Guru’s Take:  On average, my Mom-marketing partner, Kat Gordon of Maternal Instinct, and I hear about 5 new Mom sites a day. Some are built by pros; some are one-woman’s-passion, some are the offspring of women’s groups like Ladies Who Launch; some are non-profit or eco-Moms; some are online stores with Mom-centric products. Many are bootstrapping, searching for sponsors or Angel funding or trying to limp along on Google Adwords. Everyone is scrambling for alliances, partnerships and buzz. 

Despite the wellspring of Moms online, we can’t help but wonder how many of these sites will survive.  Lately, we’ve had so many come to us for our BrainFeed Brand Stategy Sessions that we’ve been too busy for even some very promising properties.   Obviously, we’re all for the trend toward Mom Power and MOM WOM, but in the absence of a compelling brand personality, niche, and strategy, even the highly connected, heavily funded sites are not necessarily shoe-ins.  And it only gets trickier as more major media players enter the fray.

Skip Ratazzi’s. Here Are Four Virtual Madison Avenues To Whet Your Creativity.

With Mad Men stirring up everything from fashion to the Emmys, it’s time to take a look at the boomlet in virtual Madison Avenues. Once upon a time, wannabee creatives had no choice but to pack their portfolios and head toward Madison Avenue in hopes of finding a sympathetic Creative Director who might pony up a spot in the bullpen or junior copywriter cubbyhole.

Today, with User Generated Content moving beyond phenomenon into mainstream, there are more opportunities than ever to play Don Draper or Peggy Olson from your Mac Mini in Rhinelander, Wisconsin or while parked at an Internet cafe in Corfu. A growing number of sites offer everything from advertising and branding contests to online brainstorming, talent markets, and virtual name/idea generation. Many offer a place to post your profile and portfolio. Others have social networking features and encourage community building. Some promise compensation while others are designed for self-expression, the sheer love of creativity, and sometimes, simply coming to the rescue of your right-brain-blocked fellow artistes.

These newer ones differ markedly from sites like elance.com, which focus largely on skills and services rather than pursuit of the elusive Muse. Elance is about functionality and commodity — finding the best you can for the buck from whatever country– while with Bootb, for example, being global is not in the least about outsourcing.

Take at look at these four virtual Mad Avenues.

Here’s how Bootb describes itself: (Count how many times and ways it uses the word ‘planet’)

BootB is the Pitching Engine that brings Brand Builders and Creative Brains together. All around the Planet!

What is the usual way for Brands to quest for Creativity? If they have the opportunity to choose, they start a pitch and select the best proposal from a limited number of participants. BootB is designed as an online alternative to that process that has no offline limitations.

BootB platform is built to run Pitches. You can start your own Pitch and get Solutions from an unlimited number of Creators from anywhere on the entire planet. In this case we will call you a Brand Builder. Or you can participate in any Pitch you like and publish your Solutions that will be received directly by a Brand. Then we will call you a Creator.

As a result - instant access to Unlimited Creativity for everyone on the planet!

Guru’s Take on Bootb. $$$  This site is dead serious about this planet stuff, offering content in 12 languages and even making up their own special jargon-rich Bootb lingo. The look is hackneyed black and white with neon colors used for that handwritten, I-am-too-hip for Helvetica ambiance. The projects do indeed appear to be international, with a shopping center in Russia, an Italian magazine being marketed in China, UNICEF and big brands like Clearasil and Lego. Compensation ranges from $800 on upwards to around $12,600, with a (seemingly introductory) Bootb prize of $100,000.    I wish I could get past Bootb’s annoying attempts to be coolier-than-thou because I do appreciate the global opportunities. But the silliness of ‘becoming a Citzen of the Bootb Re-publi-ca” and other time-wasters ruin what could be a genuinely cool place.

BrainReactions is an online brainstorming site, with several levels of access, ranging from Free to Ultimate at $199 a month. Here’s what they say about themselves:

Do you need fresh, actionable, innovative ideas?

BrainReactions exists to serve organizations that need to look both inside and outside themselves for ideas for new products, programs and promotion. No organization has a monopoly on thinkers or thought. Often, it is an idea from someone from outside the corporate environment, who has no particular interest in or knowledge about the organization who can provoke a turn to a new, winning way.

