Audi leverages power of UGC via Facebook page

Audi Facebook fan page

Social media and user generated content are going through a paradigm shift right now. But it’s not one of these big revolutions we’ve seen with YouTube or Flickr. It’s more subtle and some kind of a logical consequence of existing principles.

The early days of social media were all about the quick experience related to media generation and consumption. Viral effects unleashed powers unknown so far and hence got a fundamental marketing tool for brands. In the age of UGC businesses start to learn about the deeper value of customer reviews, feedbacks, discussions or reports. This special type of UGC provides precious information for a company which has mostly been ignored in the recent past.

A good example of a company harnessing the power of their customers is Audi which, for this reason, has set up a dedicated Facebook fan page. Besides providing background information about the company, the cars and motorsports, Audi tries to engage users by also providing a game called coast to coast rally.

The exciting part in terms of UGC and customer interaction is how Audio tries to extract knowledge and experience from their enthusiastic customer base. The following examples have been taken from Audi’s Facebook fan page:

• Audi design challenge: engage fans to contribute to Audis participation in the “Youth Mobile 2030” design competition
• Discussion boards: have been around for a while, but still deliver deep insight into customer opinions and experiences
• Polls: a very flexible and simple way to collect customer feedback without costly preparations

Although the examples mentioned above are not based on completely new concepts, it is the dimension that’s so impressive. By involving hundreds or even thousands of users into generating content, the amount of top value information will also increase. It’s up to existing businesses and new startups to find appropriate business cases monetizing this new kind of good. What’s still unsolved for me is the question on how to filter relevant content from the masses of contributions created under such circumstances.