Co-creation is a new, important media direction for Brand managers trying to find cost-effective ways to reach fewer, more relevant people online (read my top 7 benefits to Brands below). One of the major challenges with online advertising and promotions is in reaching the early adopters/thought leaders with the right message. These people typically do not click on banners, hate spam and are too savvy to fall for link bait. There are also complex issues around Brand Trust that make people wary of clicking on offers.
The problem with UGC (User Generated Content) is, as anyone dealing with UGC already knows, err..well, all those Users really. They make a lot of noise—some is interesting, but most is noise. UGC can fill your site with a lot of content, but how much of it is 1) relevant 2) monetizable?
Example: UGC problems at YouTube. While they are serving 1.2 billion streams per day how much of it is worth watching or not infringing? YouTube has a commercial partner program to try to sift out the good from the bad and reward stuff that adds value. It is hard to imagine just how many take-down notices they process each day? Millions? When YouTube kills an account for breaking the community standards, there is a flare of angst against them.
