Caught on Tape!

Following up on my post earlier this month about the recent obsession with consumer-generated ads, an article in the New York Times looks at how marketers' creative messages go farther with the help of camera-happy tourists:

As a result of the growing popularity of consumer-generated pictures, videos and e-mail messages on Internet sites like YouTube and Myspace, advertisers are getting consumers to essentially do their jobs for them.

Having consumers who are willing and able to share their marketing experiences with the world can be a blessing or a curse. That unsolicited publicity can work to a brand's favor if service is exceptional (take this video of the first-class cabin experience on Emirates Air, which has been viewed 163,000 times since being posted) or can be disasterous if an unpleasant interaction is caught on tape (as with this video of a Comcast cable technician asleep on a customer's couch, which has been viewed over 834,000 times). The bottom line: customers have more power than ever to make or break a company, and they are becoming wise to that fact.

There a number of blogs out there spotlighting bad (and sometimes good) customer service. Check out This is Broken, CRM Blog and Customers Are Always.