Youtube: You’ve been there but what does it mean to you?
For some, Youtube is an outlet for music videos and live performances from their favorite artists.
For others, Youtube is an escape from the doldrums – giving the viewer cheap laughs with weekly viral sensations.
i.e. sneezing pandas…
But for me and advertising fans alike, Youtube is a website which caters to our love of advertising…
Advertisements posted on Youtube have an opportunity to be seen by millions of users. Usually, the reach of a video advertisement is limited to the audience of local television markets. Companies buy media time to have their commercial viewed by certain markets but Youtube opens up those market-boundaries and the ad becomes universal.
The significance of this universal market is huge for advertising. Instead of television watchers being force-fed ads that they may not want, videos on Youtube are selected without force. They are viewed for their artistic and entertainment value rather than their branding efficacy. The consumer is now simply the audience; I think this presents a new realm for advertisers to break from convention and fully express their artistry and love for the industry.
This has led way for the popularity of extended commercials on Youtube; 30 second tv spots turned into 1 minute Youtube videos or longer.
Here are a few of my favorites:
You can see from the production value of those advertisements that they have been crafted with pride. The producers of these advertisements are able to show their full ambition of the ad while the brands (sony, xbox, t mobile) are receiving free exposure.
You might visit Youtube to watch sneezing pandas, celebrity parodies, or the newest Britney Spears song; but the fact is that Youtube is much more valuable than the casual user knows it to be.
