Online Advertising!..

Saroj Mehta does not like long advertisement breaks in entertaining reality TV shows. In any case, this dedicated housewife in Gurgaon prefers to dine with her family at night, rather than sticking to the idiot box at the so called 'prime time' on television. “I can always catch Bigg Boss or other soaps on YouTube the next day. It has fewer advertisements and also gives me the option to select which part of the programme I want to watch,’ she chuckles. With varying audience requirements like what 57-year old Saroj has— companies across sectors comprising Nokia, Hero Honda, HSBC, HP, Nestle, Coke, Jet Airways or even niche concepts like Kerela Tourism– are now running shorter advertisements or exclusive ad campaigns on video sharing websites such as Google-owned YouTube.

These companies are realising the inclination of audience towards online video content in the form of entertainment. The viewership of such content on the Internet is increasing by the day. A quick sampler: The viewership of TV show Bigg Boss on YouTube is touching 5 lakh today. The total video uploads in 2 weeks has got 1,38,978 hits with the Pamela Anderson-episode garnering maximum viewership. These are mind boggling numbers.
 
Google India’s head of sales Kiran Mani says, “In the last two months, we have seen more and more companies advertising on YouTube. This was not the case six months ago. Primarily, when the companies saw internet reaching a 100-million mark, they started realising that it could be a mainstream medium for advertising.”

This year, ahead of the international tourist season, the Kerala Tourism Board had done an interesting advertising campaign on YouTube. The board had tied up with Google to launch the new TVC via YouTube. The move helped them garner 1 lakh hits in three days. Launched on September 24, the board spent spent Rs 75 lakh for the YouTube campaign and Rs 40 lakh for ads on iPad and iPhones.
 
The YouTube growth story

Mani takes us through the journey of YouTube and the behaviour of advertisers towards it. YouTube was bought by Google in November 2006 and realised the advertising potential of the Indian market only after the unprecedented success of online viewership of Indian premiere league (IPL).

YouTube had estimated 10 million users doing quick catch-ups of seven to eight minutes each during the IPL matches. However, the website got 55-million unique views, with each view lasting over 50 minutes on an average.

“In user generated content (UGC), the content uploaded by individuals, there is no monetisation. Money making basically starts after partnering with content owners. The revenue sharing works through agreements with various channels and production houses. Partners provide us content and we get into a contract for sharing revenues with YouTube or they provide us advertiser-based revenues. This is our focus right now.” Hence, Google’s YouTube wants to look beyond UGC and is also tying up with owners of the UGC to earn advertising revenues.

YouTube has tied up with television channels and film production houses, such as Yash Raj Films, UTV, Eros Entertainment, Rajshri, Colors, Zee Network, Sony Entertainment, Imagine and Zoom, for running their content.

Mani notes that Shemaroo and Yash Raj Films are among the top five global partners who monetise their content on YouTube.
 
TV advertising versus YouTube advertising

A typical commercial break during a TV serial would last for four minutes and would ping in every eight minutes of the programme. On the contrary, a YouTube video has a 30-second break in every 10 minutes. This means more entertainment, less disruption and more consumer engagement.

Mani explains the ‘economical’ aspect of YouTube.On television, the IPL -4 had 15 sponsors and they were allotted 40% of the total air time. On an average, each advertiser spent Rs 35-40 crore. On the flip side, IPL-4 on YouTube had seven sponsors. Each got six days to advertise on YouTube. The spend was Rs 2.5-3 crore by each advertiser.

YouTube’s game plan is straight forward for monetisation. “With 3G coming in, we want to encourage the use of YouTube on mobile,” Mani adds. Moreover, with the amount telecom operators have spent on auction, they will have no option but to but to bring mobile users online on their handsets. Secondly, Google will attract more advertisers and agencies through concentrating on the right type of content.

GroupM Media regional mobile director Vinod Thadani gives the broader picture, “Digital media is a huge space for advertisers and they are realising its potential. With YouTube entering into partnerships with channels and concentrating on monetising, the challenge lies in generating consumer centric content. The engaging content which will attract more and more audience is the key to climb up the ladder.” He further explains that content is the critical aspect in such advertising and though the YouTube model is doing brilliantly, there is much more to be done in terms of innovative advertising on the medium. Thadani believes that in the near future, this kind of advertising could even give high competition to display advertising in the digital media space.

Google’s Mani captures his enthusiasm in one line, “Today, as an internet user, people are not only searching or researching, they are surfing and entertaining themselves on the web and advertisers must know where the pie lies.”

-Diksha Dutta