iPod You A Merry Christmas

When was the last time you saw an advert so good that you wanted to be in it?  Well, that's what's happened with the iPod campaign courtesy of ipodmyphoto, a site that turns snaps of your family and friends into ipod-style greetings cards.

It's an amazing example of open source marketing and Church of the Customer has a letter from David Schroeder, the guy who set it up.  It includes this great quote....

From fan-fiction writing based on the “official” books of major sci-fi authors to DJ dance remixes of popular songs, today's technology allows us to remake the world around us. To pick and choose how we want to associate with the things we care about. To engage consumer popular culture on our own terms.

It's a perfect example of a group of customers taking the foundations (or source code) of a campaign (style, imagery, copy) and building on it in innovative ways that amplify the original message.  At no cost to the brand.  The question is how this can be achieved intentionally by brands that don't have the natural fanbase of Apple.  Watch this space for the answers.