Say Cheese: The Times Square "CGM Multiple" or "Echo Effect"

I've written a great deal in the past about the notions of "indirect product placement," and more recently, about the notion of "Consumer Fortified Media" (CGM).   Both of these concepts are nicely captured in this morning's front page article in the New York Times. (Hottest Ad Space in Times Square May Be on Tourists' Cameras).  The article captures how advertisers are getting an extra return -- I call this a "CGM multiple" -- from their advertisements showing up in camera and video phone imagery.  For example, the Charmin brand's portable bathrooms in Times Square scored an extra "CGM Multiple" through tourist discovery and image and video capture. Same could be said for the Hershey store.  Heck, and impression is an impression, right?  In this new consumer-controlled surveillance culture, brands constantly dot the backdrop of our environment.  Branded experienced dot the backdrop of our blog narratives, and brand imagery dots the backdrop of everyday experiences captures through a growing host of "capture mechanisms," from digital cameras and camera phones to video-enabled PDAs.    This presents both challenges and opportunities.  For every great brand experience a consumer can readily capture, a bad one lurks around the corner.  That's why, in this environment, it always pays to listen.