Converse film shorts

Converse is looking for you to make a film that "embodies the values and spirit of Converse." If your film is chosen to be used as an ad, you will get $10,000. Not too shabby. And much better than some of the other "make an ad for free" type things we've seen recently. All films must be 24-seconds. They will not be edited except for films chosen for TV use will have a 6-second tag with the Converse logo added on at the end. Some of the films are already airing on MTV and other channels.

In the Converse Gallery you can check out the already submitted films, and sumbit your own.

The Boston Herald reports that "David Maddocks, Converse's vice president of global marketing, said the idea of letting the customer create the ads is groundbreaking. "We actually view our entire campaign as facilitating a conversation among those in our community."

That kind of buzz marketing is increasingly in vogue as companies turn to legions of customers to evangalize their brands. And since BMW first ran short films on the Internet in 2001, marketers have increasingly relied on that medium to generate chatter. But asking consumers to make the films may be cutting edge.

Patrick Kiss, managing director of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Converse's Sausalito, Calif., agency, said Converse's core young customer is in an "anti-marketing mode," deluged by ads from all directions. At the same time, everyday consumers have access to technology to make films today.

Converse put the word out to the artistic community, and movie makers responded in droves. The company launched its gallery site in August and had 250 submissions in the first three weeks. That has since doubled.Maddocks said the site has received as many as 3 million visits with an eight-minute average stay.