Video Producers Cannot Survive on YouTube Alone - Ministry and Business Media & Marketing Blog

The world's most popular online video site is easily the top choice for amateur and professional producers looking to post their video content online. However, media creators large and small pay a high price for using YouTube alone. Playlists featuring other artists, search bars and even the pending wave of Hollywood-produced content threaten every company that relies on solely on YouTube for online video distribution.

A better strategy is to utilize YouTube in combination with a custom-branded Internet TV platform in which you or your company are the only star.

Unlike what you'll get with YouTube alone, a fully-branded video platform such as Endavo Media's service will allow you to capture subscriber information, generate a much greater CPM than YouTube's paltry payout to Partners and give you a dedicated distribution network that performs better in peak times than YouTube's over-burdened network.

Perhaps best of all, a sophisticated Internet TV platform will allow you to maintain brand vitality and avoid the Expedia Effect. The Expedia Effect refers to the watering down of the brands of most major airlines that sell tickets via Expedia.com. Do most passengers differentiate between Delta, Continental, American, United and others? A big part of this brand dilution is due to these airlines relying solely on a mass market website to sell their services, much in the same way that many video producers lean exclusively on YouTube, Vimeo and friends.

Tap into the reach of YouTube. But be sure to use your YouTube presence as a means to drive traffic to your custom video platform. Your brand and your bottom line will thank you.

For a live example of utilizing YouTube and your own brand-friendly video platform, check out Dave Days' YouTube channel and new Endavo Media platform.

YouTube and William Morris To Team for Premium Content - Ministry and Business Marketing & Media Blog

Word is swirling online that YouTube and major talent agency William Morris will team up to place premium content on the world's largest video portal. This serves the dual purpose of meeting YouTube's need for content they believe they can fully monetize and the needs of William Morris clients to have yet another platform to market themselves, perhaps after they've been rejected by major film and television studios.

This brings a couple questions to mind concerning both the William Morris clients and existing YouTube partners.

What will appearing on YouTube do for top-shelf WM talents? It used to be that top film stars refused to appear on television becuase the small screen was perceived to be for small-timers.

Clearly, for those closer to the bottom of the food chain YouTube could represent a killer opportunity to build a fan base. But for those already doing well, how many will be willing to appear on YouTube and how will doing so impact their brands? Brad Pitt and friends showing up for a Jimmy Kimmel bit is one thing. Showing up on YouTube in a low-level star's video is another.

On the flip side, what impact will the appearance of established stars have on the traffic of YouTube partners such as Smosh, Fred, Dave Days and others? Perhaps new Hollywood talent will bring new viewers to YouTube? Then again, if the decreased audiences of top-tier TV shows in a sea of 300 channels is at all instructive, then existing YouTube partners should seriously consider branching out.

Also consider the impact of YouTube's overall efforts to make their site more user-friendly and keep folks on their portal longer.

Search bars, menus of related content from other producers and other functionality is great for fans, but most assuredly dilutes the brands of individual YouTube producers. What then will a flood of not just prosumer but studio quality content do to existing YouTubers?

YouTube to Allow Major Partners to Serve Their Own Ads - Ministry and Business Marketing and Media Blog

As TechCrunch broke today, YouTube is rumored to be planning to allow big media partners to serve their own ads, with YouTube getting a piece of the pie. As the article further points out, most of YouTube's revenue is currently generated from ads placed with these media partners and YouTube would love to expand that revenue stream.

This new strategy might allow YouTube to capture a bigger piece of the advertising pie with global media companies, but it brings one big question to my mind: what about YouTube's other partners including Fred, Dave Days, Corey Vidal and others? What if they want to bring other advertisers to the table? Will YouTube share revenue with them as well?

Many of these partners have developed or are developing into full-fledged media brands. Why not allow them also to bring advertisers to the table with revenue-sharing?

To this point, advertisers have generally been reluctant to place ads on YouTube's smorgasbord of content. Why not allow any partners who break through with advertisers to run their own ads, whether they're Warner Brothers or Household Hacker?

What do you think? Would you open the ad gates to everyone or would you only play ball with media empires?

Corey Vidal and Why Record Labels Might Be Their Own Worst Branding Enemies - Ministry and Business Marketing and Media Blog

Brand Management 101:
1) Promote brand love.
2) Don't promote brand hate.

On the heels of their decision to stop suing single moms and other small-time copyright infringers, record labels still don't seem to understand how to engender good will around their brands and build a long-term fan base. Case in point, Warner Music Group's decision to remove a YouTube tribute to John Williams.

The video in question by choreographer and musician Corey Vidal, featured a four-part a capella performance set to the Star Wars theme. It received 4,064,130 views and reminded many, including yours truly, of Williams' brilliance.

What was WMG's response to this incredible, free publicity among a new generation for the brilliant composer whose catalog they own? WMG had the video removed for copyright infringement.

The result, of course, is the loss of a promotional opportunity for WMG and now more bad will for WMG and all record labels. Want evidence of the incredible backlash against WMG on this front? Just check out Corey Vidal's YouTube page and read the comments. Though I'll warn you in advance that many of them are unfit to reprint here.

Perhaps a better course of action for WMG would've been to create a contest around the video and to feature the Star Wars soundtrack throughout. In fact, why not hire Corey and have him wear a t-shirt for a website where fans could download John Williams' music?

What do you think? How would you have managed your brand similarly or differently?

Update: Indeed, John Williams is not dead, as I erroneously alluded to in my original post. Thanks to the anonymous commenter for catching that one.