Google turns YouTube into brand building channel

Google is marketing YouTube as a key channel for building brands and supporting e-commerce.

Speaking during the company’s first quarter conference call with investors yesterday, chief business officer Nikesh Arora said Google recognised that YouTube as more than just a video-sharing site, but also as network for e-commerce and building brands worldwide.

He said that YouTube had potential for e-commerce given that, at the heart of things, it is a social network that is accessible from nearly any device connected to the Internet.

Already Toyota and GM have signed up and Google will be hosting its first YouTube upfront for brands and agencies, showcasing the platform in May.

Arora said that YouTube had a place in cross-media measurement. Search advertising has always been highly measurable, and Google has been leading the industry, he said.

Now the company wants to move that measurability into offline sales, to new areas. Big marketing companies only invest serious money only when they can measure the results.

Arora acknowledged that in the past, YouTube was usually seen as a tool for getting Internet users to a brand’s website. But things are evolving rapidly.

He said that companies are seeing the benefit of using the web for brand affiliation and for brand recognition.

“We are beginning to have a different sales pitch with the large brands, which is oriented towards them coming and getting their brand seen on the web, and YouTube is a phenomenal tool in that regard,” he said.