Cingular Wireless is tuning into the
hot community video site YouTube by sponsoring its “battle of the bands” competition.
In YouTube Underground, a promotion running Oct. 2 through Oct. 18,
members of the online video-sharing site vote on videos submitted by
independent musicians.
Cingular said its sponsorship is a natural extension of its efforts to attract
subscribers, “demonstrating our
unique approach to mobilizing the music experience for our
customers,” John Burbank, vice president of marketing, said in a
statement.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
YouTube, founded in 2005, leads MySpace, Google and Yahoo in the user-generated video space, according to Hitwise. More than 100 million
videos are viewed by its 13 million daily users.
The four winning bands will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in
November.
The winners will also receive airtime on Sirius Satellite
Radio and could have their music included in an upcoming movie or
television show, according to a statement.
It has been a busy week for the video company.
Monday, Warner
Music Group said it would distribute its library of
music videos via YouTube.
Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled Soapbox, a YouTube wannabe more interested in building
loyalty to MSN than attracting advertising dollars.
However, YouTube’s recent drive to build an advertiser-supported
service combined with advertisers’ rush to embrace YouTube’s youthful audience doesn’t come without risk.
“As an advertiser, you have to know what you are getting yourself
into,” Mike Goodman, media analyst at the Yankee Group, told
internetnews.com.
But to reach the lucrative youth demographic, advertisers will need
to refrain from the urge to sanitize or restrain some online content,
such as that found at YouTube.
“This is where they [young consumers] are -– get used to it,” Goodman
said. “If you start censoring, YouTube will die.”
Just as advertisers must adapt, YouTube also needs to not overwhelm
its users.
“It will lose some of its audience when they consider it part of the
establishment,” Goodman said.
While there are some potholes to avoid, the analyst thinks the future
is bright for YouTube and advertisers.
“We haven’t begun to scratch the surface of what might work on
YouTube,” said Goodman.
