YouTube Considers Live Channels
By Clawson, Trevor
Analysis It was a textbook example of how web 2.0′s growing army of content creators is increasingly making news in the mainstream media. Back in February, US video blogger and self-styled chronicler of online celebrity Sarah Meyers sidled up to the YouTube founder, Steve Chen, at a New York party and secured something of a scoop. When asked by Meyers when YouTube was going to launch live video streaming, Chen said this had been a long-held ambition and one that was about to be fulfilled with the backing of his company’s deep- pocketed new owner. “Live video is just something that we’ve always wanted to do, but we’ve never had the resources to do it correctly,” he said. “Now with Google, we hope to actually do it this year.”
And the rest was history. Meyers posted the comments on one of her regular Pop17 video reports and within days the story was being reported around the world. Journalists being journalists, Chen’s brief bout of thinking aloud was subjected to a fair amount of speculative interpretation, and there was much talk of the US company going head to head with the world’s broadcast networks.
Intriguing stuff – not least for marketers. The sheer size of YouTube’s audience means that the company is already in the media big league. In theory at least, the addition of live TV-style channels would make the network even more appealing to web users and advertisers alike. Indeed, according to Brendan Condon, international managing director of online ad network operator Advertising.com, live streaming has the potential to confer a new and compelling immediacy on YouTube – something that could be a big turn-on for brands hoping to interact with their consumers. “Social networks such as YouTube are already the Holy Grail for brands seeking an engaged audience,” says Condon. “If you can prove a live element will add to that engagement, then brands will certainly pay for that.”
Aspiration
At this point it’s worth pausing for breath. To date, no one outside of the Google/YouTube axis has any real idea of what these live channels might look like. Following the Meyers report, the company has pointedly refused to confirm or deny that any firm plans are in the pipeline. It seems that Chen’s candid remarks should be read as an aspiration rather than a policy statement.
But again, there has been no shortage of speculation. Sites such as Justin.tv and Ustream have demonstrated that live video can secure a loyal if limited online following. YouTube has the audience figures that would enable it to play in a different league and, in addition to the inevitable live feeds from the bedrooms of garrulous teenagers, commentators have predicted a new era of branded TV channels and well-made, ad-funded programming.
But whether or not the mix is attractive to brands remains to be seen. “There’s a tremendous buzz around user-generated content at the moment,” says Nicole Strada, creative director of digital agency TBWA. “But there is a real question as to whether you could match brand advertising to live streaming.”
The issue here is that YouTube can be an edgy place where innocuous music videos sit on the same servers as much more controversial clips created by a disparate user group. In recent months, the network has been criticised for making it too easy to upload footage containing scenes of violence. Whether formatted as a clip or a live stream, the ungoverned nature of YouTube content could well be a deterrent to brand advertisers.
Aware of the problem, YouTube has set about creating an advertising platform where brands can advertise against appropriate material. “We want brands to feel confident in the environment,” says Jonathan Gillespie, head of YouTube in the UK.
As Gillespie makes clear, YouTube’s UK operation is aggressively chasing brand advertising and has recently introduced a number of innovations. These include the now-familiar brand channels that are being used in the UK by the likes of Pot Noodle and Orange to promote products to the wider video-sharing community.
‘Contests’ offer a variation on this theme. Like brand channels, contests are spaces owned by brands, but they enable a greater degree of interaction with the audience by providing users with tools to create their own content.
And, according to Richard Hughes, group account director at AKQA, this can be a powerful means to connect to individuals and micro- communities. “YouTube users are the consumers who make videos about products, brands and industries, and these are the people brands need to reach and influence.”
InVideo
But perhaps the most important innovation – certainly in terms of concerns about content – is the launch in the UK of so-called InVideo advertising coupled with the Partnership Programme. As Gillespie explains, InVideo ads are non-intrusive, transparent overlays. When a YouTube user is accessing a clip, the overlay appears for ten seconds. During this time, the user can click on it to see the ad, close it, or simply wait for it to disappear. The technology has been used to promote the new series of Lost.
Crucially though, InVideo ads are only overlaid across clips created by YouTube Partners – content creators approved by the company who can demonstrate a significant audience for their work. “The partners,” says Gillespie, “are those producers who have become hugely popular on YouTube.”
The upshot is that partners are a known quantity. Not only do they have an audience, they are also committed to providing content that brand advertisers can assess and feel comfortable with. Strada sees this as a sensible approach. “YouTube has created a lot of stars,” she says. “It’s those stars that could prove the most attractive to advertisers.”
Just as star power can attract the premium advertisers to the likes of ITV, the same is true online. But should broadcasters be worrying about ad revenues leaching away? Dave Brennan, research and strategy director of Thinkbox, an organisation set up to promote TV advertising, says no. “We are relaxed about audio-visual advertising on the web,” he says. “Online and W advertising are complementary.”
Brennan’s view is that as the experience of TV viewing becomes more cinematic – bigger TVs, wider screens – the medium will retain its position as the preeminent channel for telling a brand story to a mass audience.
So no big upset to the broadcasting status quo then. But creating dedicated content for YouTube does require a budget and, according to Strada, the options provided by the network could divert funds from other channels. “Overall, budgets aren’t set to rise and brands will have to make choices as to where they spend their money,” she says. And if YouTube does put a toe into the internet TV market, those choices could become harder to make.
We want brands to feel confident in the YouTube environment
Jonathan Gillespie, Advertising.com
Orange: video is an important part of its online presence
Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Apr 2008
(c) 2008 Revolution. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.