To many brands (not to mention Hollywood actors), the web is still considered a dumping ground for content not considered good enough for traditional TV. And in the early stages of what is now “Easy to Assemble,” a web series sponsored by Ikea and created by actress Illeana Douglas, that dictum was true. But after the series became the most-watched sponsored web show in its second season, garnering 5.1 million views and counting, Ms. Douglas and her all-star cast are rewriting the rulebook on how to create quality content for the web with a TV-like viewership.

Illeana Douglas and Justine Bateman

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That “Easy to Assemble” found such a large, organic audience in a relatively short amount of time (the second season premiered in late September) is no easy feat. The previous most-watched web series, the Suave- and Sprint-sponsored “In the Motherhood,” achieved its audience in large part because of prime placement on MSN.com’s well-trafficked home page. MyDamnChannel.com, the main distributor of the second season of “Easy to Assemble,” has had a growing following from shows such as “Wainy Days,” but hardly enough to put up MSN-like numbers.

The show has garnered increased investment from Ikea, which has seen it as an incubator for the future model of its $300 million global media budget. “Today’s marketing landscape still calls for traditional media to play a role, but three to five years from now, we’ll be in a period where we need a stronger mix of nontraditional,” said Magnus Gustaffson, Ikea’s marketing chief and an executive producer of “Easy to Assemble.” “Because of the fragmentation of the media landscape, it’s important for us to reach as many people in as many relevant touchpoints as possible.”

But just as it’s reinventing the way brands invest in sponsored content, it’s also creating new compensation models for casts and crews in web video. One of the biggest stigmas against online series is that they look like home videos and pay actors far less than TV — if at all. But the second season was shot in high-definition, and Ms. Douglas’ famous friends, such as Ed Begley Jr., Tom Arnold and even Keanu Reeves (who stars in spinoff “Sparhusen”), are being paid in more than just goodwill — a pact with the Screen Actors Guild ensures that everyone from the guest stars to the assistants is compensated for their efforts at near-TV rates.

Brand affinity
Ms. Douglas compares her show’s unique path to her early days in independent film, and seems to be relishing the chance to help Ikea sell more crap (that means “quilt” in Swedish).

“If you have a well-liked brand that you really enjoy working with, it ends up working out. People will find the show on their own,” she said.

The origins of “Easy to Assemble” date back to 2004, when Ms. Douglas was shopping around a network pilot called “Supermarket,” in which she played a fictionalized version of herself — a Hollywood actress who found fame in independent film (“To Die For,” “Cape Fear”). When she takes a job at a small Los Angeles supermarket, Ms. Douglas is surprised to find it’s become a breeding ground for other Tinseltown refugees — several of whom (Justine Bateman, Jeff Goldblum) have since returned for the show’s latest iteration.

“Supermarket” never got past the pilot stage, leading Ms. Douglas to look to the web for alternative distribution and a sponsor to foot the production bill otherwise covered by a TV network. Enter Ikea, a Swedish superstore with a do-it-yourself approach to furniture that lent its quirky brand to the show’s new title and its Burbank store for shooting key scenes — not to mention a rabid fan-base that readily consumes any Ikea-related content.

Roughly 20% of the second season’s 5.1 million views have come from syndication to sites such as Ikeafans.com, where users ate up new episodes faster than Ikea’s signature meatballs and lingonberry sauce. (So far “Easy to Assemble” has amassed 6.1 million views when you combine the audience for the first two seasons; “In the Motherhood” reached a collective 5.5 million views for its two seasons.) Ikea and its social-media agency, CJP Digital Media, promoted the show by doing marketing outreach to key Ikea fan sites and web video blogs, syndicating clips for fans to share with their friends or comment on Ikea message boards. Within two weeks, Ikea fans racked up 500,000 views alone for the show’s second season.

Investing in quality
“We want to establish new ways of making a web series as a statement to respect the art, respect the actor and pay them accordingly. We as content providers are the ones that need to lead the way,” said Dominik Rausch, the series’ executive producer. “Everyone is aware there’s not as much money in the web world yet, but by showing what kind of result you get with ‘Easy to Assemble,’ you need a certain amount of money to be able to get that quality.”

Ms. Bateman, a broadcast TV veteran of “Family Ties” and “Men Behaving Badly,” had been waiting for the web to catch up to TV both economically and creatively. “There’s been an incredible amount of money spent on stuff that’s just not good on the web,” she said. “Everybody dismisses that concern with, ‘It’s just the internet.’ But if people are fronting that they are content creators, let’s see your best work. You can still have a compelling narrative, still hire actors who know what they’re doing and still get a talented director of photography — you just need the right resources.”

One key emerging business model for advertising to the ‘connected audience’ is a return to the single-sponsor format (or a consortium of non-competitive sponsors).