Google's Search Stories campaign had modest beginnings, but the world fell in (Parisian) love with it when one of the spots became Google's first-ever TV advertisement, airing during this year's Super Bowl. Since then, the campaign has been adopted by 150,000+ users who've made their own versions of the ad, and it's become a great example of how a brand can involve its audience in an ad campaign. The effort continues to evolve with the first co-branded Search Story spot, released last week to coincide with this week's opening of Toy Story 3. The video features a few characters you may well know and love (Buzz, Woody and the gang) sharing their own search story. Google's Robert Wong, Creative Director, tells us how the project came to be...

1. What was the genesis of the Search Stories campaign?

Search has become so commonplace in our lives and when you take a step back you can see that your searches are actually marking time. In kind of the same way that pictures or songs might, they tell the story of your life. We thought this was a pretty cool notion. Then, from there, it was a natural evolution to stringing some searches together to make a story. Because at the end of the day, the best search results don't just show up on a web page, they show up in someone's life.

2. Why Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story?

We got lucky. After doing a few of these we began to ask what would happen if we got people who are great storytellers to help. I had a friend at Pixar so we figured why not start at the top of the heap. Amazingly, they were into the idea.

3. Was it easy to meld creative/narrative visions?

They really could not have been nicer or more collaborative. Initially, we went out there to introduce ourselves and talk generally about working together. We also got to meet with some of the creatives behind Toy Story 3, who took us through the new movie. After that, we went back and came up with bunch of ideas to pitch to them. It was a lot fun getting to play around with those amazing characters they’ve created, but having just caught a glimpse of Toy Story 3 and it being such a major focus of theirs, it was a natural direction to go in. From there, it was a lot of good back and forth. We hit on a story we all liked pretty quickly and they gave us a lot of guidance with getting the characters right.

4. Tell us something about the video that no one would know just by looking at it.

I know some people have been surprised to hear that, aside from having the actor for the character Andy, John Morris, record “Hmmm,” we didn’t record anyone. It was all pick up dialogue from Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.


5. What’s your favorite moment from the video?

Hamm always cracks me up, but I love the Woody and Buzz moment. Woody’s laugh is so great, as is Buzz’s reaction to it.

As YouTube has evolved, marketers have changed the way they think about online advertising, especially around video and user engagement. Now more than ever, major brand advertisers are using YouTube as the hub for larger, integrated display campaigns that run across the web. Case in point: Coca-Cola -- the world’s #1 brand, according to Interbrand -- recently launched the “Longest Celebration,” a user video competition on YouTube, and the center of its online advertising campaign for the World Cup. Inspired by Cameroonian soccer star Roger Milla’s goal-celebration dance from the 1990 World Cup, Coca-Cola has invited users around the world to submit videos of their own dances to Coke’s brand channel, youtube.com/cocacola. As part of its campaign, Coca-Cola will run display ads across the Google Content Network, and point viewers to their YouTube channel in their television commercials.

In the latest interview in our Five Questions series, we spoke with Prinz Pinakatt, Interactive Digital Consumer Marketing Manager at Coca-Cola, about the World Cup, user uploads of famous Coke ads, and using YouTube to reach an international audience.

1. Why did Coca-Cola decide to make YouTube the center of its online advertising campaign for the World Cup?
We were looking for a global platform that people use to upload, enjoy and most importantly share engaging and entertaining video content.

2. The "Longest Celebration" competition is all about engaging the YouTube community to create videos for Coca-Cola. How did you come up with the idea for this campaign, and what inspired you to make user-generated content its focal point?
A spontaneous goal celebration is a very emotional and uplifting experience to have and to watch -- and it perfectly represents what Coca-Cola stands for. So, we translated the combination of goal celebrations and Coca-Cola in the context of this very special FIFA World Cup in Africa into an invitation to football fans all around to world to join one big celebration -- the "Longest Celebration.” And since the majority of the world is on YouTube it was the obvious choice.


3. Coca-Cola is a global brand, and the World Cup is a truly global event. Is there an international element to your campaign? How does Coca-Cola use YouTube to reach an international audience?
We have made the channel available in more than a 100 countries using their local languages. That itself shows how global this campaign is. To reach the YouTube audience itself we developed targeted Promoted Video campaigns as well as very impactful banner ads.

4. Many advertisers and content owners block user uploaded versions of their videos, but Coke consistently leaves them up -- from recent commercials to classics like "Mean Joe Green." What value does Coca-Cola see in allowing user uploads of their content on YouTube?
We believe that a user creating his personal version of one our ads shows the quality and the emotional engagement it created. In fact it's earned media as the user will distribute his personal creation.

5. Coca-Cola has been around for over 100 years. How has the company's approach to advertising changed over time, what’s been consistent, and how does YouTube fit into it today?
The question we always ask ourselves is how do we make sure that we communicate with our target audience in a meaningful (addressing the Zeitgeist), engaging (providing relevant content and messages) and contemporary (using the best tools) way. Today part of the answer is clearly YouTube given the role it plays in people's lives.