In addition to customizing, teaching, and facilitating “idea generation for innovation” sessions within organizations, BrainReactions provides “Outside Insight” for our clients, perspective that is intentionally external to an organization and its culture. BrainReactions brainstorms generate a huge number of ideas in a short period of time to stimulate an organization’s innovation process. The sheer volume of ideas produced in our work invariably gives rise to a number of good, actionable ideas for our clients.

Guru’s Take on BrainReactions. I really wanted to like BrainReactions, especially as it was founded by Cheeseheads at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Plus I have rich, robust experience as an Ideator, Trained Brain, Generator, Idea Bunny, whatever label you’d care to use. So over the past couple of months, I spent a good deal of time on the site, contributing ideas to a wide variety of posted open brainstorms. It can be fun and kind of addictive. The problem is the lack of incentive — and I don’t just mean money. Day after day I posted gems and never got even the slightest ‘thank you’, response to my posts or even an update on progress. I tried opening a room or two for my projects and got largely drek. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the creative stimuli, which I agree, can come from anywhere or even from the drek-iest idea. Interestingly, the Monjee contest, promising a grand prize of $150, generated the most for the site: 826 ideas.

It is entirely possible that BrainReactions consulting services, which seem to be extensive, are as fresh, actionable and innovative as they say. But their online brainstorming site, which while functional, simple and a no-brainer to use, doesn’t have what it takes to make it a truly useful business creativity tool.

CrowdSpring is based in another one of my favorite former hometowns, Chicago. CrowdSpring calls itself a Marketplace for Creative Services. Buyers can post a project, asking for a new logo, website, marketing materials or custom illustration, and indicate how much they’re willing to pay. Creatives then view the information and decide whether they’d like to participate. CrowdSpring says:

Watch the world participate
Once posted, Creatives from all around the world will work on your project and you’ll begin to receive actual work - not proposals or bids - to review.
Choose the one you like
As the entries come in, you’ll be able to review, sort, rate, give feedback and collaborate with Creatives until you find ‘the one”.
1. Create your profile
We built a little section of the site just for you where you can tell the world about your skills and upload your portfolio for all to see.
2. Participate to projects
With new projects posted every day, you can reach customers all over the world and build your business. And, since it’s a truly level playing field, you won’t be judged by how fancy your offices are - it’s all about your work.
3. Earn money
We manage the entire billing and payment process for you and there’s never a cost - you keep 100% of the money you earn.

Guru’s Take on CrowdSpring. $$ Here’s the glitch. If you don’t get enough participation, odds dive on finding what need. And because CrowdSpring (reluctantly) lets you off the hook if you don’t get 25 entries, what happens is that Creatives post teensy variations just to push the number up and still, it’s close but no cigar. Apparently I was the first user to ask for my money back. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I posted a project now — a couple of months deeper into their beta — I would probably get a better response. I like this site. I like its founders, who appear to be authentically good guys looking to give Creatives a hand.

Next there’s Genius Rocket: Launch Your Creativity. GeniusRocket was founded by a couple of luminaries from the online world plus political stand-out Joe Trippi. I remember Mark Walsh from back in the day when I was one of the first members of AOL’s infamous Greenhouse Incubator — he always had a knack for ‘getting’ the consumer.

Here’s what they have to say: “The team that harnessed the power of the Internet to change politics forever in presidential campaigns, as leaders of the 2004 Howard Dean campaign, has joined with Internet industry pioneers to create GeniusRocket, an online platform that links the talent of its creative community with companies to solve real world advertising and marketing challenges.” The site lists a variety of current assignments, most paying an average of $2500. Unlike Bootb, GeniusRocket (so far) appears to be American through and through.

Guru’s Takeon GeniusRocket. $$ GeniusRocket is also heavily into cute-land, with its RFB (Request for Brilliance) and a bunch of other attempts at adorable. But it also has the uber-accessible look and feel AOL was once known for plus savvy use of the basic principles of Consumer Generated Content, which quite frankly, these particular Internet pioneers helped develop. While the GeniusRocket quite clearly has not yet hit the stratosphere, it has potential.

This blog has gotten way too long. Even my eyes are tired. Stay tuned for Part 2: Getty Images, Kluster/NameThis, Veaux and more.

Your 15 Minutes of UGC Fame & Fortune Start Here.

