The new PVA is a user-initiated video advertisement with all of the YouTube community features enabled. Consumers can rate, share, comment, embed, and favorite advertising content that they find interesting, informative and entertaining. Rather than interrupt a consumer's experience, YouTube has created a model which encourages engagement and participation.
To help marketers create deeper, more brand-centric video experiences on YouTube, an enhanced environment called a Brand Channel has been created. These provide advertisers a place to showcase video content on YouTube with a look and feel that is consistent with their brand imagery. This new concept helps brands connect and engage with their consumers around great video content.
Both these new strategies complement YouTube's current offerings which include banner ads, promotions and sponsorships. With these, the community and marketer are now supposed to participate in the advertising experience in a mutually beneficial way.
YouTube's first Brand Channel partner is Warner Bros. Records for Paris Hilton around her debut album, Paris, released globally on Tuesday. The Paris Hilton Channel is sponsored by Fox Broadcasting Company's Prison Break, the second season of which premiered Monday, 21 August.
The pop singer has created an original broadcast for the YouTube community, taking advantage of the new PVA offering on the YouTube homepage. Weinstein Company, in a campaign created by interactive agency Deep Focus, experienced success with the first-ever PVA promotion on YouTube for the current feature film Pulse. Fox, working with digital communications agency Organic, also used the new PVA in conjunction with the Paris Hilton sponsorship to promote the Fall Season launch of the hit show Prison Break.
"Our vision is to build a new advertising platform that both the community and advertisers will embrace. Our announcement today is just the beginning of the many new ad concepts we will be rolling out over the coming year," said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube.
"This new medium requires finding a balance between traditional online advertising and new creative approaches that engage consumers in an active way. Advertisers now have a highly-targeted opportunity for aligning their brands alongside the entertainment experience people are enjoying on YouTube."
"Paris Hilton and YouTube are both pop culture phenomena. So, it makes sense that Paris is part of this exciting initiative, and be first," said Robin Bechtel, head of New Media, Warner Bros. Records.
According to YouTube, its community has been highly receptive of this new advertising experience and has propelled PVA videos to the top of the Most Viewed, Most Discussed and Top Favorite video rankings. Advertisers have the opportunity to participate and moderate discussions around their creative.
Brand Channels include all standard community functionality in order to helps brands become an organic part of the fabric of YouTube. Key aspects include:
"Consumers are increasingly programming their own entertainment and content experiences," added Hurley. "We believe it is important to embrace this change and have developed new advertising strategies that will help marketers more effectively connect with consumers."
