So does it really matter if content is generated from a company vs. users? Well, for Ferrari it definitely does. Ferrari is a brand that sells itself, so rarely does Ferrari make a commercial for their vehicles. Even when they do, its mainly played inside their dealerships or the commercial is made to promote a third party, like Shell. The following is a video that was put on YouTube 5 years ago, mainly a Ferrari commercial but made by Shell.
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This video was posted 5 years ago and has just under a million hits. On the other hand, this second video was made by a Ferrari owner (who was later sentenced to jail for wreckless driving) and has over 1.4 million views yet has only been on YouTube for 7 months.
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So does user generated content get more attention from people compared to company generated content? From the looks of it, yes it does. The reasons for this could be many. The most obvious being that the user generated video created some controversy and was played on TV news channels whereas the Ferrari commercial was played once in a while between TV programs. Another thing about this, is Ferrari the only company with such a low level of awareness for company generated content? After looking at a few user vs company generated contents for companies such as Chrysler, I found Ferrari and other high end brands had much more hits for user generated content compared to company generated content. Does the Ferrari brand really influence people enough to care so much when one gets videotaped by the owner going over the speed limit?