UNIQLO - From Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur campaign.

The new UNIQLO Malaysia campaign site pulls user-generated content from Panoramio which is basically GPS-tagged photos taken by its community. How it works is, you provide your address and the computer will generate a trail from it to Fahrenheit 88. The trail is formed via a collage of the above mentioned user-generated photos where a surprise coupon is mixed into the pile with a series of other UNIQLO products. I thought it was simple and a neat way to get people onto their mailing list. And then I found this:

Notice the guard house that's toppled over the car? What has this got to do with UNIQLO? Hmm...

Which is why… I think it’s still debatable if we should really solely rely on using UGC albeit it's free. It’s just the connection between the content and the brand that raises my eyebrow. Uniqlo design is dynamic through simplicity, clean, user-focused, no unnecessary décor, and while I think the initial site delivers that, it loses that concept right when the user takes the actual journey through the idea. UGC should be used if it adds value back to the people, not when the intention is to get content for free.

Hmm…