In the midst of the full-blown global financial crisis last April, Google, telegraph.co.uk and London Business School joined forces to launch an innovative thought leadership channel for business leaders. Survival of the Fastest, hosted on YouTube, duly went live. Designed as an online thought leadership community for business leaders, the new content-rich YouTube channel would be able to offer pertinent and useful insights across a whole range of management topics.
All three Channel partners understood that turbulent times, although unpredictable and unprecedented, still offer opportunity to the most nimble businesses to get ahead. Equally, across the board, business decision-makers must act without delay. Drawing inspiration from successful leaders becomes critical for swift yet informed decision-making. Survival of the Fastest was able to play a leadership role in assisting this process with its bite-sized thought pieces from leading business pace-setters. Brent Hoberman, Sir Martin Sorrell, Nassim Taleb, Julie Meyer, Professor Nigel Nicholson and the Innocent Drinks founders are just a few of the key business names who have taken part in this digital business tool initiative.
Now, still only a few months old, Survival of the Fastest has become an astounding success and is here to stay. Despite the good news from Jackson Hole yesterday where we were advised by Ben Bernanke that the worst of the recession is over, it is clear that recovery will be slow and businesses need all the help they can get. Survival of the Fastest is well placed to help and looks set to be an important source of business knowledge for nimble-footed, entrepreneurial businesses for some time to come.
Last week, Management Sushi had the opportunity to interview Google about Survival of the Fastest. Here's what Google UK's Head of Business Marketing, James Elias, had to say.
Why did you pick Survival of the Fastest as the title for the YouTube channel?
The Survival of the Fastest YouTube channel was part of a wider campaign at Google to demonstrate the value of digital advertising and digital tools for UK businesses. Particularly in a downturn, we believe that companies who act fast to incorporate digital into their everyday decision-making will be best positioned to discover changing consumer preferences, quickly implement those insights, and drive overall efficiency.
Why did you elect to create Survival of the Fastest as a joint venture between Google, The Telegraph and London Business School? How successful has this been and what value do you derive from pooled resources?
We were keen to forge partnerships with the Telegraph and London Business School because we wanted to reach both a wider and more targeted audience of C-level executives. Not only do both of these partners allow us to achieve this objective, but they also have provided content for the channel and help us reach a larger audience. Overall, the partnership has been fantastic.
Would you consider rolling out similar Survival of the Fastest strategic partnerships in other countries? For example, could there be a Google/Le Monde/INSEAD parallel Survival of the Fastest partnership in France?
There are plans underway to launch similar Survival of the Fastest communities in other countries, but we have nothing to announce at present.
How do you intend to build on your ‘ownership' of this topic? Do you plan to roll out any wider marketing initiatives to create greater take-up of the Survival of the Fastest channel as well as develop associated business communities and innovative initiatives?
At Google, the Survival of the Fastest channel complements our ongoing outreach events nicely. In June 2009, for example, we hosted two marquee events to illustrate how digital tools can help UK businesses speed up during the slowdown. This event brought together leaders from various UK industries and created a rich source of new video content for the site that is now available to any person who can access YouTube. To access the content from these conferences and others like them, click on the "Events" tab on the channel's homepage.
What value do you believe businesses and business-interest audiences place on the Survival of the Fastest channel content? Do they see Survival of the Fastest as a valuable resource for competitive positioning in a recession? Are there any tangible tales of success as a direct result of taking heed of Survival of the Fastest guiding principles from some of the video clips?
As the UK's first business advice channel on YouTube, we set out to make the content free, insightful, actionable, and quick to watch. The level of expertise represented - not to mention the broad range of industries and functions - makes the channel an important source of business knowledge. Although we have not collected systematic feedback as you describe, we have received strong levels of positive feedback as well as many cases of anecdotal evidence demonstrating that the site is useful. For instance, last week, we received a message from a viewer who thanked us for the videos featuring Sir Martin Sorrell. This particular user was new to London and had an important meeting coming up with Sir Martin Sorrell, and he went on YouTube to learn more about him and then discovered our channel. This user commented that he is now using SOTF as a resource to inform his business.
Generally, what is your view on the current scope and availability of online management and business content? Do you see Survival of the Fastest as filling a gap in the market or simply adding to the online conversation?
We feel that Survival of the Fastest does both. The quality of the content, scope of the content (in terms of the industries and functions), speed with which the content has been compiled (in the last three to four months), and the free access to the content make this an incredible resource. Inevitably, though, Survival of the Fastest is part of the larger conversation, both online and offline, about how digital can accelerate businesses during the slowdown.
How about your wider social media presence? Do you plan a Twitter profile, Facebook group or Survival of the Fastest Ning network for example?
We have posted updates on the YouTube blog and official Google Twitter feed. By clicking the "join us" button, users can also receive email updates from the channel.
Do you believe that Survival of the Fastest facilitates greater accessibility of key business information for its subscriber audience? For example, would you say that the Survival of the Fastest business channel enhances a subscriber's ability to digest key business messages through its video clip format, as opposed to taking on board similar messages from an online business news format such as Reuters or Wall Street Journal?
There are lots of great resources business people can access. This channel offers 377 free, short, and practical video clips that are easy to share. There are no subscription fees, the videos are straight from the source, and the contributors answer the questions that business owners and managers want answered.
Can you give me a broad breakdown of the Survival of the Fastest subscriber community (business/ geographical /corporate reach etc)?
Video Views: 90K+ and growing
What specific plans do you have for Survival of the Fastest in 2010 around areas such as strategic positioning, content development, marketing initiatives and a community-building push?
We are keen for the content on this channel to evolve in step with the changing market and industry conditions. We are also very interested in exploring ways the channel can further help businesses understand the value of a digital strategy, which we see as one of the major opportunities for businesses in the coming years.
What would you say are the Survival of the Fastest Top Ten business clips so far?
Based on video views:
- Ije Nwokorie, Senior Strategist, Wolff Olins - Do brands matter in a recession?
- Paul Bennett, Chief Creative Officer, IDEO, What will winning organisations look like in 18 months' time?
- Liam Halligan, Chief Economist , Prosperity Capital - Cheap credit is dead. What's next?
- Boris Johnson - Mayor of London - London as center of eCommerce excellence
- Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK - Will customer service fall victim to the downturn?
- Guy Phillipson, CEO, Internet Advertising Bureau - Balancing online and offline media spend
- Pr Nirmalya Kumar, Professor of Marketing, Director of Centre for Marketing, London Business School - Recession as a marketing opportunity
- Michael Ross, Director, eCommera - Online channel: not just another shop
- Pr Dominic Houlder, Adjunct Professor of Strategic & International Management, London Business School - Did the crisis kill innovation?
- Graham Donoghue, Managing Director, Travelsupermarket.com - Focusing on online and offline marketing ROI
Do you have any useful Survival of the Fastest stats that support the success of your viewership and channel push so far?
In the last four to six weeks, we have renewed our promotional efforts around the channel. Since the start of July, we have added over 135 videos to increase the channel's content base by nearly 60%. Video views are up by more than 20%. Subscriber levels have risen by 15%. The Telegraph has recently published our latest video compilation, "How to start a business in the slowdown." We have sent targeted messages to industry leaders that highlight the industry-specific content on the channel.
If you had to describe Survival of the Fastest in a 140-word Tweet - what would you say?
Survival of the Fastest: Bite-sized insights to help your business. Watch. Engage. Debate.
How do you - or will you - monetise Survival of the Fastest? Or is this not the intention?
Monetising Survival of the Fastest has never been our objective. The channel exists as a free service provided by Google, LBS, and the Telegraph to help UK businesses speed up during the slowdown.
