Coca-Cola is among a new wave of established brands that are experimenting with consumers as co-creators for their branded content. Last October, the megabrand launched Coke x Adobe x You, inviting fans of the popular drink to create branded content that depicts unifying experiences from real consumers around the world.
According to James Sommerville, Coca-Cola’s vice president of global design, the brand started its crowdsourcing journey with a single thought: “What would happen if you just gave the world’s designers three or four simple tools and a short brief?”
Coca-Cola’s move to engage consumers as co-creators breaks the long-held agency model that many brand marketers still subscribe to. While brands will always need their creative agencies, opening the doors to creator input enables them to “find the hidden gems” that will power their social content strategy.
Brands Turn to Influencers for Digital Content Creation
More and more brands are making similar moves when it comes to influencer content, with 86% of marketers today using influencer marketing to fuel their content marketing strategies, 88.5% of whom find the influencer content to be a valuable part of their marketing plan. As marketers repurpose influencer content to improve the performance of their paid, owned and earned media, they are starting to view influencers more as content partners than a media channel.
The move to incorporate more consumer- and user-generated content does not mean that brands will cut ties with their agencies completely. There will always be an important role for the creative agency to play. However, it does signal a shift in how brands will approach their creative strategies in the future. Influencers are becoming a vital piece of the content strategy as brands continue to see the benefits of crowdsourcing (thousands of minds always yield more ideas than a select group of individuals).
And as a strong proponent of honest, authentic, and engaging content, Linqia applauds the brands, like Coca-Cola, who are collaborating with influencers and consumers to fuel their content marketing. We’ve seen firsthand just how effective influencer content can be at capturing authentic experiences and inspiring action.
For detailed case studies and insights about how brands are doing this successfully today, download a complimentary copy of The Value of Influencer Content 2017.
Photo: Submitted creations from Coke x Adobe x You
