Youtube as social media…

When thinking about social media, most people automatically think of Facebook , MySpace and Twitter. Although it is mainly focussed upon videos in comparison to communication, Youtube is one which could play a huge role for any PR and marketing practitioner.

Many organisations have their own channels with thousands of subscribers on Youtube where they upload company videos. Convergence is also used for many of these, linking them to their other social media pages for example the three previously named. This post will look at and analyse three brand leaders from different markets and their Youtube presence.

Unsurprisingly, football team FC Barcelona is one of the largest channels on Youtube.  Weighing in at 77,889 subscribers and a total number of 38,845,098 upload views, it is even more successful than their great football rival Real Madrid (Quite fitting that I use this comparison following the 4 recent games between Real and Barca where Barca in total came out on top.) Barcelona release interviews and match highlights on their page, allowing Youtube users to comment upon them. A problem with this method however, is that they can’t control every comment on videos. Although Youtube has a policy whereas users can report other comments, this sometimes takes a while for them to be deleted if they ever are. The example below on one of Barcelona’s recent videos is evidence of this.

Second place in the list of companies I checked out, was one which everyone would expect to be here and round about. Coca-Cola weighing in at 27,874 subscribers and a grand total of 20,149,730 upload views. In traditional coke style, their layout consists of the red and white colour scheme and their view of happiness although many critics may dismiss this notion. Their immediate message displayed being, “125 years of sharing happiness.” Many of their videos include videos of Coca-cola working with and interviewing the band Maroon 5, helping market their close relationship with them freely upon their social media networks. One video featured is that of the Coca-Cola happiness truck, making stops in poverty stricken areas such as South America and giving out free coca cola. Once again, Coca-Cola is tarnished with its past history and this is witnessed within its comments, something once again they cannot control completely, shown below.

Another popular market to look at would have to be that of fashion and sportswear, which has always been a very popular market in recent times. Once again Adidas come out on top in this sector, as I have already blogged about their successful campaigns in the past! Their Adidas original marketing scheme is evident immediately as well as their footballing link with Argentina and Barcelona player Lionel Messi (Not to forget he is infamously endorsed by Adidas). An interesting widget included onto their channel page is that of comments from Facebook.

Typically, Adidas feature a lot of videos based upon their sporting endorsements including players and teams keeping their sponsorships in the limelight. Musicians and Adidas ambassadors such as Katy Perry and B.o.B are also featured in 5second promotional videos showing them wearing Adidas clothing when performing. The Katy Perry video for example, has a total of 67,367 views for this 5 second clip alone, the power of such endorsements shining through their social media feedback on Youtube alone. The effects it will also have from global advertising and other platforms such as Facebook, twitter and even other videos will be huge.

Although many comments and conversations on Facebook may be out of control from the creator, it is evident that they are very effective. Such communication platforms linked with videos give fans from across the world a platform to talk to the related video together which would never have been achievable before and of course, at such a low price. It also gives the brands an example of which video clips people watch the most and like the most, meaning they have a platform of monitoring their marketing and PR campaigns at the click of a button. The power of Youtube alone as a social media tool should definitely not be underestimated.