CGC for CGC

Produced by: Skye7

My very own consumer-generated content for a paper about consumers as elements of an ad agency: a.k.a CGC

ADV391K : Spring 2007

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CONTROL TRANSFERENCE

Posted Feb 23 2007 6:55 PM

Katherine Sternat, Jessah Ayala, and I were inclined to develop our own take on this prominent observation of consumer-generated content. We noticed, like many in the industry, that advertisers were beginning to lose control of how the brand’s image they were trying to build or maintain, was being undermined by those outside the industry, the consumers. It appears as though consumers were getting fet up with how the industry has overstimulated, disrupted, and monopolized their time. With this evolution of consumers as creators, many have used the social media to fight back, without fear, attempting to take control of their lives once again.

This phenomenon, termed Control Transference, by Sternat, identifies the consumers’ desire to control what they do with their time devoted to the persuasive communication of advertising. It represents a complete shift of control from the hands of the advertisers into the hands of the consumers. The consequence of this shift is described in terms of the advertiser’s actions, changing from “bullying to begging.” We feel, as a group, that it is inevitable for the industry to circum to this highly persuasive movement of the consumer’s eagerness to control the content given to them.

Some experts in the field, such as Hadji Williams, a 13-year copywriter and brand consultant for large brands like Coca-Cola, Ford, Cingular, and Aleve, agree. He asks, “Are we losing everyone (to) the marketing overload? No. But we're losing millions of eyeballs everytime we fail to connect. And sooner or later, we'll want those consumers back. And eventually we'll have to listen to them tell us what's an acceptable way to market to them” (Brownstein). It’s ironic, that the advertising industry, who is historically at the forefront of persuasive communication, is having to switch roles with the once lowly consumer, causing advertisers to be at the mercy of their wants and needs.

We demonstrate this phenomenon through series of examples in our own consumer-generated short-film “Control Transference,” by using still photos, our own collection of music, and iMovie. To watch the short 15-minute film in its entirety use the "Related Links"

Note: Some credits were unfortunately cut from the film. We’re still novice film editors. Names missing: Katherine Sternat, Christine Leseman, and Jessah Ayala, with special thanks to Professor Gene Kincaid.