The Brand Deal Desk Live from Cannes: Hide and Seek with Virgin Media O2 and The Sidemen

[00:03] >> And I am Max Fosh. >> Alongside our awesome co-host Aaron White, we recorded five episodes of this brand new series for YouTube designed to and outs of brand deals. >> I absolutely love pitching brands big,

[00:19] crazy, wacky ideas. The bigger the better. We spoke to creators, we spoke to brands, we delved into the brand ecosystem. So, if you are starting out, difficult [music] conversations when it comes to brand deals.

[00:32] >> Exclusivity, usage rights, extra social posts all have value. So, think them. And today we're going further than we're turning the tables, finding out what happens on the other side of the

[00:46] brand deal universe. Today we're bringing a brand into the conversation. bringing a brand into the conversation. Welcome to the Brand Deal Desk Live.

[00:58] real, and going deep on probably one of the biggest brand deals that happened in >> Yeah. So, we are going to be talking today with creator Simon, we've got the Sidemen here, and also fantastic brand which was Virgin Media O2 because they

[01:12] did a bit of branded content for one of the Sidemen's videos which was find KSI win $20,000, and they combined the UK's most reliable broadband with their best product Satellite. So, we're going to be talking about that today. So, Grace,

[01:27] >> I think we should get them up. Here to talk about how it was all brought together, we have a Sideman board, Richard Bound, head of advertising at Virgin Media O2, and YouTube's Elizabeth Lundholm Hammersen.

[01:39] >> And from the YouTube side of things, please welcome CEO of Arcade and the Schwarzenberger, and member of the Sidemen, it is Vikstar. >> I know. >> I think before we dive in to give

[01:54] everyone a bit of context, let's play a little clip from the BRAND INTEGRATION. >> WELCOME TO SIMON SAYS HIDE AND SEEK IN THE PEAK DISTRICT.

[02:06] GOOD JOB. IT'S A FIGHT MATE. >> [screaming] >> Happy hunting. >> [music] >> [music] >> No chance he's up there.

[02:20] >> Get up. Right, let's go. Let's go. >> GET UP. >> WE FOUND KSI. >> I THINK THEY might have spotted me. >> You're wondering why we gave all [music] the teams this lovely blue phone. We're

[02:32] in the middle of the Peak District next to this lovely reservoir. In an area signal. Even tracking JJ and the seekers would normally be a bit of a tricky task. We have given each team a phone to allow them to use O2's new satellite

[02:44] allow them to use O2's new satellite service. This means that even out here with our contestants. And that's very important cuz throughout the game I'll be sending the seekers a series of clues. I'll be dropping them photos and

[02:56] when you find yourself in a spot of no signal, be pretty difficult. With O2 just lovely? >> This is where legends are made.

[03:08] >> [applause] >> Round of applause. this all started. How did it begin? So, Richard, Elizabeth, I think let's talk

[03:20] was the O2 challenge you were trying to solve with this brief? And why was YouTube seen as the platform where you >> So, I guess in its simplest form the challenge for us is to drive positive

[03:33] satellite, as you've seen, it kind of solved a genuine consumer needs. Um it was a market first in the UK as well. So, our job really was to uh drive mass awareness of this new product for launch and also drive positive perceptions of

[03:47] I guess just to follow on from that, why was YouTube seen as as the right platform? Well, first and foremost, like I love AV. I think its storytelling in the UK market particularly, we're undergoing a bit of a challenge right

[03:59] now in terms of, you know, traditional TV, linear TV is kind of aging up, so we're trying to rebalance our AV plans, and YouTube is very effective for that multiple demographics. It's also very cost-effective as well, which I hope

[04:12] >> [laughter] >> turns out it ends up being quite high performer in terms of ROI, etc. A brief was born to look at YouTube as a kind of platform first brief, try and use that full ecosystem with a view to getting

[04:24] back of it. >> And Elizabeth, from YouTube side, when a brand like O2 brings a brief like that, what do you see that they might not see? >> Yeah, so I think it's really about perspective and expertise, right? So,

[04:38] O2, a brand like O2, brings this razor-sharp understanding of their business goals, and what we bring is sort of a real-time map of platform behavior. What's unique about YouTube creators in particular is this kind of

[04:50] they've built with their audiences. So, finding a way to match that unique voice with a brand is kind of where we come in. So, the idea is to help spot exactly where a product can kind of live

[05:02] naturally within creator culture. So, it feels like a native recommendation rather than an interruption. I think the best way to involve us is really early, right? So, um we offer up something called creative sprints or workshops.

