YouTube is the Main Stream: Highlights from the 10th Annual Brandcast Delivered
May 04, 2021 – minute read
People are watching more YouTube than ever — on mobile, on laptops, and these days, especially on our fastest growing screen, the TV. Over 120 million people streamed YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens last December in the U.S.1 Why is YouTube people's Main Stream? YouTube makes people feel happy, connected, and empowered -- and that's never been a more important halo for brands.
Today, at our tenth annual NewFront event, Brandcast Delivered, we brought advertisers together, virtually, to celebrate the content people need and the creators they love — as well as the brands who are making the most of the opportunity.
Hosted by Hasan Minhaj, advertisers received personalized experiences based on their specific passions and business objectives. The show featured multi-platinum selling recording artist, songwriter and trailblazer, Miley Cyrus, and fan-favorite creators like Tarek Ali and ZHC. Plus, we shared key announcements, like new interactive ad features for the TV screen, original content and a celebration of this year’s YouTube Works award winners. See the top takeaways below.
Top brands are seeing results with YouTube at the heart of their plans
YouTube continues to generate greater incremental sales per impression than TV and other online video in virtually all MMMs. In an MMM meta-analysis we commissioned with Nielsen, YouTube had greater incremental sales per impression than TV in 91% of CPG MMMs that measured YouTube, Other Digital and TV in 2017-2019.2
During today’s show, we also celebrated the winners of this year’s YouTube Works awards — representing the most creative and effective campaigns across YouTube.
Earning a total of three awards, including the Grand Prix, Match embraced humor with their “Match Made in Hell” campaign, gaining a 40% increase in consideration. Brands like Comedy Central took home the award for Big Screen, Big Results by effectively capturing attention on TV screens. And other brands, like Adobe, got creative with a completely digital film festival, which also drove sales. Learn more about the brands who won big and drove results for their business on yt.be/works.
Watch more on the latest YouTube products and insights that are helping advertisers drive results.
As YouTube CTV reach and watch time grows, we’re bringing new interactive features
As viewership shifts away from linear TV and the number of streaming services increase, the CTV market might seem fragmented. But in reality, more than 80% of CTV reach in the U.S. falls on only five streaming services, according to Comscore — and only two are ad-supported.
As the #1 ad-supported streaming service, YouTube represents 40% of that watch time, according to Comscore. And more and more, people are choosing to watch their favorite content with others. According to Talk Shoppe, over half of Americans (57%) surveyed say they watch YouTube videos on TV screens with others.4 This means brands can easily extend their overall reach and impact of their campaigns.
To help brands better reach highly-engaged audiences where they are watching and access the most popular content on TV screens, we launched YouTube Select CTV last year. It combines the best of YouTube TV and lineups content, both on TV screens, with a single offering.
New this year, we’re making YouTube CTV ads even more helpful for viewers and more engaging for brands with interactive features, like brand extensions. Brand extensions, available globally later this year, invite viewers to learn more about a product with one click of a button, without interrupting their viewing experience.
Brands will be able to measure conversions generated by brand extensions, directly in Google Ads. This is just the first of many interactive features coming to the TV screen. Watch to learn more about interactive ads on TV screens, how YouTube is changing the living room experience and how YouTube creators are navigating the latest CTV viewership trends.
Tap into the content people love with new YouTube Originals programming & sponsorships
Today, we announced even more content people can discover on the platform that reflects their diverse experiences and passions with new original shows.
Among the highlights: a six-part unscripted series following Will Smith embarking on his fitness journey, a new intimate docuseries with Alicia Keys premiering this summer, and the third and final season of fan-favorite scripted series, “Liza on Demand,” starring popular creator, Liza Koshy.
Today, YouTube Originals is also announcing "Ice Cold," a docuseries from executive producers MIGOS that explores issues around the American dream and racial inequity through the lens of hip-hop jewelry, and “Recipe for Change” [working title], a new special from Michelle Kwan and LeBron James' SpringHill Company, where Asian American storytellers bring together celebrities, chefs, activists, and creators to celebrate API culture and discuss the recent and historic acts of hate and violence against the API community.
Beyond new original content, a few weeks ago we announced new ways for brands to engage peak audiences, build association and stay relevant when it matters most with an expanded YouTube Select sponsorships program. In addition to upfront exclusive sponsorships like NFL Game Day All Access — recently nominated for a Sports Emmy — we’re also offering a rolling set of seasonal sponsorships available on a quarterly basis.
Our seasonal sponsorship offering celebrates diverse communities and the movements and moments that matter, like Black History Month or Pride. The Pride seasonal sponsorship includes a high share of voice of the YouTube Originals livestream event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community on June 25.
In addition to sponsorships, brands can access a series of scaled YouTube Select content lineups across popular categories like music, sports and more. Check out the highlights.
YouTube’s original content and community of creators together create the world’s most extensive video library, making it more helpful for viewers, and more effective for brands. Check out more highlights from our tenth annual #Brandcast on the Brandcast Hub, Twitter, LinkedIn and our YouTube channel.
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1. YouTube Internal Data, U.S., December 2020.
2. Commissioned Nielsen MMM Meta-Analysis, 2017-2019. Base: a list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2017-2019 that contain YouTube, Other Digital and TV results. This list includes 736 studies for US Brands across all CPG categories. Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters. Effectiveness is defined as total incremental sales per 1,000 impressions (in USD).
3. Comscore, OTT Intelligence, Sep. 2020, U.S.; Comscore, OTT Intelligence, Dec. 2020, U.S.
4. Google/Talkshoppe, U.S., whyVideo study, n=645 A18-64 Genpop video users who watch YouTube videos on TV screens, Feb 2020.