Writing in the New York Times, Nat Ives gathers together several of the recent “unauthorized” ad campaigns that have contributed to the growing trend of consumer/fan/unofficial agency-created ad campaigns. Ives includes the recent Coke campaign and the upcoming Mitsubishi campaign by ad legend Harry Webber, the iPod ad created by teacher George Masters and the ads created and placed by Canadian agency Vaughn Whelan & Partners for Molson as a bid to win the account.
There are others and it’s a certainty that this method of creating advertising will increase as creative people outside the walls of agencies become enabled by technology and motivated by brand loyalty.
Of course there’s the notion that, one day, it will all go back to money as agencies begin to bid on this “not created here” work which, at times, will best what is or can be created internally. There’s no shame in this method of doing business. It’s akin to hiring a freelancer except there’s no risk. The work’s already done. Like it, buy it. Don’t, don’t. Hiring a freelancer or an ad-hoc group that hasn’t yet done the work will become a thing of the past.
