Few things are more fun than creating something that can be shared with the world. It’s one of the reasons that I love being a journalist; my words reverberate beyond the page and into people’s lives. Audiences love sharing their ideas too—hence the never-ending popularity of social media—and smart marketers recognize that. Agile marketers take the creativity of consumers and weave it into the company narrative.
One of the most recent examples is the new campaign for “The Peanuts Movie”, which is slated for release November 6. Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comics strip featured good ol’ Charlie Brown and that loveable beagle Snoopy—and now the franchise features fans of Charlie and the gang.
Film studio 20th Century Fox Animation created a character-generator platform, which is even available through mobile, to jump-start excitement over the upcoming release of the new “Peanuts” movie. The idea is to get moviegoers excited with a quirky campaign that’s rooted in user-generated content—much like Universal Studios biopic “Straight Outta Compton” reveled in a viral sensation with its Straight Outta Somewhere meme generator from Apple and Beats.
With the rising popularity of this latest UGC campaign, even I’ve been Peanutized:
Some other cute characters shared on Twitter:
Hey @natashasNYC! Check out my #PeanutsMovie character http://t.co/u3hdaQB3XN via @PeanutsMovie pic.twitter.com/TfBJjKeLmz
— Nicole D. Smith (@writingtwin) September 25, 2015
Good grief. We’ve been #peanutized. pic.twitter.com/UFsj7kio05
— Michelle Tam (@nomnompaleo) September 24, 2015
If I were a peanut. #Peanutized pic.twitter.com/pcPXmSixQf
— Dayna Roselli (@DaynaRoselli) September 22, 2015
I’ve been #Peanutized! #PeanutsMovie pic.twitter.com/FHZcZssxVL
— ?Starr Hullinger? (@starrbucks35) September 22, 2015
Social media allows you to include the stories of your target audiences into your company stories. Better yet, UGC that’s amplified by social allows the consumers’ stories to take center stage and allows current and potential customers to get excited about your products and services—because those goods now are part of each person’s personal tale. There’s never been a better time to infuse user-generated content into your marketing strategies.
