Your customers are not your brand.

Yesterday, JetBlue launched a new website using real people to share their experiences aboard the airline. It's a beautiful site that does a great job of making the JetBlue's customers look their best while they tell their stories.

JetBlue is just the latest of many marketers who've enlisted their customers to become the face of their marketing. Ford, Dove soap, Jockey underwear and others have all used this strategy as a way to help connect their brand with their customers and add credibility to the message. I used this techniques a few years ago with Mercury Marine to help convince Yamaha outboard owners that Mercury had a superior product.



The challenge in doing this is you can't shoot a few people and assume that's going to do it for you. Testimonial campaigns require multiple executions with regular refreshes. Anyone can find a few satisfied customers to talk about their product, especially when you pay them.

It's easier now thanks to high definition video so record interviews from several angles for a fraction of the cost of using 16mm film cameras and you don't have to stop to reload.

The other challenge with testimonials is to make sure you do something to your videos to make them stand out, otherwise it's just more people talking. Ford uses Mike Rowe effectively, JetBlue puts the interviewees in the seats and uses the color blue well, and Jockey shows people in their underwear.

With the proliferation of consumer created content and testimonial campaigns, it's imperative that yours is more than just nice words from satisfied customers. The videos need to capture the essence of your brand so people remember not just the message, but who it's from.