World’s largest video sharing site and the second largest search engine, YouTube, launched its Hindi movie sharing site, YouTube Box Office where movie buffs can watch premium Hindi super hits every month, without having to pay anything. The service was launched with the surprise hit of last year, "Band Baaja Baaraat."

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YouTube Box Office allows Indian viewers to watch the new and popular Bollywood movies in full HD (1080p) for free, and all you need is a decent internet connection. YouTube will collaborate with its partners in India on a revenue share basis. Intel will be the exclusive presenting sponsor for the channel.

YouTube hopes the initiative will help draw more viewers for their premium and exclusive content. Apart from the expanding its popularity, the video sharing network also aims to create opportunities for marketers.

IPL helped YouTube generate major revenue

The video giant made inroads in the country with the web telecast of the IPL tournament in 2010. The cricket crazy nation lapped up the dosage in full scoop. This has galvanized the YouTube think tank to foray into the other passion of the country, movies.

A recent screening of the hit movie Dabangg garnered 1.3 million hits on YouTube, highlighting that the platform has hit a golden formula in the country. With the Indian market ripe for the picking, the site wants to gain as much as it can through Indian films.

Super Hit Formula

The service will be ad-supported. With film makers looking to recover maximum cost even before releasing the film through selling the rights, this is just another medium for them to get as much as their product has to offer. This gives brands another opportunity to ride the success train of a film and put their ads during the airing of the film.

As many viewers are cautious about the level of advertising in the ad-sponsored Box-Office, YouTube has assured that the sponsoring companies would get their chance to showcase their YouTube videos and promote contests/campaigns tactically without much interrupting the movies.

Contest and Promotions administered through YouTube Box Office

This not only gives them the chance to link their YouTube channel to the Box Office channel but also insert captions that would run throughout the length of the film, giving enough exposure to the brand, unlike ads on television where only specific time slots are allowed for ads.

Impact

Many believe the move is certainly going to stiffen the competition in the online movie streaming business in India. Considering the growth in broadband penetration and improving internet connectivity speed in the country, online video browsing is going to be more fun and lively. It is expected that several more prominent names in the business are going to enter the Indian market in near future. This will create bigger and more engaging platform for brands to advertise through their channels on YouTube and other such platforms.

I love YouTube. I think it is a brilliant concept and has given an avenue for self expression like no other. A random search on YouTube will reveal videos ranging from the truly useful to the sincerely bizarre. Some of my all time fave videos on YouTube include Where is Matt, everything from Common Craft and Bridal Skincare (what can I say… I am partial!). Infact Where is Matt with hits to the tune of 20,057,638, has got so big that Visa used it for their traditional TV campaign! Three cheers to the power of online video…

In India too one can see companies making the shift, with brands like Fevicryl owning a vault of over 50 DIY videos, each serving the purpose of helping a consumer understand how to use the product.

Now that marketers are increasingly planning to invest on online videos to reach out to their consumers, they also need to understand how to get more people to watch these videos.

I am sure you must have read my first five predictions on the socio-economic changes that the world will see with use of social media. The next set of five predictions that I have written are  relevant in the realm of social media medium per se.

1. First time use of social media through Mobile:

Majority of people world over will surf the Internet and social media for the first time in their lives using mobile phones. Mobile phone penetration is increasing rapidly in most countries and along with the its value added features like streaming. In India, close to 10 million subscribers are being added every month. These small towns will skip landlines and opt for cell phones directly. These towns will take technology leap in a manner of speaking. Simultaneously, several companies are in the process of launching social networking sites for mobile. Put these two together and you could see this prediction come true.

I predict that in 2009 itself, several small towns and rural areas will experience Internet & social media for the first time through cell phones and not through computers.

In one of our earlier blog post, we had explained the use of online videos for the brand. The post explained the distinct benefits this medium provides for each brand. We shall illustrate that with a case study of an Indian Client – Kaya Skin Clinic.

Indian Case Study:

Kaya Skin Clinic offers specialized and customized skin solutions (products & Services) to its consumers. They were pioneers in their field as they introduced scientific approach towards skin care treatments. Today, Kaya skin clinics are present all across India and in key Middle East markets.

One of their service offerings is Kaya Bridal. We had decided as part of social media strategy to engage with its consumers by creating visual content. It was important for the customers to understand the process and benefits of it especially during their special occasion of marriage.

Videos are an integral part of our communication. The impact of Audio Visual content is far more effective than Print or Radio or Outdoor as a medium. The problem lied in the cost of making videos and importantly airing them on TV channels.

All that underwent a change thanks to YouTube that first introduced a platform for user generated videos to get uploaded online. Users found a channel for themselves to express their thoughts, opinions or just their most memorable moments. Working on the basic human premise of ‘15 minutes of fame’, the concept caught fancy and soon there were millions uploading their videos for people to watch. As on Mar 2008, there were close to 200,000 videos being uploaded every day!!!