Posted by Dick Soule, Team Manager, Global Accounts, YouTube

It seems like every day Nike uploads another ad to YouTube that draws hundreds of thousands of views -- if not millions -- almost immediately. (Our current favorite: the Nike Music Shoe.) In our view, Nike ads are consistently popular on both television and the web because they’re different, creative, and engaging enough that no one wants to skip them.

In the latest interview in our Five Questions series, we spoke with Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport at Nike, about the benefits of longer ads, user uploads of Nike content, and the famous Ronaldinho video, one of the first ads to go viral on YouTube.

1. Nike is one of the few advertisers who consistently creates ads longer than the traditional 15 or 30-seconds -- like Guy Ritchie's 3+ minute Nike Football ad, or the 2+ minute Marvin Gaye USA Basketball ad. These ads also tend to find huge audiences on YouTube. Why does Nike run so many longer ads? What kind of content merits a long ad vs. a short one?

Our goal has always been to tell inspiring, rich stories using our deep insight into the world of Sports. It's liberating for a creative company like Nike not to be limited by 15/30/60 ad formats created by the media industry. YouTube's format gives us complete freedom to create the most compelling stories without time limitations. We never start with the time length, we start with the most compelling story.



2. In that respect, this 2+ minute Ronaldinho ad was one of the first to go viral on YouTube, mostly since viewers thought it was real. What did you learn from this video's success, and how has it affected Nike's thoughts about advertising in general?

We always thought viewers would think it was special to feel they were behind the scenes and up-close with the worlds most skilled football player. But it wasn't until the debate over the whether it was real or not had practically everyone in Brazil split in two camps. There were those who believed and those who didn't. That's when we realized how huge it could be. The fact that it was an authentic story with an amazing player and not an obvious fabricated video.

The role of PR cannot be underestimated in creating traction for digital content. A film doesn't take off just because you post it.



3. Many advertisers and content owners block user uploaded versions of their videos, but Nike consistently leaves them up -- from recent commercials to classic Nike ads like "Bo Knows." What value does Nike see in allowing user uploads of their content on YouTube?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We love when people engage and participate in the storytelling. Any confident Brand should be.

4. Nike has also engaged in lots of paid advertising on YouTube -- from homepage ads to brand channels to Promoted Videos. When Nike is planning its digital ad campaigns, how does it decide which direction to take in each instance?

We start with our consumers. Where are they? What do they care about? And then we figure out how to participate in their lives. It's less about planning digital ad campaigns and more about understanding consumer context.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

Hard to pick one. The fact that almost all old Nike ads are there is amazing. I do think the Dove video was smart and didn't launch on TV.

Posted by Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager

Earlier this year, General Electric (G.E.) launched its Healthymagination campaign, dedicated to “becoming healthier, through the sharing of imaginative ideas and proven solutions.” As part of the campaign -- G.E.’s biggest ever aimed at consumers -- G.E. partnered with Howcast to create a conversation around health using how-to videos. Several popular YouTube users like Smosh and iJustine contributed videos to Howcast, in addition to 20 Howcast-produced videos, ranging in topics from “How to Get a Little Healthier While Staying Lazy” to “How to Build Your Own MRI Machine.”

In our latest interview, Judy Hu, Global Executive Director for Advertising and Branding at G.E., talks about the company’s 100-year history, YouTube user content, and the importance of being informative and imaginative in advertising.

1. For healthymagination, you created a multi-faceted experience on YouTube with custom content, a partner channel takeover and engaging YouTube personalities. How do these efforts fit into your general digital marketing strategy?

With our healthymagination campaign, we wanted to change the conversation around health and engage more people in an ongoing dialog about how to live healthier lives. Part of our strategy was to reach a broader audience of consumers, which meant going to where the audience is -- the digital arena. YouTube’s the largest video site with one of the biggest online audiences, and conversations are already happening there. We wanted to be a part of them.

2. In addition to the healthymagination brand channel on YouTube, you sponsored a channel takeover of YouTube partner Howcast. How did working with an established YouTube partner like Howcast further your campaign goals?

Working with Howcast gave us an experienced partner that understands today’s video audience. We knew that Howcast was a cool content creator, but they also brought great expertise in executing strategic new media campaigns. It’s wasn’t just about content creation -- aligning topics and concepts with target audiences in a compelling way -- but also about leveraging distribution channels from both Howcast and YouTube personalities. Howcast developed a media plan tailored to the campaign that included rich media ads, Promoted Videos, and InVideo overlays. We also got a number of YouTube celebs involved in a health-themed physical challenge. Individually, these YouTube stars knew their own audiences, who got involved in watching the challenges unfold.


3. What audience does G.E. hope to reach through its efforts on YouTube? How will you measure its success?

The program’s been a smash success for us. Howcast’s health videos reached hundreds of thousands of viewers. The YouTube healthymagination physical challenge had 8 million video views, nearly 250,000 video ratings, and 110,000 comments. Our YouTube media plan garnered over 4 million playbacks, counting both user-initiated and auto-play views. Not only were viewers interested, but they stuck around -- we had a 28% completion rate of our video views.

4. G.E. has been around for over 100 years. How has G.E.’s approach to advertising changed over time, what’s been consistent, and how does YouTube fit into it today?

