Work Diaries: YouTube Ads Marketer prepares for Black History Month and Super Bowl

We’re peeling back the curtains with our series, Work Diaries, where you can experience the inner workings of YouTube. How do decisions get made? What goes into a product, feature or policy? We’re asking YouTube employees to give us the low-down during a five-day period.

Featured today: I’m Kristen Shipley, a Product Marketing Manager on the YouTube Ads Marketing Content team and Communications Lead for the Black@YouTube Employee Resource Group.

I write about content trends and insights across YouTube for advertisers on our marketing thought leadership site Think with Google. I also support our sales teams by creating content and sharing marketing trends at events. And I lead communications for Black@YouTube (BYT), keeping our global community informed, especially of the upcoming events for Black History Month!

A regular sighting from one of my neighborhood walks - the Lincoln Memorial!

Monday

9 a.m. - Every morning, I try to go for a short walk before starting my day. I live in DC not far from the National Mall, so there is lots to see and do nearby. When it was warmer out, I would go for runs down to the Washington monument, but in the cold all I can manage is a walk to help get my body moving and to serve as a sort of “commute.” Mondays are usually a light meeting day for me, so I get started reviewing emails and preparing for my career conversation with my manager.

1 p.m. - I join our Black@ YouTube leads meeting to discuss final plans for Black History Month. We’re joined by our new executive sponsor Dee Speed, Director of UX on the YouTube Music team who shares what’s top of mind for her, including well-being, sustainability, and connectivity across YouTube and Google. We spend the rest of the meeting discussing our events for the month and the YouTube creator that we plan to invite for the companywide YouTube Fridays (YTF) meeting.

Today’s highlight: One thing I love about DC is that I am so close to my family! My cousin recently moved to Arlington so I helped him pick out and move a couch into his new apartment.

Me after a workout at the boxing studio I go to in DC, Urban Boxing.

Tuesday

11 a.m. - Let the game begin! The Super Bowl is a big moment for advertisers and brands. This morning, I had a call with Ad Age about a webinar that we’re hosting called “The new sports playbook for the streaming era.” This panel will talk about how marketers are leaning on digital to reach sports fans beyond the game, such as making sure their ad shows up on connected TV where more people are choosing to watch. (Go here to learn more about NFL Sunday Ticket.)

12 p.m. - During my lunch, I decide to do a midday workout by going to a boxing class. The movie Creed with Michael B. Jordan inspired me to start boxing last July, and I have found it to be a great way to build strength and relieve stress. The classes are usually 60 minutes with a combination of cardio, strength training and technique.

Today’s highlight: I went to Shake Shack tonight for dinner because I didn’t feel like cooking. Throughout the pandemic, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking (especially with my air fryer), but today I didn’t feel like it.

My coworker Alvin, Creative Lead of Brand and Design for Black@ YouTube, designed this graphic for Black History Month with the theme Lift Every Voice.

Wednesday

8 a.m. - Every other Wednesday, I wake up early for our Global Brand Ads Marketing sync with teams from around the world.. We talk about the content and campaigns we’re rolling out this upcoming month.

10 a.m. - After going for my walk, I spend the morning compiling the Black@YouTube newsletter with all the events for Black History Month. I ping my colleague Alvin Addo who leads branding for BYT to get the final graphics for all of the flyers and share the newsletter with the leadership team to get their feedback. Our internal theme this year is Lift Every Voice: Giving Flowers to our Culture. This theme was born out of a BYT brainstorming session with the marketing and Yoodle team and influenced the artwork for this month’s Yoodle illustrated by artists Sabrena Khadija and Monique Wray.

1:30 p.m. - I join our weekly YouTube Ads Marketing team meeting where we discuss our 2022 plans across the team, including opportunities for us to collaborate. I have been on the YouTube Ads marketing team since I started at Google as part of the Associate Product Marketing Manager program.

Today’s highlight: For Black History Month, I am most looking forward to the YouTube Friday feature with Beleaf in Fatherhood. Look at the amazing artwork for Black History Month!

The New York City and DC chapters of the Read Between the Wine book club retreat in Philadelphia, PA.

Thursday

11 a.m. - This morning I caught up with a few of the founders from our Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. At YouTube, we have rotational opportunities called bungees that allow you to work on another team for 3-6 months to help with projects and learn new skills. I did a 6-month bungee on the Google for Startups team doing marketing for the announcement of the second Black Founders Fund.

I chatted with Marcus from Make Music Count about an upcoming feature he has on the show The Game Plan hosted by Shaquille O’Neal. When I was on my bungee, this video featuring Marcus was featured on the YouTube Kids app and got over 2 million views. I also emailed with Kelsey from CLLCTVE, who will be featured in an upcoming piece I’m working on about crediting Black creators.

1:30 p.m. - We had a meeting with our research agency to go over the results of research that we did with YouTube viewers. We discussed the findings as a group. Marketing is all about understanding the people behind our products, so it was cool to see both the quantitative and qualitative data.

3:30 p.m. - I made myself some tea before my next meeting, which I have been drinking more in the pandemic. The tea I drank today is from Just Add Honey. I finished the day with a Super Bowl cross functional meeting to talk about plans for the launch of AdBliltz, blog post, article, and Ad Age webinar.

Today’s highlight: I am part of a Book Club called Read Between the Wine where we read books by Black women authors, so tonight I ordered our book for February: Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks.

Me with other former BOLD interns turned Googlers (from left: me, Amir, Lena, Imani) on our first day at work in 2018.

Friday

10 a.m. - Fridays tend to be a light meeting day for me where I can focus on projects and schedule time to catch up with mentors and friends across Google. I caught up with one of my friends Amir, my former roommate who I interned with at Google. She recently started a new role as a UX Researcher on the Google Photos team.

1 p.m. - I used most of today to draft the Think with Google article on crediting Black creatives and set up some time with Kelsey for next week to review with her.

3 p.m. - The rest of my day is reserved for taking Googlegeist, our annual company wide survey where we can give feedback on everything from how we feel about our work to the priorities of the company.

Today’s highlight: Friday evenings I usually have a wine night with my best friend to hang out and unwind after a long week!