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Google Youtube Video

Why brands and agencies need to be aware of YouTube's Space

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By Stephen Lepitak | -

November 22, 2014 | 4 min read

Google recently opened its fourth YouTube Space in New York, open to any company to use if they have over 5,000 subscribers through their YouTube channel. The Drum's online editor, Stephen Lepitak, offers his thoughts having had a look around.

There's no doubt that brands have woken up to the need to produce video content in their efforts to capture the awareness and affection of target consumers, even though this necessity has led to widely variable results and quality.

The real winner here, as this trend continued to emerge, is YouTube - the world's most viewed video platform through which 6 Billion hours of video watched monthly and where gaining a huge online audience can sometimes equate to the same as that of a television audience, depending on quality of the content that is produced or the stories told.

As a result, it is positive news for brands and their agencies that YouTube has opened its doors - for free - to anyone with a channel that has more than 5,000 subscribers as it aims to improve the quality of content being created and help them to understand what works best on the platform.

I was recently lucky enough to spend a short period of time at Space, based at Chelsea Market in Downtown New York City, which opened in the middle of October. The facility is 20,000 square feet of creativity, spread over two floors. It offers creators access to post-production equipment including cameras and sound equipment that are available on loan, rotating dressed sets including a board room, a New York diner set and three sound stages; which, when I visited, had just been dressed for Halloween.

Alongside this there is also access to BrandLab which offers workshops where marketers and agencies can experiment with ideas and technical possibilities that allows ideas to be developed and explored.

YouTube also offers classes that include programming and creative strategy, production strategy and audience development, writing, equipment use and editing courses.

I am informed that the New York space has 3,000 feet of linear cables, enough to stretch across the entire length of Manhattan four times too.

Such a space and the learnings that it can potentially provide marketers and creators could really be a game changer for the advertising industry across the cities in which these spaces are currently situated, which also includes London, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

The prospect of agencies and brands being given expert advice on how to grow their video audiences and build on the initial work they have begun in this area could be crucial to the future of any major marketing strategy. Meanwhile Google has continued to exemplify how its growth as an advertising company and agency partner is likely to continue grow in the coming years. It is interesting to see how the company has decided to offer guidance to help it strengthen its position here, not that there are yet many truely credible competitors to YouTube in reality.

I will fully admit that was impressed by what I saw from YouTube and would recommend that agencies and brands take a look around the facilities and see how they can improve their video output. And remember, with over YouTube 5,000 subscribers on a channel. it's free! What's more attractive to a marketer and their limited budgets than that?

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