Over those 100 years, we’ve consistently used advertising to tell stories about our company. The formats, platforms, and channels have changed, but we’ve always tried to inform by entertaining and engaging people.

In 2003, we launched a new tagline, “imagination at work,” which reflects how we use our imaginations to solve some of the world’s toughest challenges, whether they’re environmental or health issues. We have researchers around the world who have invented water purification systems that turn saltwater into drinking water, and the Vscan, an ultrasound that fits into the palm of your hand. Our advertising has to be as imaginative as our products. YouTube, a creative and very human environment, is a natural fit.

5. How would you describe G.E.’s approach to social media? How important is video to this strategy?

Social media is about storytelling and conversations, so it’s really part of our ongoing content strategy. We’re simply out there talking in other places beyond our own websites.

Video viewing is growing at an unprecedented rate. It’s a format that particularly lends itself to eliciting emotional responses -- people watch videos, and then they laugh, cry, argue. And emotional responses are what connect people to brands. So yes, we’re making hundreds of videos -- watch for them on YouTube!

Posted by George Strompolos, Strategic Partner Development

As the official outfitter of the NBA, adidas used All-Star weekend to debut their newest basketball shoe, TS Supernatural. To show off the brand's innovation (both online and off), adidas turned to four-time All-Star Dwight Howard -- and to YouTube -- to create a series of videos and run a campaign that highlighted their goal of making the world's athletes "stronger, lighter, and faster."

Lots of advertisers talk about making "engaging" creative, but not everyone takes it so literally. Working with YouTube, adidas built a custom video player that allows users to truly interact with the content they're watching: users can make Dwight Howard fly higher, increase the intensity of his dunks, and even choose different angles to view the videos themselves.

After the excitement of All-Star weekend died down, we had the chance to interview Lia Vakoutis, adidas' Global Digital Lead for Basketball, about the needs of basketball consumers, the impact of YouTube on TV campaigns, and the creative opportunities the site offers sports marketers.

1. Adidas' brand channel really takes video engagement to a higher level. What did your creative and development process look like?

We are constantly striving to take communication with our consumers to the next level and are especially happy with the results of our 2010 NBA All-Star campaign featuring Dwight Howard. The creative process didn't change all that much for our brand channel. We always begin with our consumers and our product. We talk to teens, we know what they want and we know where they spend their time online. This knowledge drives all of our creative development. For our latest campaign in particular, this meant focusing on a Texas-inspired NBA All-Star uniform, the TS Supernatural, and of course we partnered very closely with YouTube during the development of our brand channel. The entire YouTube team was fantastic in helping us bring our vision to life and making it work within the YouTube environment.

2. What is the specific benefit of YouTube to sports marketers like adidas?

The big benefits are flexibility, reach and participation. YouTube gives us a platform to reach our consumers with content we know they are looking for -- video. For the last couple of years, we have focused on the innovation of our brand channel to meet the ever evolving needs of our consumers. The YouTube platform is really flexible and has played a large part in some of our most recent initiatives. Like the adidas 2010 NBA All-Star campaign and the adidas "It's on Me" campaign that launched this past fall. We like that YouTube allows us not only to reach our consumers on the site, but also syndicate our content out to the rest of the world. And of course, the participation aspect -- our consumers can view, share, rate and comment on everything we post. We love that they're in control and it's always great to receive the continual feedback.

3. How has YouTube affected the way you build campaigns for TV, and vice versa?

When we create content, we definitely take into consideration the "YouTube factor." You must have a strategy in place to drive the creation of shareable content. With our most recent NBA All-Star campaign, we had to consider how to break through to the consumer. We did that through an interactive experience that put the consumer in control. Rewarding viewers for interacting with our content is not something we have done before and we are pleased with the results.

4. Who is your target audience and how will you drive traffic to the channel?

From a basketball perspective, we talk to basketball players and leverage global digital and [traditional] media buys to drive traffic to the adidas Basketball brand channel.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

I would say the Chinese Backstreet Boys. You gotta love their passion for their team -- and of course, the Backstreet Boys.

Posted by Andy Tress, Display Senior Account Executive

At YouTube, we love to see videos that engage and often inspire viewers. Some of the best content on our site comes from advertising agencies, who flex their creative muscles to build inventive campaigns that help clients make a human connection with consumers.

While agencies combine their understanding of client brands with a healthy dose of imagination to conceive these campaigns, YouTube works to connect science and art by building open technology platforms on which these campaigns can be executed in a scalable, measurable way. Doing this well involves a lot of collaboration with -- luckily for us -- some of the smartest, most creative agency minds out there, to make sure our platforms are addressing the most critical agency and client issues.

For our latest installment in the Five Questions series, we talked to Rob Davis, Leader of Ogilvy's Interactive Video Practice, to get his take on the role of online video in client campaigns, the myth of "viral videos," and the tools that make his job easier.

1. Ogilvy has worked with several clients to launch brand channels on YouTube. How do you work with clients, Google, and YouTube to come up with an idea, and ultimately build and run the channel/campaign itself?