While researching my article on Rickrolling, I came across a bunch of User Generated Content Contests that sound like fun. There’s something for everyone — from Creative Consumers to Brainiacs. Increasingly tuned-in marketers are playing it smart with these promotions, following the Three Rules of UGC Contest Development:

1. Tap into consumers’ passions
2. Use multiple social channels to reach consumers
3. Know your audience — pick prizes & content format accordingly

Some of these chances at fame and fortune end soon.  So hurry.

Casting Call: Lifetime Networks invites female filmmakers to submit their original short films. Deadline for entries is July 8. The winning contestant will have their short shown on Lifetime Movie Networks and receive a cash prize of $5,000 plus the opportunity to attend networking events and festivals.

TechwareLabs Case Mod Contest with over $600 in prizes!!!Quote: Are you a mad modder at heart? Have you taken the toaster over and crammed a quad core CPU, dual video cards, and four hard drives into it? Have you altered your washer to look like something that qualifies as a WMD and outfit it with a PC? If so we want to see your mod, big or small. Submit everything you have modified and we will incorporate it into a video to be hosted on our site. The winning case mod will receive over $600 in prizes and have their creation appear in the video and also be interviewed by us and be featured on our front page. Get your dremel and bondo out and let the mods begin.

Shoot, Share, Get On TV. Ziddio feels like a mash up of YouTube and Bix.com, allowing users to enter competitions and win prizes - including appearances on TV. People create videos and upload them to Ziddio.com for the world to see, laugh, question, mock, and even enjoy. Run by Comcast; frequent contests.

Do You Think You Have What It Takes To Be A Super Star?
Simon Malls is inviting you to come and check out the Simon dTOUR Live Video and Recording Studio! At select malls across the country you will have the chance of a lifetime to show us what you’ve got.

BrainReactions is an online brainstorming site. Most of the time, BStormers do it out of the kindness of their hearts and a persistent need to do something, anything with their random neuro-eurekas. But for the first time since I’ve been seeding the site with my genius, (mad) money will change hands. Check out the Monjee contest.

Someday Stories From Wells Fargo
Everybody’s got a dream for Someday. What’s yours? This is a contest that’s all about you and what you want for your “Someday.” Today, just tell us the true and aspiring story about your Someday dream and your winnings could help make it real.

Calling All Filmmakers!

Power up with this potion and get out your camera. Create a :30 (30 second) commercial featuring CUBA’s new ‘All Natural’ ‘Herbal Energy Juice’.

TruTv + Black Gold Teams Up To Go Social.
My old white water rafting buddy, Thom Beers, strikes it rich again with the premiere of Black Gold. In conjunction with this sure-to-be-another-hit, TruTV launched the Black Gold Challenge casual game on Facebook, MySpace and Bebo to promote the premiere of the new series about West Texas oil roughnecks, debuting Wednesday, June 18 at 10p. Players tap their friends to form a drilling crew then pick a spot in Texas to begin drilling for hidden caches of “black gold.” One hidden hole contains a voucher for $50,000.

What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?
You know the drill.

CREATE ENTER JUDGE
Yahoo’s contest site, Bix, offers a variety of contests including a Spore Creature contest with a MacAir and 50-inch plasma TV as prizes. I’m thinking I might have a better shot with the Spore contest than with my karoake version of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’

What Rickrolling Can Teach Marketers About Running Successful UGC Contests.

Way back in the dinosaur days of the web when I was part of AOL’s infamous Greenhouse incubator, we all knew the one surefire way to increase our site traffic: run a contest.

Those early online contests — circa 1995 –were largely bland, boring and limited by lack of bandwidth. An even bigger speed bump to creativity came from Legal. Most corporate lawyers were petrified of the wild wild West of the Internet, with the ever-present possibility of utter chaos and brand destruction, so we were channeled into fairly wimpy, easily definable sweepstakes and mini-giveaways. To counter this, I ran one of the first primitive ventures into Branded Entertainment: a popular chat room game called Play Z Magic Word starring cyber game show host, Chat Pat. We gave away goodies such as free AOL hours (believe it or not, LOL-ing used to cost $2.95 per hour ) Wonderbras, books and Nordic Traks. Given that we never failed to pack them in, AOL’s TOS (Terms of Service) patrol was on 24/7 alert with the attorneys on standby, shaking in their Brionis.

We now realize that this Lawyer Hysteria was not completely unfounded. Their paranoia about rampaging bands of Internet outlaws burst into ear-shattering reality this spring with the Internet phenomenon known as Rickrolling. According to Wikipedia, Rickrolling is a prank and Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a Web link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video.

