Ad Lib: When Customers Create the Ad

摘要

Traditionally, organizations have created advertisements, and customers consumed them. The intentions of advertisers have been reasonably clear: Organizations use these messages (mostly in broadcast or print media) to inform, persuade, or remind present and potential customers of their offerings or of the organization itself.1 Consumers, on the other hand, have been passive recipients of the communication, reacting to it either by becoming aware, or by being swayed to do something they might otherwise not have done, or by having their memories jogged and reinforced. Most of the time they will simply ignore the advertisement's message. However, things have begun to change. Now customers are crafting ads and broadcasting them. The creation of advertisements is no longer the prerogative of the organization or its designated ad agency, and the consequences are significant.