What happens when a lawyer and a juggler mess around one weekend and create a viral sensation that results in a 15% spike in sales for a brand of mint? Apparently, they surpass the most recognized ad agencies in the industry and convince Advertising Age to name "The Consumer" as the ad agency of the year. Wait...what's that you say? Time Magazine already pulled that stunt? Well, that's true, but the folks at Advertising Age claimed that they'd made the selection before they heard about Time. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

While it's a well known fact in the advertising world that consumer generated media is the fastest growing form of media today, it's a whole other thing to hear a group like Advertising Age declare that consumers now have more power to sway the public's opinion of a brand than advertisers do. From the announcement:

At the last meeting of the Association of National Advertisers, the most important marketing confab of the year, the speakers at the podium kept changing, but their words remained the same -- one after another, the marketing world leaders took to the stage and declared that it's time to give up control and accept that consumers now control their brands.

Let's make it clear that this goes beyond the power of consumers to make or break a brand by simply buying it or not buying it. Consumers are now harnessing the power of the Internet and social media to create their own commercials, their own viral campaigns and their own fan sites. They're also using that same medium to launch nationwide protests and smear campaigns. It's fast becoming clear that the average American trusts other individuals far more than they trust an advertising pitch.

It's interesting to read about how various companies are embracing this new medium. For instance while Diet Coke was reluctant to even comment on the now famous Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, the team at Mentos welcomed the exposure (and the creators) with open arms.

For years, countless big marketing thinkers have repeatedly made the case that the consumer is in control. The evidence: First there was media fragmentation, with the explosion of cable TV and the birth of the internet. Then came TiVo, followed by the rise of the blog.

Once again, this news demonstrates the amazing potential of companies that both understand and invite consumer generated media. While big business is just beginning to understand the value of listening to the average everyday creative consumer, small businesses have the chance to jump into the deep end of the pool and to start experimenting.