At WordWrite Communications, we often talk about the difference between advertising and public relations—the overall ineffectiveness of most ads and why we believe Story should trump all in a strategic marketing plan. In general, we feel earned media is superior to anything you buy in a newspaper or magazine, but we also recognize some of the very best campaigns incorporate a balance of paid, owned and earned media.
Sometimes, companies get it and it’s easy to spot them because they make it seem so effortless. Yet, what they create is incredibly impactful.
While researching for a different blog topic, I came across an advertisement on YouTube. As I was moving my mouse to the “skip ad” button like I normally do, I suddenly stopped. I was drawn in to, you guessed it, a Story. It was an ad for GE about a gas turbine. Sexy, right? I know…I’m as surprised as you are.
Eureka Place: Imagining Electricity That Never Quits takes viewers on a journey into how a turbine powers a generator that allows us to turn on the lights each morning. It visually showed how this amazing piece of engineering brilliance generates power for a quarter of a million homes. Now, it’s worth mentioning I’m a communicator, not an engineer. I don’t generally get excited about machinery or how things work, but even I can relate to how awesome this turbine is and what it means to my life. My conclusion? GE succeeded. They told a story I could understand. They took something complicated and made it real—even cool.Their strategy for delivering their content is worth looking at. Instead of simply putting out a press release about their new gas turbine via “the wire” and posting on their website, they took it several steps further as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. They invested in a high-quality video crew and developed a plan for promoting their video ad, which included a paid spot on YouTube. Their winning formula of earned, owned and paid media is a model other companies should look to emulate. And, YouTube is an excellent place to start when considering a digital marketing strategy.
The August issue of Forbes Magazine featured an in-depth story on the rising dominance of YouTube and how it is disrupting media as we know it. In fact, did you know more people search YouTube daily than any search engine (aside from Google which owns YouTube)? Many believe it is changing the ad business because more and more companies are empowered to create their own content—which has a chance of going viral. But, really, what’s so great about YouTube anyway? Well, plenty.
It’s not just a platform for posting videos—it’s an interactive experience which allows the audience to comment and share videos. Recent changes to YouTube have brought channels to the forefront, changing measurement success from individual hits to number of subscribers. GE, for example, has a channel with more than 20,000 subscribers. From commercials to factory floor videos and games, anyone curious about GE can find what they are looking for all in one convenient place. Some large YouTube channels have bigger audiences than some cable channels. Who would have ever thought sales representatives for cable networks would have to compete with YouTube for advertisers? But, it’s the reality today.
As the divide between YouTube and television narrows, more companies are utilizing video to tell their story and delivering their message via digital platforms such as YouTube. It’s a solid strategy that is far easier to measure than traditional commercials or advertisements. And, according to Forbes, it is often much cheaper to advertise on YouTube than it is on TV.
The corporate storytellers at GE have it all right—show your audience why they should care about your product. Make you and your product the hero in your own story.