The power of contribution systems is now being tapped by traditional marketing powerhouses, including two of the giants: Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

Procter & Gamble has created a website, BeingGirl, aimed at teen and preteen girls – a difficult group to reach in the marketing of its feminine-hygiene products because young girls are often uncomfortable viewing TV ads on the topic in the company of friends or family. The site originally consisted solely of information from experts. But in 2005, P&G borrowed the contribution concept from tech websites, adding forums where girls could interact with one another. Now users can share their questions and personal experiences and get support and advice from other girls. (Click this link, then scroll down to see one example.)  This creation of a community around an important topic promotes engagement with the site – and with the Always and Tampax brands that it discreetly promotes. P&G says that as a marketing tool BeingGirl is now four times as effective as comparably priced television advertising.

The website In the Motherhood, cosponsored by Sprint and by Unilever’s Suave line of personal-care products, also offers a community forum where users can share stories and offer tips – in this case on the subject of being a mom. In addition, mothers can submit stories (3,000 of them so far) that serve as potential plotlines for an online comedy series. The community votes on the submissions, and those selected by the users are produced by professional directors and actors and subsequently posted to the site. (Several dozen have been produced so far, and cumulative views have passed the 20 million mark -- it has been picked up for television by ABC.) Unilever research finds that the site increases users’ intent to purchase a Suave product and engenders a feeling in customers that the makers of Suave really understand their lives.

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