"Have it your way" doesn't apply only to burgers (or any product, for that matter) but also the advertising trying to sell the product. And if online consumers want more control over their online experience, including ads - don't fight them, recruit them for your campaign. That seems to be the motto of Cingular Wireless, according to a piece in AdWeek - and Staples as well as P&G's Crest, too (among others), per an article in the New York Times.

"We're seeing this trend which we call 'my media,' where because of broadband we're seeing consumers interact and participate in marketing efforts in a much more experiential way," says Andreas Combuechen, CEO of Omnicom Group's Atmosphere BBDO.

The firm designed the web campaign for Cingular. The "Take a Shot" web and print campaigns encourage customers to use their camera phones to submit, via multimedia messaging, photos from their own lives relating to Cingular's "five bars" theme. There's a contest and a $50,000 grand prize to be voted on by text messaging.

Meanwhile, Crest is asking people to help it pick new toothpaste flavors by going to the web to vote for their favorite. Crest is running TV and magazine ads about the promotion created by Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi. There's also an email campaign, with the four million consumers on the company's email list being asked to go to Crest.com to register and vote.