Could Youtube Help Create the Next Harry Potter?

There’s a lot of buzz about a young girl called Clementine Cordelia Bird and her evil 14 year old nemesis Natasha Commonov, and it’s all down to a video on YouTube.

When author Suzy Brownlee decided to write a book for children, she figured that featuring the images of her two daughters would be a different way to introduce readers to the characters. The book is aimed at 9-12 year olds, and Brownlee felt that photographic images on the cover of the book would be more attractive to the ‘tweenager’ market.

It was when a publishing friend suggested YouTube as a possible marketing vehicle that Brownlee realised her daughters might be able to help with more than just photographs.

“I didn’t want to do a traditional author interview - my book is for kids and kids don’t really want to see a writer waffling on - unless of course we are talking about someone phenomenally well known such as JK Rowling! So I approached a composer and asked him to write a song for my daughter Britta, who has always sung and is starting to make a name for herself in musicals.”

Using the lyrics Brownlee had written, composer John Bellamy created ‘Run’, which describes how the evil crime princess Natasha Commonov is determined to free her imprisoned father. Interestingly the film, shot by Steve Maccagnan of Moving Planet, uses Sydney for the London backdrop, because Brownlee’s daughters attend school there.

YouTube is fast becoming the place for small and large businesses to advertise, and the trick now is to create something creative enough to snare those sometimes elusive clicks.

Does ‘Run’ by Britta Brownlee do that? As one young mother, Andy Carlisle, said: “My two and five year old have watched it about 50 times. There’s something about the clapping at the beginning that mesmerises them.”

But the multi-million dollar question is, will it make her buy the book?

“Maybe? I’m certainly aware of it now. Plus I’ve emailed my friends the link. Whether I ultimately buy it will depend on how it looks in the bookstore.”

Unlike the TV commercials that went before, YouTube offers advertisers a previously unheard of level of creativity. And up to 10 minutes of screen time - all for free. However, whether YouTube or similar sites can lure people away from their keyboards long enough to make a purchase remains to be seen.

Unlike the TV commercials that went before, YouTube offers advertisers a previously unheard of level of creativity. And up to 10 minutes of screen time - all for free. However, whether YouTube or similiar sites can lure people away from their keyboards long enough to make a purchase remains to be seen.