AUTHOR: Matt Dickman
TITLE: Embedded marketing in social networking
DATE: 5/16/2006 12:06:00 AM
-----
BODY:
A marketing trend in social networking environments (MySpace, et al.) is to embed advertising into the core content of the site, user generated content.
Companies from Volkswagen's Helga to Wendy's Square Burger are finding ways to include their content in these sites in such a way that members not only see value, but precipitate their success.
VW's Helga page includes all of the new VW anti-tuner TV ads, sound bites from Helga and a life-size PDF doanload of the German club-kid vixen.
Users are finicky though and can see through blatant, self involved attempts to gain their trust. Bad vibes spread even quicker than good so marketers enter at your own risk.
--------