A VCN reader sent me a link yesterday to a really eye-opening Adage.com article about the big “user-generated” Godaddy video contest. Turns out that the commercial that came in third was created by a NYC based ad firm called The Night Agency. Their entry was entitled “Get Online Rap” and for winning third place they won $25,000. What’s weird about that ad is that it looks like a very slick version of a typical video contest entry. Were the people behind it actually trying to imitate the “user-generated” style we’ve all started to become familiar with? Back when I thought this ad was just made by some random guy, I liked it. But the fact that an entire team of professionals was behind this commercial is a real turn off. I mean, seriously…a cheesy rap song? That’s the best a hip, New York ad firm could come up with?
From their website, The Night Agency looks to be a pretty serious company and clients include MTV, Hanes, Kmart, Heineken, Macys, Yahoo and many, many more. They certainly don’t seem to be hurting for business. In fact, one of the creators of the ad makes it sound like they just plan to throw their $25K in winnings on to their ever-growing pile of money:
Our third-place finish netted us $25,000 that we’re happy to deposit in the agency bank account.
That bothers me. In fact, this whole thing bothers me. Is it cheating for a professional ad firm to use their money and resources to try and win a “user-generated” ad contest? Not really. Is it kind of a dick move? Yes…yes it is. From where I’m sitting, it feels a little unethical for professionals to enter video contests because it goes against the spirit of these competitions. These contests aren’t just about winning money; it’s about giving non-pros a shot at success. Sure, the sponsor is looking for quality videos and commercials but if all they cared about was getting good content they’d skip the contest all together and just hire a firm like the Night Agency to shoot them a commercial. The point of the contest is to award filmmakers money and OPPORTUNITY. And the prize of opportunity is wasted on companies that are already successful. Winning third place (and even winning 1st place) probably won’t change the lives of anyone at The Night Agency and I doubt it will get them any extra business. In fact, I imagine they won’t even show their Godaddy ad to potential clients since entering a video contest might come off as a little desperate.
So why did the Night Agency decide to try and compete with amateur filmmakers in the godaddy contest? Well, apparently, they did it as an experiment. The company has actually created and run several “user-generated campaigns” for various clients so they wanted to see what the experience was like from the “user” side of the campaign. Now, I respect their dedication to their work but if they were really doing this as an “experiment” they should have tried to create a real “user-generated” (i.e. amateur) video. But instead of trying to replicate the typical video contest experience, they made a professional version of an amateur commercial. The rapper in “Get Online Rap” is a well-known professional eater (for serious) named Badlands Booker. He’s not an A-lister but would 95% of the people that entered the godaddy contest be able to hire any “known” personality for a project that might not even pay off? Of course not. So even though “Get Online Rap” looked and felt like a “user-generated” ad I’m guessing it was probably one of the most expensive entries shot for the godaddy contest.
If the folks at The Night Agency had been serious about their “experiment” they should have had the nerve to try and replicate he entire video contest experience. By that I mean they should have put a cap of maybe $500 (and that’s being generous) on what they could spend and only use gear and talent available to low-budget filmmakers. If they had done that though, they wouldn’t have won even third place. Without professional production values, “Get online rap” would have just been another hacky rap entry.
The Adage article I’ve been mentioning is really, really worth reading. It will give you an insider’s view of user-generated contests and the author lists reasons why the Godaddy contest was so successful. Most interestingly though, the article ends with a word of warning to other professional marketing types that the “crowd” is coming and soon, the pros are going to have to start competing with them:
So did we feel threatened by the high-quality responses this contest generated? Not really, no. But it’s not something we’re prepared to ignore either — and neither should any agency that’s interested in maintaining its accounts.
As younger, savvier marketing executives start calling the shots at the best brands in the world, the “relationships” more traditional-minded agencies rely on for their daily bread will matter less and less, and the quality of work will be the determining factor in who gets paid.
The fact is, with the increasing sophistication of consumer-grade equipment and its relative affordability, more people now have the ability to produce broadcast-quality material. The technical barrier is breached; now all that remains is the creative hurdle. Creativity can come from anywhere. Contests like this and other crowd-sourcing efforts, if well-orchestrated and providing the proper incentives, can make the cream rise to the top. And that means all agencies must push themselves harder than ever to make sure their milk has not gone sour.
