I'm fascinated by the growing list of organisations successfully using You Tube for a new kind of PR.

Heard of the tie up between Diet Coke and Mentos, the Sony Bravia phenomenon or the 'Will it Blend?' craze? If not, look them up on You Tube, you'll find these companies have secured millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the corporations behind them.

Well, I say behind them, it usually starts by accident. Someone posts something that is fun to watch, it just happens to have your brand in it and if you're lucky, it spreads.

It's successful because the audience believes it's been made for their amusement, not for your publicity. And they believe this because it's true.

This is the challenge for people in business, especially those of us in the communications industry, be they freelance copywriters and marketing consultants like me, to admen, media sales executives or pr consultants. It's to get brands posted on You Tube using genuinely entertaining, engaging and sincere approaches.

Everyone posting to You Tube is potentially an adman for your brand or business. The catch is, that in a world growing in cynicism, if the audience finds out you intended to get your message on there, the message will fall flat: Bang. You've been found out.

Get it right, you're on to a winner. Get it wrong, you could look a bit of a fool; but chances are, it will go completely unnoticed.

I can't answer the question of what to do for you, there's probably a million or more answers. But if you do decide to get your video camera out and get your brand on You Tube, do it with integrity, sincerity and quality.

About the Author

Richard Jebb is a Freelance Writer who specialises in writing for business. Copywriting, Internet Marketing, Marketing literature, Public Relations, Award Entry Submissions and Website Content are some of the business tools he can make work for you. Contact Richard Jebb by email at richard@wordsthat-work.co.uk. www.wordsthat-work.co.uk.