By late spring of this year, YouTube’s top Rickrolling videos had been viewed some 30 million times, while a national survey reported that at least 18 million American adults confessed to being Rickrolled. A quick search will reveal that such random entities as the New York Mets, Scientologists, Michelle Obama, the Pittsburgh Pirates and a Fox television anchor have been punked as well. Rick Astley’s old record label is reportedly considering producing a new ‘Greatest Hits’ CD.

So what should you do if your company is considering tapping into the high buzz but equally high risk area of User Generated Content-based contests? Other than making sure your attorneys are on speed dial?

First let’s look at why your company might want to create a UGC contest. As noted above, online contests are reliable traffic-generators with the power to dramatically increase your customer database, generate buzz among pivotal psychographics, and even help boost your community. They tap into the growing do-it-yourself trend with its legions of Creative Consumers wanting their 15-minutes of fame (and possibly fortune) via mash-up, photos, videos, songs, ideation and brainpower. All you have to do is tune into American Idol’s yearly coverage of their auditions to see upclose-and-personal the millions who believe they should share their talents with the globe.

User Generated Contests offer prizes that range from major to mini, everything from cash to ’star’ turns on TV commercials, reality shows or music videos to gadgets, gizmos, spa trips and CDs. They work particularly well for launching anything new, from a new benefit or feature, to a new product itself, especially when that product is trying to move into new territory.

Lessons learned from the Rickrollers:

Lesson 1: Plan for the worst case scenario
Assume that your contest is likely to get hijacked by the next new Rickrollers. So carefully build your contest rules with risk in mind. A clause that allows for an out of some type, that puts the ultimate decision-making power back in the hands of the sponsor if a Rickrolling-style prank occurs, should head off a problem. The Mets were savvy enough to have envisioned the possibility that leaving the winning song completely up to the fans could result in an entire season’s worth of Rick Astley.

Lesson 2: Be Transparent
Today’s technology makes it easy for a site to show the contest in action –how many clicks, downloads and entries have been received, who might be winning or lagging behind. We have generations of online users trained in rankings, ratings, polling and page views from everything from gaming to YouTube to iTunes to social networking quiz widgets. So when this is information is fuzzy, confusing or unavailable, it’s not only suspiciously opaque, it can inhibit potential buzz or viral activity. A recent uber-cool contest, smartly conceived and designed by a newly-resourceful Getty Images, directed contest entrants to post their own cause-related advertising using Getty’s encyclopedic collection of everything from classic photography to video. Getty then provided tools that seemingly encouraged viral interaction. However, there was no real explanation as to what the posted numbers meant or how many votes each entry had gotten. From what I could tell, there were many worthy and creative entries yet this lack of clarity certainly deterred me, and likely, others, from viralizing this contest. I needed to see a clear path from submission to polling to refining possible winners to victory.

Lesson 3: Design A Target Specific Contest
Successful contests are seldom one-type-fits-all. The type and format appropriate for a Dove UGC contest might not be the appropriate format for an MTV contest in which the prize is an evening with Tila Tequila. So carefully design your format, your prize, and (of course) your microsite to fit the specific user you want to attract. And while you’re at it, consider how your chosen target feels about the viral aspects of your contest. Some consumers actively enjoy seeding your brand’s message — and in fact, quite a few of them find Rickrolling a hoot — while others are turned off by anything that smacks of ‘Send This To A Friend.’

Lesson 4: Continue The Conversation

Just because the contest has ended, there’s no reason not to keep the conversation going. Make sure the winners’ content is posted and consider creating a gallery of other entries. Nuture this new and thriving community that took the time to share their passions and talents with your company. After all, the primary reason to create a contest in the first place was to boost the level of engagement with your brand and ultimately develop relationships with your best customers.

Lesson #5: Call in the right experts

The world of online contests is about 180 degrees more complicated than when I was playing Chat Pat and giving away AOL hours to chatters who said Z Magic Word.  What with Rickrolling and whatever’s coming next with the old warez gang, the smartest move a marketer can make when it comes to UGC contests may be to call on the pros.  One of these is Votigo,  which uses high-engagement social media technology to come up with creative solutions for their clients, most notably contests based on user generated content. Votigo is run by an ex Yahoo – which makes me decidedly biased due to my long stint as market research vendor for the Purple.  

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