Do you know what is UGC? It’s ok if you never heard of it, but you definitely have seen it in your life. UGC stands for user-generated content, here are some scenarios: the photo and video post by customers on YELP; the various even weird challenge on TikTok, eg. #eyeslipsface; and Starbucks Red Cup contest. The case I want to discuss today is #ShotOniPhone campaign launched by Apple in 2015.
Resource: https://www.amaniwillett.com/news/shot-on-iphone-billboards-around-town
Have you seen this kind of billboard in your town? I was quite amazed by the effect when I first saw it. As a brand campaign, it is simple but straightforward: look at these extraordinary photos taken by our phones. It makes me want to take out my phone immediately and take some photos.
Up to now, there are more than 23 million posts under the topic #ShotOniPhone on Instagram. This reflects how successful this strategy is and I think we can get some reflections from three perspectives:
a) For the brand:
The most distinguished feature of UGC is, it is completely a user’s spontaneous behavior. The brand doesn’t have to pay for these contents while receives a considerable attention. By launching this campaign, Apple get to highlight the function of their camera and have users talk about their product.
From the chart, we can tell that in 2015, when this campaign was launched for first time, the sale of iPhone has grown substantially and reached a peak over recent years. Although I don’t think the sales was all contributed by #ShotOniPhone, it definitely had an impact. Through this campaign, Apple can promote products and spark discussion on social media effortlessly.
b) For the creators of the UGC:
Another greatness of this campaign is, the low entry requirement for creators: you don’t have to be a professional photographer with expensive equipment, all you need is an iPhone. This has attracted many people to become one of the creators, even myself!
Maxine with iPhone X Maxine with iPhone X
Even most of the photos can’t be selected by official or presented in public, #ShotOniPhone creates a community for those creators, where they can find the like-minded people. For those who got selected by Apple, they would be more motivated and continue to produce more works with iPhone. What a win-win solution!
c) For the consumers of iPhone:
What would consumers benefit from this event? As mentioned before, the campaign creates a sense of community. When an iPhone owner see the billboard on street or browse the hashtag on social media, they will be pride of the product they are currently using. Also, since UGC is generated from other users, the content would be more convinced than the official advertisement. With the introduce of different generation of iPhone, #ShotOniPhone can help consumers learn the new function better, like night-mode, wide angle and portrait mode.
Resource: https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/apple-winners-iphone-11-night-mode-photo/
So, who benefit the most from this campaign? I think is Apple! This kind of non-regional campaign allows as many people as possible to participate and gain global attention. However, the creators and consumers also take advantage of this campaign, since everyone has the chance to challenge and be inspired by it.
From this case, we can see that this format of campaign would be the future of marketing. According to Marshall McLuhan, the cool media, which features with “low definition” and requires more participation of audience is more engaged. Compared with the traditional media campaign, such marketing strategy is more interesting and interactive. I believe in the future, especially with the development of Internet, UGC will become one of the most important marketing strategies.