Google Legitimizes the Guy in His Mom’s Basement

It’s a great day to be a nerd. I’m not about talking the trendy, chique, social media guy “nerd”. I’m talking about the nerds who camp out for the midnight release of the latest World of Warcraft release. I’m talking about the guy who beat Diablo III on release night despite server issues. I’m talking about the guy who spends 40 hours a week raging at his Xbox while playing Call of Duty. I’m talking about the gamer.

Google recently invested $35 million in Machinima. For those of you that do not know, Machinima is one of the largest YouTube partners. The 2008 startup receives 1.6 billion views per month. Their content? Dudes in their mom’s basement recording themselves playing video games. The channel has an audience of 168 million nerds and I could not be more proud to be one of those individuals.

How does the Machnimia business model work? Easy. It is a distribution network that hires hundreds of Directors. These directors are responsible for submitting content to Machinima on a regular basis. The recording, editing and distribution of videos has become a full time job for these lucky directors. Nerds around the world salivate to be part of Machinima and get paid to play games. CNN recently reported that one of Machinima’s premium directors, SeaNanners, makes well over six figures.

How do they make money? YouTube ads. Very specific, targeted ads which have shown to be extremely successful. Many of the directors are also leveraged as spokespeople for video game products. The guys are celebrities.

What does this mean? It means that the dude in his mom’s basement can be his own boss. The guy that has been “wasting his life” for the past 10 years playing games actually knew what he was doing and because he followed his dream can now be rewarded.

It may not be the $1 billion Instagram recently received from Facebook, but this investment will thoroughly extend Machinima’s reach. A large portion of Machinima’s audience is overseas. Currently, Machinima has hundreds of directors but only a  handful of them are international. I see Machinima expanding their global footprint with large potential in both Europe and Asia where gaming has already been accepted in to mainstream culture.

This investment will also hopefully encourage more developments in the online video space as more and more people begin to ditch their ole dinosaur piece of machinery called a TV.

Until then, you can find me on Xbox Live as chadwoneck. 

YouTube: Partners get it. Why don’t brands?

If you haven’t been on YouTube recently, you completely missed a UX and design overhaul. The number two search engine made it much easier for the user to manage subscriptions and customize what appears on their home page when logging in. The user now has the option of selecting a handful of their “favorite” subscriptions to show up as shortcuts on their homepage. Mine include links to my favorite YouTubers: Philip De Franco, SeaNanners, TmarTn, Hockeyfightsdotcom and, of course, Machinima. These channels have prominent display on my homepage, meaning their videos appear higher up on my home page when I log in.

Did you notice how not one of those channels I mentioned above are owned by a brand? It seems to me the only brand that has ever successfully launched a YouTube campaign has been Old Spice when it utilized the tool to provide video responses to Twitter questions. This cross channel integration has not been matched since. The sad part is, this campaign is miniscule compared to what the top YouTube partners are doing on a daily basis.

SourceFed, a new project lead by one of the most successful YouTubers, Philip DeFranco, releases content daily. They utilize the new playlist feature to keep users engaged. Their newest video series, “20 Minutes or Less” involves uploading multiple videos throughout the day into a certain playlist. This drives users back to the channel to see when new content is uploaded. It also allows users to catch up on the day’s news in one fell swoop when they arrive home from work. Think of it as YouTube’s automated DVR.

The channel also utilizes interactive content. Their series, Curb Cash, allows users to play along with random members on the street in an game show. Viewers are given annotation choices after reach question. Pick the right answer and you are lead to the next question, pick the wrong answer and see a “behind the scenes fail”.

I strongly urge brands to look at the current content on YouTube. Search through the top performing channels and see what they are doing right. Utilize annotations to drive users to promotions, websites, social channels and more. Make sure that your videos are properly tagged and descriptions are given enough thought to include your entire brand’s digital presence.

It seems popular for brands to think of YouTube as simply an advertising channel. Why not think of it as a hub for original, creative content? These YouTube partners have it figured out as they have made YouTube their main source of income.