new promotional strategy because it cuts through the clutter of the 4,000 (on average) promotions that are targeted at us every single day. Content takes the focus off the advertiser/promoter and provides something of value to the consumer/audience. New media tools like blogs, podcasts, and online video are phenomenal ways to create content (on the cheap even) with the added bonus of being easy to go viral if the content is good enough.

What I’ve realized, however, is that even if you agree with me on this you may not be sure how to begin. Case in point: I was talking to a friend the other day about his blog, one where he’s been blogging regularly for about nine months now but only provides updates about what he’s doing and where his travels take him. He wants to really use his blog to build a platform and brand for himself so I challenged him to be creating content that’s not about him as much but rather has something of value to his blog readers. Inevitably his personality comes through and in the end it is about him, but just not as directly. I broke it down into five categories for him to consider as he thinks about creating valuable content.

The best way to remember the five categories is to think about Old McDonald…you know…Old McDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O…yeah, that one. Here are five categories of valuable content with Old McDonald in mind:

• E - Entertain: Entertainment is one of the easiest ways to create valuable content. We all know what it is to be entertained and hopefully we have an idea of what will entertain the people we’re trying to reach. This is one of the primary reasons I do a video of the week here. Humor is a great place to start when it comes to entertaining. Humor is valuable. Don’t underestimate the value you earn by making people laugh.
• I - Inspire: Inspiration seems to be in short supply these days so if you can do this successfully you’ll stand out. Thinking more generally here, consider this category the emotive or “touchy-feely” approach. The Free Hugs Campaign and Kleenex’s Let It Out campaign come to mind here.
• E - Educate: When you educate people you tell them how to do something or share some information that the will find useful or helpful in some way. LifeHacker falls into this category as does someone like Seth Godin who provides helpful ideas for marketers. Educational content can tell you how-to, when-to, why-to, where-to, and what-to do.
• I - Inform: When you inform you provide news or updates about something. TechCrunch is a blog that has done extremely well in this regard. They make news, break news, and report the news in the world of technology. The difference here from the educational approach is that when you inform you’re not telling, for instance, when-to do something but instead tell when-is something. Further, information says where-is, who-is, and what-is happening.
• O - Outrage: Controversy is actually a great form of content. Now, you have to be a little careful here because with controversy there are undoubtedly people who are for you and people who are against you (thus the controversy). Outraging your industry to help the consumers you want is a great way to use controversial content to your advantage. The Huffington Post and HotAir fall into this category in many cases.

It’s important to note that there’s really no clear line between these categories nor should you feel compelled to stay in only one. I suggest you look at all five categories as options for you to consider as you create content. In fact, some of the best ideas would really mix several of these basic elements like a entertaining and informative or educational and inspirational. So, next time you think about creating valuable content, hum a little Old McDonald in your head and see if you don’t get a few ideas going.

By the way, this is part of a presentation I gave at Podcamp Nashville over the weekend. You can download the entire presentation here.