Has YouTube changed creativity in adland?

There are no two ways about the fact that YouTube has changed life around us. We have access to almost everything under the sun, be it movies, music, documentaries, ad commercials, spoofs, virals and Handycam-made videos, because of this great invention.

For adlanders, YouTube has become an extremely important tool and an indispensable part of their work-life. Not only inspiration now comes at the click of a button through access to innumerable videos, adlanders are also leveraging YouTube for creating low-budget effective virals.

It is also easier for creative professionals to check what has been done before. If inspiration turns into plagiarism, it is easy for people to bring it to light. YouTube also increases shelf-life of a commercial which has a limited television life. Most of the ads are easily available on Youtube and the popular ones turn into successful virals.

Campaign India spoke to few adlanders to get their perspective on how YouTube has changed creativity. Most term it as a big source of inspiration.

Says Josy Paul, chairman and national creative director, BBDO India, “It’s an endless well of inspiration from which the creative mind can draw energy. Has it changed the way we work? It’s certainly made our world more elastic. It’s widened our horizon of influence.”

He further adds, “There’s greater serendipity! It’s alive and organic, and living proof that ideas have no geography.”

Another big advantage is that now adlanders don’t need to invest heavily in award shows CDs. Explains Sumanto Chattopadhyay, regional creative director, O&M, “One does not have to wait to buy expensive CDs of award shows - as we did in the old days - to get to know the best of international work. One sees it as it releases, in real time, with the rest of the world.”

Talking about Youtube’s advantage in creating virals, Titus Upputuru, executive creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi says, "Apart from the role of an efficient, stocky Librarian, YouTube has shown us exceptionally interesting ways to do viral marketing. Which do not need Deepika Padukone or an exotic setting of Prague. All they have is a strong idea. Cheaply, Handicammly produced. But absurdly intelligent."

According to Paul, the biggest advantage that YouTube offers is freedom. He says, "The best part is that nobody needs any permission. There are no bosses! No ECDs and NCDs to tell you where, what or when to navigate! It’s unchained melody! YouTube gives you the freedom to fail!"

The creative folks also feel that Youtube allows them to become a part of teh global creative ecosystem. Says Chattopadhyay, "It allows us to put our work out to the world. It serves as a barometer of the popular appeal of our work In a sense, YouTube has taken us beyond the narrow confines of our Indian adland and made us citizens of a unified adworld."

Josy Paul, chairman and NCD, BBDO India
"Everything is influencing everything. It’s a highly connected, integrated and interdependent world. Technology has made exploration more fluid! Thoughts, ideas, stories and images are colliding at the speed of light. YouTube is part of that ecosystem of influence! It multiplies everything to the power of a 100 million users! It celebrates the democratization of ideas. It’s a fast moving visual thesaurus of world! Today if I want to reference a thought, it offers me instant access to countless images and sounds! So the process of exploration and artistic exchange has become faster and more exciting!"

Titus Upputuru, ECD, Saatchi & Saatchi
"The giant walls of my room in the office have thousands of TVs stacked up one upon another like a showroom that sells the Idiots.The difference is unlike a showroom that shows microscopic details of fish swimming across all the twenty screens or a match of the last FIFA, my 1000 and odd screens show all the channels in the world whenever I want. A local channel in Libya or I don’t understand Spanish, so they even put sub-titles for me. In the end, I get to see all the TVCs across the world. While sipping my tea. All thanks to a tube that allows you to broadcast yourself. And someone somewhere is uploading an ad all the time."

Emmanuel Upputuru, national creative director, Publicis India
"The answer, of course, is yes.What are the ways in which you feel that it has changed creativity for adlanders? In the language of planners ‘the YouTube is the new black book.’ YouTube brings a lot to my table. To begin with I am at par with anyone who has seen anything worth seeing it, in under five minutes. I just love searching for things. Secondly, it shows many new things people are doing around the world. Most importantly, what it has showed us is, that craft is not that important. You don’t need a Joe Pytka anymore to make a great commercial or a viral. All you need is a great idea."

Sumanto Chattopadhyay, ECD-South Asia, O&M
"YouTube gives us instant access to the latest TV commercials and other films. This helps us continually educate ourselves on the latest trends. It allows us to check what kind of work is happening in a particular category, so we can avoid what has already been done. It helps us source reference film material to bring to life the words of a script to clients. It also allows us to put out to the world what we have created quickly, easily and free of cost. It serves as a barometer of the popular appeal of our work. And, of course, it is in its own right a channel through which to advertise."

Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas
"Yes, it has been transformational in terms of the way people approach work. First of all I feel it’s a great reference point. I have seen creative people floating once they have got the brief. What YouTube does it is give them a concrete space to float in. You get to see all the global work and creative people use it a source of inspiration. On YouTube, some pieces take life of their own. They become popular beyond imagination. Also, for people who copy ideas blatantly have more chances of getting caught now. So its good for people who use it as a source of inspiration and bad for those who believe in blatantly copying ideas."