Ogilvy's philosophy is to integrate interactive video work into the core creative and strategic elements of the agency. Therefore, when we are working on a YouTube brand channel or campaign, we take a team approach that includes the client, YouTube, and Google as part of the working unit. Initial ideas may come from anyone on the team, but it's when we start ideating with YouTube that the big ideas gel. We look across all the YouTube offerings, from paid media and takeovers to annotations and widgets, to make sure we are crafting an experience that meets the expectations of the audience and makes full use of the latest toolsets.


2. What have you learned about video advertising from YouTube, and how has this affected how you build campaigns for your clients?

YouTube is an integral part of paid and earned media strategies. Integrated VSEO (video search engine optimization), VSEM (video search engine marketing), and display planning allow us to take advantage of YouTube in a mix that is right for the client. Not everything warrants a YouTube homepage ad, and not everything can live on VSEO alone. The trick is to find the balance that builds the audience -- the right audience -- that the client is looking for. How we achieve that balance is part of our secret sauce, but I can say that it stems from a "one Ogilvy" approach where our different disciplines unite to do what is right for the project.

3. Google and YouTube provide lots of tools that help agencies build creative campaigns. Which tools do you find most useful or valuable?

YouTube Insight and the Keyword Suggestion Tool are obvious answers for marketers, but for creative campaigns we look to the value that annotations, captioning and widgets like YouTube Direct can bring to a campaign. Our multi-discipline approach gives us a fresh perspective on all of YouTube's offerings. Ironically, one of the most valuable tools is the simplest, but in our opinion, the most overlooked: the playlist.

4. How important is it to have an engagement component in an online advertising campaign? Is that more or less important than the content itself?

Nothing is more important than content. That said, our multi-discipline, integrated approach allows us to consider engagement on the same level as content. Both need to be equally well-planned and executed. Engagement can be big, like a contest or a vote, or it can be as simple as content so compelling, so noteworthy, that is gives people a reason to share it. In that sense, content itself can equal engagement.

Defining the kind of engagement appropriate is a key element in success. I don't believe in "viral videos." The "post 'n' pray" fantasy of putting a video on YouTube and having it magically spread to a zillion users ignores the importance of engagement and placement. I guarantee you that the million-views-a-day video has good content and at least one of three other elements: a channel with an existing audience, a strategic placement (paid or earned), and the appropriate level of engagement.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

I have a life-long passion for railroading, especially when it involves steam locomotives. This has led to many adventures, not the least of which was joining 49 folks of similar interest in Michigan last summer to rent two vintage locomotives for a dawn-to-midnight weekend of private photo runs designed to recreate railroading from the 1950s.

I am primarily a still photographer, but I did shoot some movies that weekend. However, YouTube user JoMiFu, an under-20 artist with a tremendous eye for the moving image, captured the weekend with one of the most stunning railroad videos I have ever seen. Don't miss the sunset scene at 7:20. I can't stop watching it.

Posted by Lisa Green, Senior Agency Relations Manager

Periodically we come across advertisers on YouTube who do more than just run campaigns on the site. Many are prolific creators of content, some test new tools and targeting features, and others experiment with YouTube's APIs. Then there's the rare advertiser like Salesforce.com, who does all of the above.

For our latest interview, we chatted with Jamie Grenney, Senior Director of Social Media Strategy at Salesforce.com, about the many ways his company uses YouTube to reach its customers across the web.

1. Why has video become such an important part of your general marketing strategy?

Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company -- more than 67,000 customers use our cloud platform and apps to help run their businesses. Of the various social media channels we use to engage our community, YouTube has emerged as the most important for our business because it allows us to deliver a rich and concise message with perfect fidelity. Today we are generating about 6,000 video views a day on our Salesforce TV channel on YouTube. If we estimate the average view to be two minutes in length, that's roughly equivalent to 35 hyper-efficient sales reps on the phone. That is a huge productivity boon for a company like ours and something we want to build upon.

The question we are asking now is, "how do we double or triple the number of people watching our videos?" Partnering with YouTube is a central part of that strategy.

2. Why was it important for salesforce.com to have a presence on YouTube?

We looked at a number of different approaches to publishing video both on our own website as well as other sites on the web. Given that YouTube is such a large percentage of online video, we knew it was a platform that we couldn't overlook. When people receive a YouTube link in their inbox, they have an expectation and a common understanding of what they're going to get when they click it. They know how the player works and how to share it with their friends. We considered using a service that would publish videos to our website and syndicate a copy to YouTube, but we wanted to stay focused and make sure we didn't dilute our view counts. View counts are weighted heavily in search and are an important part of what makes a video interesting to other viewers.

Today, all our video content is hosted on YouTube and we use the YouTube APIs to serve up videos in branded players on our website. This allows us to manage all of our content in one place; and YouTube Insight provides excellent analytics to show us where the views are coming from.


3. How does your YouTube campaign fit into your larger online advertising strategy (display, search, etc.)?

We look at our YouTube campaign as part of the overall marketing pie. We are using YouTube to test display ads, landing pages and behavioral targeting and are then optimizing based on results. We are taking what we learn about our audience and applying that to other display strategies.

