Ad Agencies Use Online Consumers To Create Ads

KFC, Cold Stone and Others Tap Into Online Customer Ad Creativity

Remember Pizza Hut advertising through YouTube to find its VP of Pizza, a Pizza Hut pizza gourmet?

KFC is using ad agency Draftfcb, to up the interactive ante. Draftfcb has organized an ad created entirely from existing consumer generated video. The advertisement, a celebration of having menu items that have zero grams of trans fat, is scheduled to debut during the American Idol finale on Tuesday night, May 22. It features 13 clips showing people caught in mid-celebration. The 15-second commercial continues KFC's new campaign, "The Bucket's Back,"

James O'Reilly, chief marketing officer for KFC, says, "The people who love KFC are the heroes of our brand, so how better to bring that excitement to other consumers than by showing the celebrations of real people?"

And then there is Cold Stone's new "Do you Love It Love It?" commercials that was launched today by Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency on the web site loveit-loveit.com). Consumers are encouraged to upload their own videos showcasing new characters who they think should be in the commercials.

"We're inviting our customers into the next round," said Kevin Myers, VP of Sales and Marketing at Cold Stone. "We think the next character will come from customers [or] employees."