After stupidly attacking YouTube for having the "Saturday Night Live" skit, "Lazy Sunday" on its sight, NBC has realized the tremendous potential that the Web has to offer.
They are starting to understand the power and effect of online viral marketing. Now instead of threatening YouTube, it has made a deal where it will promote its site in exchange for YouTube being allowed to post video from NBC shows. They've also found out that it's a great place to encourage people to sample their shows.
One example is they are now posting 'The Office: The Accountants' webisodes online every Thursday. What's smart about it is they are not just putting up stuff that everyone has already seen, but are offering new content, a type of sub-plot that involves tracking down $3,000 in company funds that are missing. They have also created a contest where the YouTube users are empowered to create their own "Office" videos and submit them. As of this writing there are 129 videos uploaded by users.
The empowering of users is probably the best part of their strategy as people that are online want to be able to interact with and create things. If they do it right it can be one of the best aspects of their campaign and getting a viral effect going.
While they have a long way to go, at least this is a step in the right direction.
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