4. Do you see advertising on YouTube as a branding opportunity, a customer acquisition opportunity, or both?

YouTube is both a branding opportunity and a customer acquisition opportunity. From a branding perspective, we are able to target our users with the ads that are most relevant to them. We are able to introduce them to new products, such as Salesforce Chatter, and help build awareness for them. We are also able to use YouTube as part of a customer acquisition strategy by utilizing targeted offers for the audience the ads are shown to.


5. What are your key indicators of success today and what do you see salesforce.com doing on YouTube in one year?

In the last year we've grown from 50 videos on YouTube to 650! This is tremendous growth in content. But just as important, we've been able to eliminate islands of video that existed within our organization. We now have a holistic view of our content library, and with YouTube Insight we can see exactly what's working and what's not. Our video views have grown from 350 a day to 6,000 a day. It's a tall order, but we are trying to figure out how to double that number to 12,000 a day this year. We are building a second recording studio and hope to crank out lots more content. We are also working with the broader salesforce.com community to create significantly more user generated content through YouTube Direct.

To help us manage video and create even more granular reports we are building a mash-up between Force.com (our platform for custom app development) and YouTube. We'll be able to manage uploads from hundreds of content contributors from across the company and report on video views on salesforce.com reports and dashboards.

Posted by Elliott Selzer, Account Executive

One of our main goals at YouTube is to help content partners succeed with online video and find an audience and our site -- and news partners are no exception. We've been working with Newsweek to provide videos and commentary in the run up to President Obama's State of the Union address this evening. We asked users to submit their thoughts and questions about important policy issues, and Newsweek convened a panel of experts to provide answers and engage in conversation with the YouTube community. (You can find all these videos today on the YouTube homepage, and a few throughout this post.)

Newsweek has been creating video for their website for some time, and has uploaded hundreds of videos to their YouTube channel on a variety of topics. In this interview, Nick Grudin, Newsweek's Vice President of Strategy and Enterprises, talked to us about the role of video at a newsmagazine, changes in the journalism industry, and how YouTube helps Newsweek bring important news content to a larger audience.

1. Why did you think YouTube would be a good place for Newsweek's experts' discussions?

Newsweek generates some very high quality original video content and we regularly look for cross-promotion opportunities on platforms beyond Newsweek.com. YouTube has proven to be an excellent partner on these initiatives, particularly when we're looking for broader distribution among new audiences.

2. How did you approach these experts and get them to participate in this new, unique format?

This is what Newsweek does best. Our editors opened their contact books to convene some of the top thinkers on the most pressing issues facing Americans today, including our international editor, Fareed Zakaria, who will contribute his point of view on the state of our education system.



3. What demographic does Newsweek hope to reach with this content, and how do you think of that audience compared to those who read the magazine in print and on the web?

This content is appealing to a wide demographic -- not just those interested in politics. There is a slightly different group of folks that engage with our content in print versus online, but the one thing they have in common is an appetite to consume information on what matters most in their lives. That's what we strive to do. By convening the world's leading thinkers on the most pressing topics of the day, Newsweek delivers a broad perspective to a wide and intellectually engaged audience. In a different way, we see this as one of YouTube's great strengths as well.

4. For a news magazine, Newsweek uploads a lot of original content to YouTube. How important is video becoming to Newsweek and print journalism generally?

Video has become critical to our story-telling repertoire, and we're constantly looking to expand our audience and distribution for it. From interview series such as the Newsweek-YouTube State of the Union project and Newsweek's annual Oscar Roundtables, to feature reporting, such as "COMPTON: Gang Wars Take Their Toll," we are committed to applying Newsweek's unique lens to the video format.

5. How is Newsweek positioning itself given recent changes to the news industry?

Newsweek is evolving with the continuous shift in the media landscape. In an age of information overload, we see our role as a filter for what matters most as more important than ever before. We are committed to finding our audience wherever and however they prefer to be reached, from reading Newsweek Magazine in their living room, to following our stories on Twitter or Tumblr, to watching a YouTube video on their smartphone.



Posted by Olivia Ma, YouTube News Manager

In the past few months, American Apparel has run several campaigns on YouTube to promote some of the company's lesser-known lines, from swimwear to kids clothing. Our personal favorite is a campaign they recently ran targeted to pet content on YouTube -- including the famous (or maybe infamous) "Skateboarding Dog" video.

In this interview, Ryan Holiday, Marketing and Web Strategist at American Apparel, talked to us about the company's overall marketing goals, the importance of being playful, and, of course, dogs on skateboards.

1. Why did you want to target American Apparel ads to videos of dogs on skateboards?

It started when we were looking for dance websites and it turned out that there weren't that many -- at least ones that fit our audience. But there are a lot of great dance videos. Awesome ones, actually. So we started designing ads for the American Apparel DANCE line and targeted them to our favorite ballet, aerobics and dance videos. At the same time, we realized that a lot of people don't know that you can buy American Apparel for your pet because it's a hard thing to advertise for, so we started looking for pet videos. "Skateboarding Dog" is obviously an iconic YouTube video, but there are so many other really cute pet ones out there. The same goes for videos like "Charlie Bit My Finger," which felt like a great place to introduce the American Apparel Kids line. Fun parents are the reason it got popular and that's what our line is about. Our Sesame Street shirts will hopefully go next to Sesame Street videos and so on.


