- Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Volvo is promoting the Twitter feed for the 2010 Volvo XC60 crossover vehicle through the biggest ad placement YouTube has run to date.
 
Volvo shop Euro RSCG created the rich media ad, which stretches across the YouTube home page today. It shows the XC60 auto-brake "city safety" capability, then gives users the option of seeing videos, photos or playing a game from within the unit. The banner also includes a live feed of Volvo XC60 Twitter updates from the New York auto show.
 
"Volvo is about humanity," said John Steward, creative director at Euro RSCG. "We felt that it matched very well Volvo's stance on humanity because Twitter is all about humanity."
 
The ad placement includes Twitter's bird logo and an invitation for users to follow it on the short-messaging service. Volvo launched its Twitter account about three months ago and has more than 1,200 followers. It recently held a Twitter Q&A with Volvo North America CEO Doug Speck.
 
Euro RSCG created the ad using technology from Google's DoubleClick. It pulls in the Twitter updates as an RSS feed. The latest update from the account is shown in the banner. Users can scroll to see previous updates.
 
Euro RSCG notified Twitter about its plans, Steward said, although the company is not involved in the campaign.
 
The ad is the largest YouTube has run yet, according to a Google representative, expanding to 950 x 250 pixels. It includes a "close this ad option."
 
Volvo is the latest advertiser to use Twitter in ads. TurboTax has also been running banners promoting its live feed throughout the Google ad network. Land Rover is taking a different approach for its ad campaign tied to the auto show. It is promoting a Twitter hashtag, #LRNY, which aggregates conversation about the vehicle in Twitter Search.
 
Euro RSCG worked with fellow Havas shop Media Contacts on the campaign, which also includes Facebook and Flickr pages, a YouTube brand channel and sponsored videos, and a blog, thecarthatstopsitself.com.