McQueen: The Future of Viral Marketing?

Most of you know who Alexander McQueen is, but for those that don't a quick primer: a celebrated British designer who takes inspiration from the everyday, the anti, the rebellious, the anarchical, the punk, the underground and churns out runway worn, groundbreaking fashions.

Now he's breaking ground in a new way with MySpace. He handpicked 35 under-21 MySpace members to be a part of his marketing campaign for his younger-skewed McQ line. They were invited down to his studio (in London) and charged with creating ads for his upcoming campaign.

Could this be a new wave in marketing in this age of social empowerment? Those most-receptive to and most-responsible for viral marketing being given the keys to drive corporate campaigns?

Perhaps. In my personal opinion it depends on the industry, in the highly personal, or tailored if you will, industry of style it could pay huge dividends because it's an industry that directly allows people to express themselves. Maybe that wouldn't work as well for, say, beer or batteries or tourism, but it will certainly be interesting to see if more companies in this industry and more companies who target the highly coveted teen/young adult demographic will follow suit.