2. How do you measure the success of this campaign?

AdWords lets you track view-through orders, so that's one metric. Considering that the alternatives are tactics like site retargeting or large network buys, or in this case children's or pet-owners' magazines, just being able to do advertising that is playful and appreciated by the people seeing it sort of makes it successful regardless.

3. What did you learn and how has it informed other campaigns you've run on YouTube?

You should be on the sites your employees and fans are on. The second we started picking YouTube videos, employees from all over the world began sending in links of videos they thought we should be on. Striking a nerve like that lets you know that you might have something special.

4. How does your YouTube campaign fit within your larger marketing strategy?

It fits into its own little pocket. You have marketing that is about a message or the brand, and you have marketing that pushes new products or events. This is something that's a combination of that. People on YouTube are looking to discover things and hopefully our ads help them do that.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

We're partial to the Larry Flynt deposition from the Falwell lawsuit.

Posted by Lane Shackleton, Product Specialist

"I Met the Walrus" was one of the first short films featured in the YouTube Screening Room, YouTube's platform for great independent film content. Featuring dazzling animation set to an intimate interview with John Lennon, it's been raking in accolades since its premiere in 2008. The latest award? A Daytime Emmy for New Approaches. The award-winning "network"? YouTube.

In this interview, director Josh Raskin discusses filmmaking and distribution in the digital age.

1. You've been nominated for an Oscar and "I Met the Walrus" is the first YouTube video to win an Emmy. How do you think about film (or video) before you start a project?

I really don't think much about film or video before starting a project. I worry about the idea, and then use whatever medium will best communicate that idea. In this case, the idea was to show literal interpretations of John's words flowing into each other, the way they might have appeared inside the head of an overwhelmed 14-year-old kid. Animation seemed like the best way to do that without a huge budget and really flexible actors.

2. What role does YouTube play in the promotion and distribution of your work?

YouTube is the main way people see our film. Outside of film festivals and TV specials, there aren't a lot of places short films can be seen. The internet is the only format with a short enough attention span. By allowing anyone with a computer and an internet connection to watch your film and spread it around, YouTube puts promotion in the hands of the people. Which is really the best possible system. It means the things that get watched most are the things people want to see, as opposed to the things with the most money behind them.

3. Are you seeing a sea change in how young filmmakers are thinking about creating and distributing their work?

The fact that anyone can make and distribute a film for next to no money has really leveled the playing field. Anyone with an idea and a bit of passion can put a film out. Everyone's a filmmaker. Some people just haven't done it yet.

4. You have a very distinct style of filmmaking. Have you seen an impact for your work on mainstream media?

We've definitely noticed echoes of our style in mainstream stuff. But our film borrows so much from everywhere that it becomes really difficult to draw those lines. Everything is inspired by other things. But the goal should be to do something new with those things, rather than just imitate them.

5. Do you approach Web filmmaking, or your online audience, any differently than you would approach traditional filmmaking and distribution?

Making a film is such an intensely personal process for me that by the time it's done, the fact that anyone sees it seems like a miracle. But I don't approach projects differently based on the audience. The truth is, whether it's online or in a theater, you never have any idea who's wataching your fim. I think as long as I'm making things that I care about, the rest will ssort itself out.

Posted by Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment Team

Zappos.com has been in the news a lot lately -- from their recent acquisition by Amazon, to their strong and public commitment to customer service. Recently, Zappos was in the headlines once again for their innovative "world's fastest nudist" viral video campaign on YouTube. Aaron Magness, Director of Brand Marketing & Business Development, talked to us about Zappos' overall approach to video advertising.

1. What is Zappos' strategy behind video advertising across the Internet and TV?

Our primary goal is to grow awareness and drive new customer acquisition. One of the biggest challenges of getting your message out is being in front of the right people at the right time. By spreading your touch points across multiple forms of media, that ability increases.

2. Are there any specific facets of YouTube that work particularly well for your brand?

YouTube provides a platform that just about everyone is aware of and comfortable using. One of the core values of Zappos is “Do more with less." YouTube is a great way to do that.

3. How did you come up with the idea for your viral campaign about the "world's fastest nudist"?

Since we started as a shoe retailer, that’s what the majority of people think of us as. We are really trying to stretch their perception of who we are and what we represent, particularly in clothing. Given this goal, the idea was pitched to us by Agent 16. We thought it was a really funny idea and could make people laugh. They did a great job with it.

4. How do you measure the success of this campaign and your other video marketing efforts?

We weren’t looking for a huge ROI on this specific idea. The goal is to build long term awareness that people are talking about. We wanted to find a fun way to get the message out that we sell more than shoes, and I think this did that.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

There really are so many. “David after the dentist” comes to mind pretty quickly followed by “Boom goes the dynamite." Overall, the ones I like the most tend to be user generated and not overly produced.

Posted by Deeksha Hebbar, Associate Marketing Manager

It's the end of the summer, and we're thinking about barbecues and the first day of school... not taxes. But Kathy Collins, H&R Block's Vice President of Marketing Communications and Brand Management and VP of Marketing for Retail Tax, says finances are a business for all seasons. We recently had the opportunity to ask Ms. Collins how she's using social media and video in her campaigns, how she's measuring success, and what it's like to make taxes engaging year-round.

