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Wells Fargo Launches CenterStage, a User-Generated Video Promotion

By Jim Bruene on September 27, 2007 9:09 PM

Tomorrow, Wells Fargo is expected to launch a user-generated video contest that will place the winning entry into a 30-sec commercial that plays during January's Rose Bowl, with an audience of 35 million or more. The winner will be chosen by public voting on the contest website. Entries are due by Nov. 26.

Although, this type of contest has been done before including last year's Super Bowl (see previous coverage of Intuit's TaxRap here and Lending Club here), it's the first time a major U.S. bank has launched such a high-profile effort. It should provide Wells with excellent publicity while supporting its social media and branding efforts.

The whole effort is first class, from the Center Stage website, to the pre-taped audio tracks in various genres, and the contest rules and prizes. And while the sample video's are cute, don't listen to them at bedtime. Trust me, you don't want "The Wells Fargo Wagon" running through your head as you try to get to sleep. 

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Jeremy Barth:

Sounds very, very similar to a promotion the National Australia Bank has been running for the last few months of the Australian Football League season.

Fans submit user-generated video of themselves/ family/ friends playing Australian football to the 'kick to kick' contest website, and other fans voted for the most popular, which were subsequently included in the bank's next round of TV ads.

Check it out here:
http://www.nab.com.au/kicktokick/

Hi Jim, I know it's a bit confusing, but there are actually a couple of different prizes.

The "Grand Prize" (the chance to be in the 30-second ad spot) is actually chosen by Wells Fargo. There are several "Viewer's Choice" prizes based on user votes: 1 Apple iPhone for the general public, 1 for the the top Wells Fargo employee video, and 10 runners up will win a Flip Videoâ„¢ Ultra Camera.

And yes, I hear the "Wells Fargo Wagon" in my sleep, but that's okay...at least for the next three months :-)

Another excellent initiative from the Wells Fargo's Experiential Marketing team. Congratulations to Ed Terpening, Tim Collins and their teams.

WF is definitely The Champion of Innovation in the Banking industry.

And I am confident WF will launch many exciting new campaigns in the next couple of months. Yesterday, I had the pleasure to meet Erik Hauser, probably the most wellknown Expert on Virtual Worlds. I believe soon we may hear again from the already very successful Stagecoach Island...

Thomas:

Contest details says winning commercial shown during the Rose Bowl PARADE. A little misleading to suggest 35mil people watch that .

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