Sunday, October 28, 2007
Theaters singing YouTube's praises
Variety: "Seen the 'In the Heights' takeoff of 'High School Musical 2'? What about the latest episode of 'The [title of show] Show'? No? Check YouTube."
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The title of this article jumped at me, when so much on YouTube is just bootlegged clips of theatre performances. The claims make a lot of sense, though, especially when dealing with shows that a common audience will not be very familiar with. If something related to their show becomes a hit as a viral video, then the show will likely gain a slight increase in revenue. Granted, this isn't going to revolutionize the theatre world in any way, but it could give a little boost to some shows.
There is something to be said for the amount of influence that youtube has. Sure alot of what you find on youtube is illgel shows, music videos, and movies, but at the same time people can use the power of youtube to get people more excited for something. People do it all the time with ads on internet sites. Sites where they know that the material will reach their audience. If it's there why not use to our advantage.
It seems to me that marketeers are finding the forms of media, whether it be television, movie trailers, or websites that people spend the most time at. Nowadays the democratic for broadway audiences seem to be spending more time on the internet then they do watching television or movies. Also, it seems that over the years the form of media that Americans have favored has shifted. It's very intuitive that producers are able to make these distinctions. No longer is the full page add on the Sunday Tribune going to cut it.
What about a YouTube video makes it such a legitimate marketing technique? I personally am not a huge fan of it, so it seems overcomplicated to try and make a video that will attract a lot of attention. It's a brilliant idea though, it can be a free way to get word out.
The internet, in all forms, is a hugely influential tool. Things like YouTube, which have been condemned for bootlegging clips or as general time wasters, are finally being recognized for their power with young audiences. It is a cheap way to just get your name out there. Quick and easy advertising thats CHEAP! What a brilliant thing for any theater company to take advantage of.
Cheap is always good, advertising is always good, and the internet can have a lot of influencing power. I am surprised there aren't more commercials made specifically to be put on YouTube yet.
I personally can't even use YouTube. I can't find anything I actualy have any iterest in watching. I can't even find the 'viral' video which everyone else manages to find and pass along to their friends. But I do remember a few months ago I was watching the news with my mom when a segment came on about this girl who made a video using some nifty new camera and a photoshop-like thing and talked about the camera the whole time. It wasnt meant to be an advertisement but when it got out, people were buying the camera like wildfire. YouTube can be a great tool for advertisement. And its absolutely free.
Its interesting the other week I was looking up songs for a show with my friend and we started looking at all these different schools and the work they were doing. Not only has youtube become marketing for theatre but it also seems to be great marketing for schools and various theatre departments. I mean whats better than getting a feel for a school by the kind of work thaty they are turning out...
That's really great. It's fantastic to hear that theatre artists are using youtube - something that most certainly will reach the masses of young adults and more - to advertise and bring awareness to their work. What I find interesting is how there had been (and still is) so much pirating of shows including Broadway musicals presented in 8-15 minute chunks. But it's great that they are taking advantage of this easily accessible and widespread medium - especially if they can't afford otherwise.
I really don't know if this truly "singing YouTube's praises." It certainly makes talks about another idea for advertising that these theatre groups are trying out, but really hasn't been proven for them. There is obvious potential there as there have definitely been successes in the way of "viral marketing." For example, just look at OK Go...they went from being known to only a small group of people to becoming a nationally know band with days thanks to their YouTube video premiere. I guess we will all see whether or not this turns out to be viable for theatre...it would be nice though since besides productions costs, the advertising is free....
Youtube is a great way to get your product or whatever out. If you can make it funny and short enough people will send it to their friends and so on and so forth. I think it's very smart to put out clips or blogs that relate to a show or production. Its an easy way to start a following before it even begins.
I can not tell you the ridiculous amount of stuff I've found on youtube; things that make absolutley no sense for anyone to know about. I find it fascinating how much unspoken-for talent there is in the user-made videos on the site. I've been inspired creativley by many of the things I've seen there.
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