Seriously, read the whole article, it’s worth it: http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=144332
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Hey there, Beardy.
I’m the one that e-mailed you about this article. I came across it while reading the Zooppa Twitter feed.
We’re fairly new to the UGC world. (I created the smarmy politician “Change Your World” video that finished
20th in the GoDaddy competition and the King Kong ad “Told You So” for Zooppa.)
I agree with you pretty much 100 percent on this article. While there were no entry restrictions on professional agencies, it just doesn’t seem “quite right”. I would think most big agencies wouldn’t even want to admit to entering such contests, especially when taking third place to two “mom & pop” outfits. (I’ve actually had a few e-mail correspondences with the first place winners and they are couple of really humble and talented guys.)
Keep up the good reporting and we’ll be checking in when we get the chance.
All the best,
Jeff
solid article. all good points that we considered before getting into this thing. but just to clarify, we are a small digital shop, not a big ad agency (i.e. – we don’t do commercials.) We didn’t use any kind of production resources that wouldn’t be available to the average hobbyist or home-movie auteur. While there were no doubt cheaper productions entered, ours was very very far from being on the more expensive side. We had a 2 man crew and no heavy gear. As for the talent, Badlands Booker is far from an A-list celebrity and was into the idea of entering the contest and willing to work on spec – he happens to be an awesomely generous and enthusiastic guy and was a pleasure to work with.
I think you’re spot on that it would be wrong and dick for a big agency to get involved here and crush the competition with resources unavailable to an average entrant, but we didn’t do that. We just tried to do something cheap and entertaining and let it ride, and god bless america, they dug it.
We are not trying to stifle young filmmakers or be greedy – we just want to make commercials too and need to look at every opportunity to do so. It’s not that easy to break into broadcast.
Lastly, if you look at the folks behind most of the finalists, you’ll see that we’re not the only “professionals” in the mix.
Check out this gawker link about spotting online ads masquerading as videos.
http://gawker.com/5539222/how-not-to-fall-for-a-viral-marketing-scheme
It’s become a very blurry world, but that’s the nature of everything cool in a capitalism. First it’s a secret, then it’s cool, then people figure out how to make money on it, then bigger companies figure out how to make money on it, and it loses its cool. Look at the “baby laughing” video contest that was held just a while ago. Baby laughing was one of the purest forms of youtube entertainment, but someone’s got to find a way to make money on it. I think we can’t fight it, just like you couldn’t fight hipsters moving into Williamsburg 10 years ago, just like we can’t fight the big ad agencies entering the Godaddy contest.
What I’m saying is, yeah, it’s a little shitty, but inevitable and therefore not surprising or particularly disappointing.
Scott,
Hi and thanks for the comment. I appreciate the info. You also make some good points but I think we have different definitions of “small” and “big” firms. I didn’t see any commercials on your company’s website so at first I wasn’t even going to write this post. But then I did some googling and saw an article that mentioned that The Night Agency hires 30 interns every year. That is 30 more interns than I or anyone else reading this has probably ever hired. So for a NY ad firm your company might be “small” but to the aspiring filmmaker in Des Moines who spent a few hundred of his own dollars to create a decent entry for the godaddy contest, you guys are a behemoth.
From the perspective of non-professional, the ad you submitted would have been very, very different if you hadn’t had your company’s resources to draw from. I understand that it wasn’t a giant production but when compared to the other “user-generated” content that was submitted, it was a pretty ambitious project. I know that Badlands Booker isn’t an A-lister (I didn’t even realize it was him when I first saw the ad) but would you have been able to get him to work on spec if you were just some random guy? Of course not. If you could even find his number, he probably would have charged more than the average contestant could afford. So yes, he worked for you on spec but let’s be honest, I’m sure he was happy to do a favor for a company that might be able to get him paying gigs down the road. As you probably realize, Badlands Booker MADE that ad. He was great. Without him, I don’t think “Get Online Rap” would have won and 480 of the 500 people that entered the godaddy contest did not have access to such quality talent.
