In the digital economy, user-generated content (UGC), content created by users of a brand’s products or services, such as images, videos and stories, is becoming increasingly important to brands. Brands can use this content to engage with customers, build trust and generate buzz.
User-generated content has a dual character, suggesting more engaged creativity while being incredibly cost-effective as a way to produce free content.
Freedman, 2016
An example of a successful UGC campaign is the Nike #justdoit campaign. This campaign encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to create content showing how they can achieve their goals.
There are currently over 15 million Instagram posts with the #JustDoIt hashtag. This content helps Nike to stimulate social media followers and comments, additional inquiries about the brand, shop visits and sales. Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook also have positive #JustDoIt posts.
For brands, brands can use UGC to their benefit.
The campaign encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to create content, such as videos, photos or stories, that showcase how they have achieved their personal goals.
Simpson
This allows Nike to connect emotionally with consumers by encouraging them to share their journeys and success stories. By doing so, Nike can create a strong brand image that resonates with consumers and builds trust. When people share their stories, they may tag the brand’s social media accounts, which will help increase awareness of Nike’s products and services. People tag items in the content of their posts, and other users can directly view the item’s purchase page, price, sales and other information. The campaign also allows Nike to collect valuable user data. As people create content for the campaign, Nike can better use this data to understand its customer base, preferences and interests. This data can then inform future product and marketing decisions, enabling a data chain.
For creators of UGC, this means connecting with brands and gaining extra exposure.
The campaign provides a platform for them to share their stories and potentially gain recognition and attention for their achievements. This could be particularly beneficial for creators looking to build their brand or gain exposure to their work. Also, because Nike is a well-known international brand and comes with massive exposure, UGC creators’ content will naturally gain more exposure because of the brand, which will also attract more users to share it. In addition, the campaign allows creators to have meaningful conversations with people who share similar interests and values, which can lead to new connections, relationships and friendships.
For consumers of the brand’s products, it is a new perspective on the brand and its wares.
The campaign provides a way for them to connect with people with similar interests and goals and to gain inspiration and motivation from the stories shared by others. It allows them to see how others have achieved their goals and inspires them to pursue their ambitions. This can be particularly beneficial for young consumers who are still trying to find their world. It also allows people to swipe through the shopping platform to find information about items and may have found an item they want to buy while swiping through ins in general, leading to a purchase.
Overall, the brand benefited the most from the #justdoit campaign.
- The campaign has enabled Nike to build a strong emotional connection with consumers, increasing the quality and impact of the brand culture.
- t the same time, the campaign led to more exposure for Nike merchandise featured in the tweets, which naturally led to more transactions.
- It also enabled Nike to collect valuable user data that could be used to inform future product and marketing decisions.
While the creators of UGC and consumers of Nike products benefit from the campaign, these benefits are secondary to the brands. However, all three groups can benefit to some extent, depending on their respective goals and objectives. In projects created by capitalists, the biggest beneficiaries are often the capitalists themselves, which applies to most brands.