Consumers Trust ‘Mortals’ More Than Paid Brand Ambassadors

To enhance its popularity among tech trendsetters and travel enthusiasts, the Lenovo brand decided to engage popular blogger Oli White in its ‘Travel Your Way’ campaign. White was tasked with documenting his 18-hour journey using the Lenovo Yoga tablet, incorporating his fans who suggested what he should do or see in the city, thus integrating into his travel schedule.

Along the way, White naturally showcased key features of the device such as 18-hour battery life, a 13-inch screen, and camera quality. As Mike Etherington stated for Marketing Week, this approach allowed them to engage in the conversation between the blogger and his fans, thereby increasing brand visibility.
In his opinion, the uniqueness of this promotional method lies in the fact that the vlogger was the one creating content around the brand, which ensured credibility and authenticity. Through the blogger, Lenovo was perceived not merely as a stark technology brand but as a brand through which one can experience some inspirational moments and create content. The campaign results confirm that this was a very effective move. Specifically, the campaign reached 2.5 million users on social media and recorded 550,000 engagements (comments, user interactions, etc.), while the number of fans on social media grew by 110 percent. Such and similar results are quite motivating for advertisers seeking higher quality ways to communicate with consumers, so it is no surprise that they too decided to experiment with consumer involvement in campaigns, or when content creation is handed over to them.

Authentic Message
According to marketing agency Headstream, 66 percent of consumers prefer ‘ordinary’ people as brand promoters. About 19 percent like it when celebrities are ambassadors, 19 percent when employees are involved, and only 10 percent when the brand promotion is conducted by the company’s leader. As Marketing Week explains, such preferences can be attributed to the fact that consumers trust ‘mortals’ more and can more easily identify with their experiences than with situations depicted in meticulously produced advertisements. Furthermore, when it is added that users on social media are generally more engaged with campaigns where consumers create content (user-generated content or UGC), it is clear why more brands are experimenting with this advertising method. A company specializing in travel launched such a campaign in the German market to promote arrangements in resorts in Greece.
Each of the resorts had its own hashtag on social media, and a well-known German Instagrammer showed users how to find the best locations for photography and video recording. This content (created by users) was then displayed on screens in each of the 11 resorts, and subsequent performance measurements revealed a significant increase in brand mentions on social media and user engagement rates (by 45 percent).

Expanding Activities
As past experiences show, the travel sector is perfectly suited for advertising through user-generated content because people simply love to share their travel experiences. For instance, Guardian Labs, the content marketing arm of the eponymous media brand, helped Vodafone promote its EuroTraveller service. Guardian readers were invited to share their travel photos and tips on the GuardianWitness website and Instagram profile. By last week, the campaign attracted 200,000 unique users, achieved 2,500 uploads on Instagram, and 25,000 shares on social media. This success is also explained by the fact that they invited users to share experiences and tours that are less commonly found in traditional travel guides, which increased both authenticity and content interest.
As Marketing Week notes, besides the fact that authenticity is a key advantage of UGC, this advertising method allows brands to expand their areas of operation. The team behind the Weather Channel realized during their work that people are interested in much more than the ‘bare’ weather forecast provided by professional meteorologists. Many consumers are interested in the natural world, space, and science, so they decided to expand their activities into these areas of interest.

Inspirational Comments
They concluded that UGC is a great way to deliver such information, of course, through social media. Users can now support or refute forecasts with their photos and videos, document natural phenomena, and discuss them in real-time. The shift to this strategy resulted in a doubling of content views on their websites and social media profiles.
The advantages of the UGC concept were also felt in the marketing results of the fast-food chain Pret A Manger. As the company stated to authors at Marketing Week, the brand records more than two thousand comments weekly on Twitter and Facebook, which is a great amount of information that allows them to penetrate the minds of their consumers and understand their desires. Analyzing the content provided by users helped them launch new sandwiches and improve the existing offer by removing or adding certain ingredients.
For example, consumers welcomed Pret A Manger’s decision to introduce vegan sandwiches after a vegan user commented that they would love to eat at Pret A Manger only if they removed honey. Thus, this small change, which they had not generally considered and would not have thought of had the user not raised their objection or, better said, complaint, helped them win thousands of new consumers, vegans, and thus gain an advantage over part of the competition. Therefore, whether the entire campaign is based on UGC or this concept, like in the case of Pret A Manger, relates to studying comments and user communication on social media, the company can only benefit from involving consumers.
As Marketing Week concludes, UGC can greatly assist brands in communicating in a relevant, authentic, and creative manner, while also reaching many more users since consumers prefer to share such personal stories rather than corporate ones.