[1] This term is generally used to refer to sponsored content on blogs, wikis, forums, social networking services, and individual websites.
[5][6] The practice of consumer-generated marketing has been in use for several years with the emergence of communal forms of information sharing including weblogs, online message boards, podcasts, interactive broadband TV, and other new media that has been adopted by consumers at the grassroots level to establish community forums for discussing their customer experiences.
Such a campaign invites consumers to share their ideas or express their articulation of what the brand means to them through their own personal stories, with the use of print media, film or audio.
The result provides the brand with a way to create a deeper connection with their core market, while also opening up new pathways to extend the relationship to new customers.
Whenever marketing decisions are the result of communing with the brand's audience to help drive the development of a campaign, they are engaging in "communal research."
For example, Peter Jackson, in the making of The Lord of the Rings, reached out to loyal followers of the book to help weigh in on some major directorial decisions.
Joel Moss Levinson won 11 consumer generated marketing contests, and earned more than $200,000 in money and prizes, by creating corporate jingles and short commercials.
Faithful customers tend to purchase more products and are often willing to pay more than the usual price, which in turn can boost an organization's cash flow.