[05:15] So, instead of passing down a fixed brief down a chain, you know, getting O2 in the room with media agency, with creative agency, and YouTube means that we were kind of building with that creator trust in mind from day one. Um

[05:28] the goal is never to change the brand's message. It's really to translate it actually going to like. >> And Richard, what was the, I guess, original creative execution you had in mind, and when did you think The Sidemen

[05:42] >> Initially, we didn't really have a a full idea of what we wanted. What we did which is similar to what Elizabeth has just talked about there. It's basically brands, creative agencies, media agencies, YouTube platform experts all

[05:55] in a room, ideate over like 8 hours in 1 day. The output of that is you generate of rough around the edges, but they're still ideas. And then as a group you winning idea was something which is very akin to kind of the final output,

[06:10] actually. It was kind of ripping on the UK Hunted TV series, basically. So, basically hide and seek, chasing someone around the rural countryside. Um so, process, really. And then in terms of when did we think Sidemen were the right

[06:24] creator to to look at? Actually, like we rather ambitiously thought that in the you. We kind of aimed for the stars, if I'm honest. I've mentioned before we highly entertaining content. And, you know, the Sidemen obviously tick both

[06:37] question was, are they going to be up for working with us? And can we afford those questions was yes. Hence, the reason I'm sitting here. >> And I'll throw that to you, Jordan. From your perspective, how did this fit into

[06:52] >> Yeah, well, I think the beauty of what the Sidemen have built now and the that there's a slate of content that goes for the next 6 months is already in beautiful about this is you guys have come up with that sprint. And then, oh,

[07:04] video in the list of ideas that's going to be filmed called Find KSI, and it's a well and it was a match made in heaven, so to speak. creative partnership feel authentic at the idea stage before the content even

[07:19] exists? And can you explain what it means when YouTube talk about the magic does that mean? >> I think probably the first question that to authenticity is is the brand interrupting the entertainment or is it

[07:32] unlocking it, right? So, if a creator would make the video 90% of the time anyway, and actually the product itself is just adding to that already existing content, you know, the audience feels that. I think there's a common trap that

[07:45] brands think they have to stick strictly to their sector, so a tech brand only partnering with a tech reviewer, but actually a natural fit can often be found in some of the most unexpected places. So, when you leave that creative

[07:57] door open, that's where you find what we call at YouTube the magic middle. It's that sweet spot where the brand's objective actually meets the creator's passion. If you look at the O2 campaign, instead of a standard tech review, the

[08:10] massive high-stakes challenge, like finding KSI in a totally rural and remote location. So, O2's satellite functionality wasn't just like a logo slapped on top, it was the hero that unlocked it. So, ultimately, at the end

[08:23] disrupt the entertainment, it should be the hero of the story in a way that >> And Vik, as the creator on this campaign, does that resonate with you? brands where it just makes sense within your content?

[08:36] >> Yeah, it has to make sense. If it doesn't make sense, it's bad for us need our audience. They let us do what we do day in, day out, week in, week out. And also, the brand is not happy. The brand needs conversion, and if

[08:50] people see the product being used rather than the product being forced down their going to be conversion. That's bad for the brand, that's bad for us, and it even harms our ability to work with brands moving forward. So, got to find

[09:04] the magic middle, something that makes sense, something that viewers don't feel the best campaigns land. >> 100% And Elizabeth, for the brands in this room, what can they learn? What can they take away from how this incredible

[09:19] collaborative partnership originated? >> I think the main takeaway here, or the broader lesson, is that you no longer have to rely on manual scouting or guesswork anymore to kind of find these unexpected creative matches. We've

[09:33] actually formalized this entire process now um by introducing something called YouTube Creator Partnerships. This unifies our creator matchmaking directly into Google Ads for brands and YouTube Studio for creators. So, for the brands

[09:46] key things. The first is that moving from insight to outreach has never been easier. You can now take some of your Insights Finder, which is our own audience insights tool, and you can kind

[09:59] of move seamlessly into creator matching right within the platform. And when I mean matching, I mean actual scale. So, we now have through YouTube Creator Partnerships access to over 3 million creators in the YouTube Partner Program.

[10:12] Um this includes over 45% which are nano creators, so that would be anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 subscribers, over 30% which are micro creators, so from 10,000 to 100,000 subscribers, and over 10% which are macro and mega creators like

[10:27] The Sidemen um with 100k to a million plus. So, there's actually a trusted voice for literally every single niche. Um my second point, which is I think another key learning, is that this workflow is so streamlined now. So, you

[10:40] can actually scale unified queries and briefs to these qualified creator lists um and get instant interest. >> So, we have the idea, the brand is happy, these guys are on board. Max, I'm going to pass the imaginary baton over

[10:55] to you now to talk all things creators. >> Yes, thank you, Grace. The creator side start with you. When a brand comes to The Sidemen like, product. Let's Let's collaborate. Synergy." Lots of buzzwords. What are

[11:09] you looking at before you're saying yes to a brand partnership? synergy. >> Yes. >> Genuinely, there has to be now at this point in our career, there has to be a

[11:21] why. It can't be a check size coming in. It can't be a has to be how do we integrate it into a storyline like we did with the hide-and-seek video. How do we make it make sense to our audience? Because

[11:35] as Jordan said, if it's the start of a video, if we're reading a script, run our own brands as well. We have our own fast food restaurant chain. We've got our own vodka brand. We have our own trading cards, our own merchandising.

