Yes, I know that you’ve been YouTube’d to death. Ranging from clips of the day on morning news shows to analyses of ‘What YouTube Means To Network Television’ and on and on and on and on, but have you thought of what it all means to us media and advertising folks with any level of granular specificity? If you do a quick search on Google for ‘YouTube’ and ‘advertising’ you will find an array of issues dealt with. From implications on media buying, to articulate defenses of creative agency value in the face of consumer self generation of content to …. Well, you get the point.

In this brief review, I’d like to pose a question to you, the thought leader of creativity and communications.

What are the real implications beyond the hype as we continue to try and communicate with a more and more dispersed and empowered audience?

At the January Ad Club luncheon, Jim Cook demonstrated the dynamic nature of a modern teenager’s life. They are always connected, curious, but cynical, about advertising and viral communicators in every way. This group will quickly become tomorrow’s adults. Today’s younger adults are not lagging that far behind their younger counterparts. And they are all flocking to these ever growing new mediums. So what of it?

Thoughts to ponder: the most viewed video of the day generally gets several hundred thousand views in a day. The all time most viewed video (embedded above) has received about 40 million views. Most primetime cable networks have between tens of thousands and a few hundred thousand viewers. The top rated network primetime shows generally draw 20 million viewers on average. In some ways, this is comparing apples to oranges, but in other ways the sheer numbers should tell you something. In a quick superficial assessment, you should see that you need to be prepared for greater audiences turning to this newer communication medium for information and entertainment.

That acknowledged, the issue of greater significance here is that there is a fundamental shift in communication, viewing (should be titled interactive) habits as well as entertainment as we know it. Choice, involvement, community, brevity, poignancy, control will all grow in importance. And for our purposes, the greatest issue is that of consumer relationship with a brand. “Marketers must learn to let go of the control they think they have over their brand," said Mark Tutssel, worldwide chief creative officer at the Leo Burnett ad agency at the Cannes Lions 2006 advertising festival in June. "Once consumers have interacted with brands, they will not go back to being shouted at by marketers,” he said. Shaping our brands and messages as if sculpting in stone for all to view in a singular way will soon evolve into some other analogy that I’m not smart enough to come up with. Imagine describing to an audience what you are intending to sculpt without a sketch, photo or image – all the while having the audience talk among themselves, make comments, attempt to alter the goal and finer points of the sculpture before you even begin. Far more dynamic, far less under control, far more scary for us old folks.

Consumer empowerment is in its infancy, but is quickly demonstrating its power. Bowiechick, as she is known, is a regular video blogger on YouTube. She is a modern entertainment channel. Regularly getting thousands of views to each of her ‘webisodes’, she does better than 25% of the cable programming out there. She’s had an offer from Logitech webcams after she received inquiries from fans about how she creates her video posts. She’s been approached by new websites wishing to pay her just to mention their site in a couple of her posts. She’s only been on YouTube for a year and she just turned 18. Bowiechick could easily cause a perception effect on your brand with an accidental remark, coincidental inclusion or outright attack. 18 months ago would you have bet your hard earned creative capabilities … or $100 … that some 17 year old would arbitrarily (or not) become a mini market force? Again, less control.

A few possible implications to consider:

Will this begin to put pressure on creative and production budgets? Will clients adopt the attitude that ‘I can create my own commercial with my HD Sony Video Cam’ as the notion of video evolves? Will future consumers grow more weary or even suspicious of high cost very brand conscious creative? Or will just the opposite happen – in a world of easy to create video, will the well produced ad become more vital to a brand than ever?

Will the loss of control of our message enable us or endanger us? Is NIKE offended or flattered by copies, home spun fun poking and ‘remakes’? Will we evolve to incorporate the viral and consumer controlled aspects of what we do into our initial strategies and plans? Are we prepared to enable the public or will we fight it?

Are we on the verge of a monumental shift in advertising? Will this be the next evolution in medium: print, radio, tv, internet … consumer? Will it be nothing more than a fad? Or, more importantly, will we lead thought, medium, message and creativity and help it evolve?

Make it a habit to check out the most popular videos. Look for the undercurrents, themes and utter randomness of it all.