1. How are you thinking about social media and video?

In the past we’ve used video mostly for user-generated contests or promotions. As we continue to evolve our participation in social media, we realize that there is a big opportunity for us to create simple, educational videos that could reach consumers where they are, by providing an explanation for even the most complex tax situations on YouTube. We always remember, however, that it’s a fine line we walk between being entertaining yet informative. After all, it’s peoples’ financial lives we hold in the balance. We present tax and financial information to our YouTube audiences in a ‘human,’ voice, not corporate speak.

2. H&R Block has seasonality built into its marketing cycle. How does this affect how you think about your presence during Tax Time and year round?

Although tax preparation is a seasonal 'event,' life does happen outside of tax season! Think about it - nearly every event in one’s day-to-day life has a tax implication, whether it’s getting married, having a baby, buying a house, or going back to school. Therefore, we need to be available for our clients when – and where - they need us, whether that's in or out of the traditional "season." We will provide consistent and continuous year-round tax expertise through a number of media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and our own community site.

3. The "Don't Miss It" Game used YouTube Annotations, a new feature, in a very innovative way. Where did you come up with the idea?

We work with a number of agencies to develop creative formats from which we can connect with consumers. One of our agency partners actually brought this idea to us. We loved it because it allowed us to provide tax expertise in a fun and interactive way. We are always looking for the most innovative ways to reach our current and potential clients, while at the same time, showcasing our tax expertise.

4. How are you defining "success" for your campaigns?

Success is a long-term strategy, not a one year marketing campaign. We look at longer term measures such as brand awareness and brand attributes, positive word-of-mouth, and increased customer retention. It's all about making a connection with our consumers, interacting and engaging with them. The emotional connection is critical. We continue to learn, and redefine success and move the conversation from a corporate monologue to a customer dialogue. Last year, we did a pilot program where we asked 10 tax pros to answer tax questions on Yahoo Answers, when they weren’t doing their day job. Those 10 tax pros answered nearly 7,000 questions, within a 4 month period. The success of this program showed us that there is huge appetite for answers, we just need to be there to provide the expertise.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

Sappy as it is, I still love the PS22 Chorus singing Landslide.

H&R Block's "Don't Miss It" Game used YouTube Annotations to engage the community.

Posted by Kristin Kovner, YouTube Industry Marketing

Matthew Yeomans and Bernhard Warner, directors of Custom Communication, are the engines behind YouTube Brandwatch, a bookmark-worthy blog about how companies use YouTube and the effects those videos -- and the conversations surrounding them -- have on brands.

1. Why did you create the blog?

The blog grew out of a feature that we created for Social Media Influence, the conference and site we run. [Slate's] The Big Money liked the concept and invited us to turn the feature into a weekly blog/column.

2. What is Brandwatch's mission?

Brands spend millions each year managing their reputations and promoting their products using traditional media -- advertising and PR. However, the majority of major brands remain tone-deaf to the power and influence of a medium like YouTube despite the fact that it has a community of millions that interacts with it on a daily basis. The irony is that brands are having great difficulty getting consumers to sit through their 30-second spots on television while on YouTube vibrant communities have formed to discuss every creative detail that goes into the making of these ads. Advertisers ignore this feedback at their peril.

3. What generalizations can you make about the impact of online video on brands?

Online video about brands and the commentary that accompanies it is visceral and insightful into real people's perception of a brand (even if you have to wade through a lot of inane comments to get there). For the brands themselves, there's this very recent sensation that YouTube has become too important to ignore...never mind the the lack of control they have over how customers refer to them. From the poll results, it's evident that the public wants brands to be as sophisticated as they are. In other words, brands should be more daring and more creative with their advertising messages, and they should spare us the obvious gags.

4. What is the best use of online video by a brand to date, in your opinion?

Different brands use YouTube to great effect. For a small company like Blendtec, YouTube offered this amazing opportunity to tell an "extreme" narrative through video content. For a huge brand like T-Mobile, the "Dance" series of videos (which were accompanied by a TV advert and an advertising campaign on YouTube) offered an opportunity to show the online public that it understood how people like to share and celebrate common experiences. That said, we still have a soft spot for the "Where the Hell Is Matt?" videos...enabled by Cadbury's Stride Gum. We also like the brilliant editing in a longish, but much beloved video produced for the niche brand, Inspired Bicycles, that has amassed over 9 million viewers since April.

5. What do you think marketers don't get right often enough when it comes to using YouTube?

The marketers that use YouTube to the greatest effect are the ones who build it into their marketing strategy beforehand. It's exceedingly difficult to convey a compelling, entertaining, informative message in 30 seconds for a TV public with a limited attention span. On YouTube, marketers are now uploading the extended versions of their TV spots to provide the fuller story and to invite the public into a discourse. In effect, they want to know, "tell us what you think." That said, many marketers are still missing a big trick with this medium. They are putting the videos up, but providing so little detail about how it's made, who's in it, what's that music playing in the background. For now, the YouTube community is going in and filling in these holes in the detail, but we rarely hear from the marketers again after they post the ad. In effect, they are abandoning their most attentive followers. With our YouTube Brandwatch column, we're aiming to remind brands that we can have this conversation with or without your input.

