YouTube is the world’s largest online video community. Hundreds of millions of videos are watched every day, and every minute, ten hours of video content is uploaded. If you had any question of the value of this product of web 2.0, the $1.65 billion that Google paid to acquire it should provide a pretty telling answer.
Operators of social media sites like YouTube are still struggling to perfect their advertising-based revenue stream, judging by this article from CNNMoney.com, but companies are still finding ways to use social media to their advantage.
My first example is Banana Republic. I personally am a fan of this brand, which is how I came across the video, but I think there are quite a few notable aspects from a PR point of view that are worth looking at. First of all, it provides a behind-the-scenes look into their event, which 1) adds to a person’s appreciation when they see how much work is put in, and 2) makes people feel closer to the brand. The video also includes interviews with the President and the Creative Director/EVP of Design. This helps consumers put a name and face along side the brand and makes it more personable.
There’s also the third party endorsement of a number of senior fashion journalists that adds to brand image. This, along with the user openly identifying itself as ‘BananaRepublicPR,’ enhances the overall credibility as well. However, the video is extremely long at nearly ten minutes. The danger here is that you risk loosing the viewers’ attention. Besides that, it’s a great way to showcase a product and a brand all at once. The interactive aspect of YouTube – the comments section, viewer rating and view count – allows people to share their thoughts while also providing feedback to the company. With a five star rating and over 8,400 views, people are clearly interested in what Banana Republic has to say.
Now is YouTube a useful communications tool for non-consumer sectors as well? My argument is yes, and here’s why:
From a PR evaluation perspective, I would say this video about architect David Fisher’s new design is a success. In the six months since it was posted – and at the time of this blog post – it’s been viewed 569,615 times, received 1,042 ratings (for an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5), and generated 2,764 comments (with the most recent comment posted only 6 hours ago).
For these non-consumer industries, it may seem more challenging to produce videos that would be both relevant to a particular communications strategy and also of interest to the target audience, but that doesn’t mean it should be discounted. Andrew Foote of Pepper Digital had the following to say about web video for B2B clients to Deirdre Breakenridge in her PR 2.0 book: “The fact is, there is a tremendous opportunity for B2B markets to utilize video and audio streaming to reach key stakeholders. Our goal is to help them determine how to strategically utilize online video as a component to a larger communications initiative.”
And then there are those videos like this one that you watch just because. I don’t think Michael Jackson had anything to do with it, but with well over 20 million views, I don’t think he minds the publicity.
