It's not often a platform comes along that fundamentally reshapes our notion of media. But that's just what's happened since YouTube first went online 10 years ago last week.
When the first YouTube video "A trip to the zoo" was posted in 2005, few could have imagined the video sharing site would grow to become the cultural touch point of a generation, spawning a legion of celebrities, becoming the second most used search engine on the Internet and completely redefining our relationship with video.
Quite simply, YouTube re-wrote the rules of video.
It's hard to imagine the world without YouTube. But it wasn't that long ago that video was something fleeting, where famous moments from news or television couldn't be immediately pulled up and viewed again at a moment's notice.
Similarly, before YouTube, video distribution was an expensive and often daunting endeavour, one reserved for major broadcasters and Hollywood studios, far out of reach for average folks.
Of course, YouTube changed all that. It altered our expectations. Imagine a brand not posting a new TV spot on Twitter. Think how frustrating it is when you can't quickly view the latest Jimmy Fallon stunt from last night's Tonight Show.
YouTube ushered in a new era of video, one which democratized its distribution, enabling a new generation to engage in production and self-expression.
Now, as we celebrate a decade of YouTube, a new generation of video platforms – from Snapchat and Instagram to Vine and Twitch – are once again re-writing the rules of video, changing our consumption and viewing habits, while at the same time altering our expectations of video. These competitors have grown up around YouTube, and are already working out ways for brands to make the most of their platforms.
And while video platforms have evolved, the key to video success hasn't changed since the very first YouTube spot: Video doesn't have to be fancy, but it needs to be approachable. The platform might change, but the strategy remains the same.
SnapChat's disappearing videos are already changing our notion of mobile video, and brands are signing on to figure out new ways to make the most of the fleeting aspect of SnapChat connections.
One of the first brands to step its toe into SnapChat stories is AT&T, which is creating a scripted content video series aimed at millennials, which pulls together major social influencers who made their name on a variety of platforms, including Instagram, YouTube and Vine. Even though the stars of these shorts aren't necessarily influencers on the SnapChat platform, AT&T is hoping to draw users across platforms, knowing sometimes it's tough to pull users from one service to another.
Pre-roll ads are now virtually standard on many video platforms, and while many users are quick to click to skip an ad to get to their video that isn't stopping some advertisers from rethinking how those few unavoidable seconds of pre-roll can be maximized.
Geico recently unveiled a series of new digital ads that place a greater emphasis on the first five seconds of the spot, so that even if a user clicks past, the brand has effectively communicated its message. While the spots run at a full time of either 15 or 30 seconds, they have been structured to maximize the first five seconds, and hopefully, encourage people to keep watching.
This kind of rethinking of spots is key for new platforms, such as Twitter Video, where clips are shorter, and thus pre-roll ads run only a few seconds. In a world where people are consuming more and more video in quick bursts on mobile devices, brands that can't see beyond the 30 second television commercial are going to have difficulty finding an audience for their content.
In this new era of mobile and burst video, the savviest brands will be the ones that can take an idea and find a way to make it work not just on the right platforms, but tailor it to resonate in different ways across platforms.
If YouTube proved anything, it's that the future of video is a moving target. Brands that don't adjust their aim will find themselves racking up more misses than hits.
Mia Pearson is the co-founder of North Strategic. She has more than two decades of experience in creating and growing communications agencies, and her experience spans many sectors, including financial, technology, consumer and lifestyle.
Follow Report on Small Business on Pinterest and Instagram
Join our Small Business LinkedIn group
Add us to your circles
Sign up for our weekly newsletter