Demand Media is one of the largest partners on YouTube, with over 168,000 videos on the site. They have been early adopters of many of our partner and advertiser offerings, and recently announced that they'd surpassed 1 billion views of their videos on YouTube and their network sites.

For the second interview in our "Five Questions" series, we chatted with Steven Kydd, EVP of Demand Studios, about content creation, how-to videos, and the virtues of an open platform.

1. How would you describe your company's approach to content creation?

Demand Studios is comprised of a large network of professional filmmakers who create engaging content for our enthusiast brands like LIVESTRONG.com, eHow, and Golflink.com. We utilize the talents of over 10,0000 creators to create high-quality content for niche audiences the world over. Each month, Demand Studios creates thousands of new videos, which is a rate of content creation that few can match. Many of our filmmakers have worked for major broadcasters and cable networks and have won Emmy and Sundance Film Festival awards. These professionals are turning to Demand Studios for steady income, a large supply of interesting projects, so it's in our mutual interest to help them find a large audience online.

2. How-to content is very popular on YouTube. What has been the key to ExpertVillage and eHow's success on the site?

By having thousands of videos in popular categories like home improvement, sports, beauty, and martial arts, the ExpertVillage channel aggregated subscribers, ratings and comments very quickly. As our content gained momentum in the marketplace, we continually raised the quality standards each new video we created – in turn gaining the trust of our users and major advertisers. During that same time period, YouTube was actively seeking more HD video to broaden their appeal, so we focused on adding high-quality video that spans the “head, torso, and long tail” of topic areas. In our view, it's about giving people what they're looking for.

3. What are the benefits of a video-everywhere approach, as opposed to one that limits content distribution to certain websites on an exclusive basis?

We are firm believers in creating high-quality content that audiences can easily find, which is why we have uploaded virtually our entire library to YouTube. While some content owners still hope that audiences will “tune in” to their channels exclusively, we have seen that our content on YouTube INCREASES brand awareness and traffic to our owned and operated websites – a win-win for both parties. Broad distribution is a great way to assure the best and most exposure to your brand – and incremental revenue.

4. Demand Media is generating seven-figures a year from YouTube, and is profitable. Are there any specific ad formats or monetization strategies that you see as key drivers of revenue?

Since 2007, we have been a beta-tester of almost every new form of monetization YouTube has introduced. As such, we have witnessed first-hand YouTube’s ability to provide targeted and contextual monetization solutions while retaining a quality user experience. We’ve seen better-than-average click-through rates and CPMs with overlays and banners and have participated in several premium content events in conjunction with YouTube and leading brand advertisers. We also think there is an opportunity for greater integration with Click-to-Buy, similar to what YouTube is currently doing with music and DVDs.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

I guess I have to pick a how-to video. My golf game could use LOTS of improvement so I’m thrilled we have Tiger Wood’s instructor, Hank Haney, starring in a series of videos on Golflink's YouTube channel. His tips on how to improve my downswing were really helpful.

Posted by Obadiah Greenberg, Strategic Partner Manager

Today marks the first post in our new "Five Questions" series. In this regularly occurring YouTube Biz Blog feature, we'll interview marketing executives, agency leaders, and other innovators who are using YouTube in interesting ways to drive their businesses forward.

For our first interview, we chatted with Brad Haley, EVP Marketing for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, who just launched two new YouTube brand channels as part of a campaign that enlisted some of the most popular users on YouTube to make videos about the restaurant's new Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger.

1. Why did you decide to advertise on YouTube?

At Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, our advertising is targeted to 18-34 year old males. We call them “young, hungry guys.” And they are definitely on YouTube.

2. Tell us about this campaign.

This campaign has two goals - the first is to promote the introduction of Carl’s Jr. Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger. What better way to promote a new product than to have some of the hottest YouTube content creators show their millions of subscribers how they would eat the burger? The second goal is to gain traction with our new brand channels for both Carl’s Jr. (www.youtube.com/CarlsJr) and Hardee’s (www.youtube.com/Hardees). We launched them on the same day as the videos from the content creators to help drive traffic, subscribers and interaction with the brands.

3. Why do you think Carl's Jr.'s message is well suited for YouTube user videos?

Our brand message is fun, irreverent and always includes our big delicious burgers. We want fans of our brand to know that our relationship with them doesn’t end at the drive thru, and YouTube provides a great way to share the same kind of fun, edgy content with our fans online.

4. How has your thinking toward "video advertising" evolved?

Online video [advertising] is a completely different ballgame [from TV advertising] and this deal proves that. Broadcast TV advertising isn’t going anywhere immediately. It’s still very effective, despite DVRs. But online, and especially with YouTube, we are able to target our young male customers for a fraction of the cost.

5. What's your favorite YouTube video?

I liked the animated Watchmen video spoofs. And I still laugh out loud every time I see Happy Star save Rob Dyrdek’s life.

Posted by Jesse Haines, Marketing Manager