YouTube stardom just got a lot closer to the real thing.
YouTube stars are going to get their own promotional TV spots and premium-priced ad rates as part of an effort to package online video stars like they're traditional TV celebrities, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tells Ad Age. Meanwhile, YouTube has announced plans to package up its top 5 percent best-performing content and sell premium-priced ad commitments against those channels in advance, reportedly at rates that rival those of traditional TV networks.
>'The beauty of YouTube is that something niche can become quite massive.'
YouTube's initial ad campaign will promote beauty video creators Michelle Phan and Bethany Mota, along with baker Rosanna Pansino, who altogether have more than 13 million subscribers on the site. The marketing effort will include billboards, subway ads, and local TV spots from New York to Chicago to San Francisco, along with national ads on ABC Family and The CW and in Teen Vogue and Entertainment Weekly.
The moves by Google-owned YouTube, along with Disney's recent acquisition of YouTube network Maker Studios, are helping to narrow the chasm between the scrounging, do-it-yourself world of largely amateur internet video and the polished, big-budget world of broadcast and cable television. If YouTube can make good on its promise to market and compensate its top channels more like conventional TV shows, that could help attract a new class of talent to online video and encourage the development of longer, richer shows with enough creative clout to compete with Hollywood.
"Compensation is only part of the YouTube creator's validation," Hunter Walk, a venture capitalist and former YouTube product director, tells WIRED, referring to the cut video makers get from ads displayed along with their content. "They also need to feel proud about succeeding on the platform. Not just being 'internet famous' or in the 'minor leagues.' Working to elevate the profile of top creators is a great step in that direction."
//www.youtube.com/embed/QtKc_ZSGPOQ### Taking Better Care of Its Stars
Wojcicki's new efforts address a longstanding sore point for YouTube – how well or poorly the online video giant takes care of its most prolific and popular creators, who have complained that Google passes along less and less ad revenue. This allegedly smaller pie sparks intense competition among creators to grow their views and market share.
Part of the problem is that while Google sells plenty of high-priced ads, the sheer number of videos available on the platform has grown in tandem. "There's just so much inventory on YouTube that it gets diluted among a large number of content partners," says Walk. Wojcicki's premium ad program for the top 5 percent, known as "Google Preferred," should help mitigate against ad dollars getting spread too thin.
Google isn't the only company racing to address video creators' complaints. Also promising them checks are third-party YouTube development networks like Maker Studios, which helps sell premium-priced ads and finance the creation of new YouTube shows. Another company that wants to invest in YouTube creators is Disney, which paid $500 million plus $450 million in performance incentives to snap up Maker, trumping a similar reported bid from Relativity Media. Also cutting checks to YouTube video makers is Fullscreen Inc., an advertising network whose CEO George Strompolos is a former YouTube honcho.
A more disruptive approach comes from Patreon. Founded by popular YouTube musician Jack Conte, Patreon lets YouTube stars collect payments from fans every time they post a video.
Whatever the approach, all of these players are up against the same core dilemma: It's tough to sell big television advertisers on the very narrow audiences attracted to YouTube. The advertisers like massive hits with broad appeal. They're often unfamiliar with even the biggest YouTube channels.
"The beauty of YouTube is that something most of us would consider niche can become quite massive on a global platform," says Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos. "The stars of YouTube are already reaching huge global audiences, but in many cases there is a lack of mainstream awareness."
Once upon a time, television grappled with the same problems YouTube faces now. It was considered a cheap, downscale version of the movies. The movies, in turn, were once considered a downscale version of live theater, which is why many stage actors used aliases when moonlighting in film for some quick cash.
Given what's happened to TV and movies since their respective debuts, it's possible to imagine a future world where YouTube isn't just an acceptable alternative to television, but a preferable one. Until then, YouTube is stuck funneling some of its ad riches into traditional television, trying to buy a little respect. The old-line networks should enjoy that sweet Google cash while they still can.