And while you might have had a 2 man crew on the day of the shoot, I’m sure a lot more people than that worked on the ad. I’ll take a guess and say that you probably had a pro compose and record the music. And I’ll also guess that you recorded the lyrics in your company’s own sound booth with the aid of a professional audio tech. And then you probably had a professional editor cut it all together in an afternoon. Plus you probably had someone scout and secure the location and some one to cast and schedule the actors. The shoot may have been small but the overall production probably wasn’t.
So Jeff, to me it seems like you brought a gun to a knife fight, The people you competed against in this contest are almost exclusively one-man or non-professional operations. Did you make a good, funny ad? Of course you did. The question isn’t whether or not it was a good commercial, the question is, should you (or any) professional agency compete in “crowdsourcing” contests that are meant for non-professionals?
I understand that your company is trying to get into making broadcast commercials. But you have to admit, it’d be much, much easier for you to accomplish that then it would be for unfunded, “aspiring” filmmakers. If a company the size of the Night Agency wanted to make a commercial on spec, why not shoot one for an existing client and show it to them? Or maybe do it for a prospective client? The point is, you and your company have many avenues to success available to you because or your reputation and resources. So I think it’s inappropriate for you to try and take opportunities from people who will otherwise never in a million years have a shot at having their commercial air on national TV.
In your article you explain that as consumers are able to create more and more professional-looking work, agencies are going to have to start competing with non-pros for gigs. Let me turn that around on you; do you really think it’s appropriate for professionals to compete with amateurs for amateur gigs? Sure, those types of jobs would be easy pickings, but do you really have to try and take ALL the work out there? Can’t you leave a few “crowdsource” crumbs for the guy in Des Moines?
I’m one of those “amateurs” that entered the godaddy contest and Beardy, I couldn’t agree with you more. These contests are not just about the money. Having my work air on tv would be enough of a prize for me. Because if your commercial airs on tv you know what hapens? Over night you become credible. You go from being a nobody to a guy with a major accomplishment on his resume. You can get an agent. You can get meetings. You can get job interviews with places like the Night Agency.
Scott, you might not think you’re being greedy but you already have a job a lot of us would love to have. If an unemplyed, aspiring filmmaker had won third place, it would have chnaged their life. So sorry but what you did was pretty greedy.
I am torn on this subject, I work as an editor for trailers and TV spots, and have been doing so for 11 years and just started doing the video contest thing on the side. I still consider myself an amateur director, but I am a professional editor so I feel I have a leg up in that department. My goal is to have my own ad company doing local advertisements for businesses etc, and I would definitely continue making videos for contests to try and earn money for my company and possibly get recognition which in turn could help my business. Its a tough thing, I kinda understand how people can be upset over this, its not “greedy” though, its the way the world works and you gotta get better as an amateur to keep up, it sucks, but life isn’t fair. I for one want to compete against the best, and to beat a small agency in a contest would be that much sweeter.
Shane,
I actually think it’s fine for filmmakers to do contests, even if they already work in the film industry. A person like you might have a lot of experience, but you’re still just one guy and I’m guessing you use your own, personal gear. And most importantly, all of your expenses come right out of your pocket. What bothered me about this story is that an entire ad agency entered the contest and they seemed to do it just so they could prove that they still know more about advertising than guys like you. Unlike all the independent filmmakers that entered, the Night Agency had no skin in the game. That is to say, they creators of the ad could invest as much money and time as they wanted because it wasn’t THEIR money and time. It was the company’s. Shane, even though you’re a professional editor, a guy like you still needs a break as a commercial director. If the Night Agency wants to get into commercials, and if they feel like doing spec ads, all they have to do is call up a client and say “hey, we’re looking to expand and start doing commercials. How about we make you a free one so we can use it as an example of our work?”
This is gonna sound lame but this reminds me of American Idol. Singers can’t try out for American Idol if they already have a record contract. There are probably tons of singers that would really love to get on the show so that they could get even more famous but the point of Idol is to discover new talent. I’d like to see contests enact this kind of “no professionals” rule.
give me an F-ing break! an agency producing a contest spot!! that should be illegal!! I am at a loss. they cant play in our sandbox!!!!
Hey Night agency,
did just 1 guy write the ad?? did that same guy direct and shoot it also? or was it a team of like 10 people and several re-writes and focus groups?