NEW DELHI: YouTube, the video sharing site, is launching 35 new shows in India and taking to television to promote the channel to a wider audience.
Sandeep Menon, marketing director for Google India, told the Economic Times that the intention was to lead with digital channels, "but to reach out to people who are not online, we have to use TV whenever required." He noted that India was only the fourth market to have a TV campaign for YouTube, after the US, the UK and Brazil.
To that end YouTube commissioned Ogilvy India to create two films for a campaign launching Comedy Week, following previous practice in the UK and US. But Menon highlighted an important difference between India and these other markets, where the focus was on YouTube-only content creators and partners.
"India is a different ecosystem," he said. "Ninety per cent of all TV shows and 70% of regional channels are already on YouTube, so we are showcasing what we already have."
His ultimate aim was to make YouTube a daily destination for entertainment. "Sports, music and comedy are the three big things on YouTube," he stated. As well as the aforementioned comedy, YouTube also has a cricket-tie up with the IPL, and has plans to "do something big in music soon".
Menon conceded that India remained a television-led market but added: "Even with us it is not about TV or YouTube. It is about how they can be complementary."
And he cited the example of brands using TrueView to test audience reaction to commercials and refine them before running them on television. "More CMOs are getting it," he remarked.
It is the sort of development that the company is promoting more widely. "We are working with the agency ecosystem to make sure that we evangelise how you can think digital first and mobile first," Menon said. "It is a gradual change."
Over the next five years, he expected to add 100m users from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where the brand had been spending a lot of time on the ground educating people. He also thought that the current 40% of YouTube playback occurring on mobile would only grow.
Sandeep Menon, marketing director for Google India, told the Economic Times that the intention was to lead with digital channels, "but to reach out to people who are not online, we have to use TV whenever required." He noted that India was only the fourth market to have a TV campaign for YouTube, after the US, the UK and Brazil.
To that end YouTube commissioned Ogilvy India to create two films for a campaign launching Comedy Week, following previous practice in the UK and US. But Menon highlighted an important difference between India and these other markets, where the focus was on YouTube-only content creators and partners.
"India is a different ecosystem," he said. "Ninety per cent of all TV shows and 70% of regional channels are already on YouTube, so we are showcasing what we already have."
His ultimate aim was to make YouTube a daily destination for entertainment. "Sports, music and comedy are the three big things on YouTube," he stated. As well as the aforementioned comedy, YouTube also has a cricket-tie up with the IPL, and has plans to "do something big in music soon".
Menon conceded that India remained a television-led market but added: "Even with us it is not about TV or YouTube. It is about how they can be complementary."
And he cited the example of brands using TrueView to test audience reaction to commercials and refine them before running them on television. "More CMOs are getting it," he remarked.
It is the sort of development that the company is promoting more widely. "We are working with the agency ecosystem to make sure that we evangelise how you can think digital first and mobile first," Menon said. "It is a gradual change."
Over the next five years, he expected to add 100m users from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where the brand had been spending a lot of time on the ground educating people. He also thought that the current 40% of YouTube playback occurring on mobile would only grow.
Data sourced from Economic Times; additional content by Warc staff
