About

Hey,

We are currently getting thousands of emails (IE: None) asking us what this Participation Trophy thing is about. And we are here to set the record straight...

Who We Are 
First thing, we are marketing people (we're sorry), but we are marketing people with a bit of a purpose.  We have a company called New-A, and we've done a couple of cool experimental campaigns that we think are pushing the boundaries on how we look at engagement.

We stand on a firm belief that the future of product and brand identity is based on collaboration with customers. It is not a revolutionary thing to say that social media represents a conversation, and that one-way messaging just doesn't work that well anymore-- especially when you factor in, you know, accountability and metrics. We really like the thinking from the molecular brand, and we all read Brian Solis, and we think he's really smart.

So, everyone is looking for ways to bring their customers in closer, and find ways to make their customers pick up the brand message.  A major tactic in this is User Generated Content campaigns and contests.

But what is a User Generated Content Campaign? 

User Generated Content is the process of letting a piece of your brand out in the wild with a note stuck to it that says "be gentle with me", usually with a prize strapped to its tail.  Your hope is that it comes back as millions of pieces of awe-inspiring photos, videos, stories (Content) generated by your fans (Users), and that it isn't eaten alive by trolls.


User Generated Content Campaigns 

There are some great examples out there of campaigns that have been created and that generated thousands of entries, impressions, magical bunnies, and rainbows.  But it usually seems like the same 5 or 6 campaigns get tossed around as success stories again, and again, and again-- DID YOU GUYS HEAR ABOUT SHARE A COKE YET!  But with different click-bait adjectives-- Amazing, Inspiring, Super Sexy.



Basic set-up usually goes a little something like this:

Your Brand:

• Crafts a compelling call-to-action and inciting prize for your exciting/ amazing/ one-of-a-kind contest 
• Pushes said contest to your social media channels 

Your Customer:

• Sees the contest and is intrigued. Very intrigued.  Do stuff intrigued.
• Submits their amazing content via their personal social, or to your branded social media page
• Crosses their arms and patiently awaits the Winner's announcement.  Pleased with a job well-done (for you) and in the knowledge that even if they don't win... heck, they gave it the good ol' college try. 

And in return you get:

• Amazing word-of-mouth and a through the roof Brand Affinity Score (Points!  Points!  Points!)
• Tons of original user generated content (That you can use again and again without legal ramifications!) 
• A MILLION INTERNET MONIES!

And then you actually did it...

• and there was low visibility 
• and there was no content (and when there was there was like-- laws and stuff) 
• and there were no internet monies 

So where was the FAIL?

Stuff goes wrong.  Things break.  People get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes feelings get hurt.  

Suddenly, what seems like an easy set-it and forget-it solution for customer engagement, ends up being kind of sucky. 

A lot of the time, when we are putting campaigns together, the customer might get lost in the vision. We don't take a second to step back and put ourselves in the position of the customer, and ask "Would I Ever In A Million Years Do This?" 

Putting yourself out there in a public entry to anything is a hard and stressful thing to do.  (What if I don't win?  What if people don't like it?  What if people are mean?)  So if you're going to ASK for me to get involved-- you better make it worth it (Social currency, man.  That stuff is valuable!), and you better make it FUN. 

So what are you going to do about it?  (Poking with finger) You arm-chair Quarterback? 

You are right. A lot of people talk, but don't get in the game. A lot of Experts on User Generated Content aren't taking part in the campaigns that they champion.  And that sucks too!

That drew us down to a basic question, about our business and about ourselves: 

How can we claim expertise in UGC if we aren't Users Generating Content?  

We aren't going to sit on the sidelines.  We are coming for your contest.  And we are entering it.  We are entering all of it.  Expect us. 

That's right.  We are sourcing every single user generated contest that we can find (and are legally eligible for) the good, the bad, and the ugly.  And we are entering.  And we going to have FUN! FUN I TELL YA!

So what can you expect to see? 

Here is what we plan on publishing* (*subject to change, but eligible in all 50 States) 

• Our analysis of specific User Generated Content campaigns, including grading on how hard it was enter, if it was original, and if it was fun.
• Our entries in to the campaign we analyzed 
• A rolling list of User Generated Contest that we find across Social Media (so you can do it to) 
• Big Idea stuff-- macro-trends, cool new tactics that we are seeing, maybe even some tips 
• Us gloating over all the cool stuff we are going to WIN! (Theoretically)

So get in touch  

If you are running a UGC campaign and want us to enter drop us a line anytime. 

Just a note, we wont be entering any Like, Share, Win campaigns.

All we ask, is that you ask us to do something. 

Cheers, 

Team Participation Trophy