[11:49] So, over 14 years of doing brand deals, we've learned what does work and what doesn't work because we've sat on both sides of the field. that's too heavy, that doesn't feel like us talking, doesn't feel like our voice,

[12:03] we see the conversion drops off completely. And that's, like I said, no good for anyone. And our audience know us so well. There are people who spent an awful amount of time watching me. They know the way I speak. They know the

[12:15] words I use. They see me every day. The second they see me going to a heavily regulated script, they know that's not me anymore. And so, now if we want our brand campaigns to be successful, we have to be ourselves. There has to be a

[12:28] why. So, I think the most important thing is, can we integrate this in a way that makes sense to the audience? Otherwise, everyone loses. Either you've got the brand is unhappy, the audience is unhappy, or we're unhappy. You've got

[12:40] all's good. >> Magic middle. go. >> Um Jordan, uh subbing audiences. Uh they are they are famously very honest.

[12:53] >> Yeah. >> They like to say what they really think. integration feels fake? >> Oh, immediately. I mean, anyone who's, this room is, a massive fan of YouTube, you know that there is this real two-way

[13:07] platform. And that's what makes it so special. The audience expects ads to be adding. And when you do that, they respect it. They call it out in the think that's the shift really that's happened over time, but it's one that's

[13:20] there is that expectation that brands are going to be involved. That's so part fake it, and if you try and push it in the wrong way, or you're inauthentic about it, or if you're just trying to hide it, it never goes down well.

[13:32] in on this. With obviously the new products that YouTube are bringing out, you're almost acting as an intermediary within this process. How vital is that >> Yeah, so I completely agree with Jordan. YouTube is the new TV. And when you

[13:45] understand that Sidemen like aren't just a group of friends with a camera, but network with a programming slate, the approach completely changes. Like you're actually entering their programming schedule. So, I think bridging that gap

[13:59] between commercial objectives as well as like editorial freedom is actually an team and everybody else involved. But, at YouTube, we really value that agency important. So, we've built a specific YouTube Creator Partnerships API that

[14:15] will allow eligible agencies to actually plug directly into our ecosystem. Um the infrastructure is there, the talent is ready, and the agencies have all the with this example, but what's the success?

[14:29] that are key for you? You're going in that Monday morning meeting after the successful."? >> We like to have a full funnel picture of one metric to say has it been a success or not. And having that kind of full

[14:42] us to speak the language of the business. It allows us to justify creator activity in the face of TV spend or out-of-home spend, whatever it may performed, Sidemen content against the 42-second ad both performed really well,

[14:56] significantly above UK norms. What's interesting is that the ads did a more recall and message takeout. But, the longer-form content um drove the better. And we think that, you know,

[15:09] trust relationship that creators have with their audience. So, very good for which is a key task of the brief. The other interesting thing actually is that percentage of attentive seconds across both. So, you've got a 40-second and a

[15:23] 3-minute, they have the same percentage of attentive seconds when when you times as long, that's massive. It just shows how engaging the content of these guys created is. The next level down that we measured, we actually adapted uh

[15:35] traditional ad spots and ran those on YouTube and compared them to our our BAU advertising. Again, uh both performed significantly above UK tech norms, but actually performed slightly better than our traditional advertising, which

[15:49] like how entertaining the content is. >> And Vik, from your side, what are the like this? >> Number one, the audience liked it. >> Win. Huge win. Like Jordan said, positive comments. We dread the day we

[16:03] work with a brand and we open the comments and everyone's like, "Was there the script?" That's That's We would never let that happen. So, uh so, that's good. People enjoyed it. And uh the thing we love about YouTube is I can

[16:17] pick up my phone and all the data is here. So, the video got 6.1 million views. The audience retention was 26 minutes for the episode. YouTube's shows you where the audience are paying attention. Uh you probably can't see it

[16:31] which is good. So, it didn't come up the integration is here. Everyone goes, "Skip past this." We don't want that. No one benefits if that's the case. So, that's the nice thing about YouTube. The brand gets all of this data. We get all

[16:45] Everyone's happy. >> Jordan, now I'm sure if if anyone's watching uh this this branded ads live, size of the Sidemen." For creators who aren't the Sidemen scale, um what should

[16:59] >> I think take the mindset and the philosophy cuz that's, you know, the 10,000 subs all the way through to 23 million like the guys. And that's really think for most creators, they've never worked in the traditional media space.

[17:12] at a high level. So, there is is disconnect currently, which obviously bridge, but that will take a bit of time. But, I think for creators there's with the commercial objectives of the brand. I think it's about making sure

[17:24] together, and even if you're small, have the mindset of an agency. Have the mindset of finding that magic middle, editorial, commercial, find that point on size. >> Yeah. Uh Elizabeth, I just want to bring

[17:36] you back in on this point. Now, we speak at length in the series about the creators when it comes to their brand deals. The YouTube Creator Partnerships tool, which you actually spoke about earlier, is fantastic for creators and

[17:49] also to brands. Could you just touch a little bit on about how important that >> Absolutely. I think if there is any takeaway that you have as a creator for today, it's kind of two things. You have to make yourself visible, and you have

[18:01] to make yourself easy to work with. And as we alluded to earlier, we have this Partnerships. You need to ensure that you're actually discoverable to brands. you're actually discoverable to brands. Brands absolutely love data, right? If

[18:14] you turn on something called channel insights sharing um within your advanced are actually looking through YouTube audience data as well as your channel performance, the exact things that

[18:26] and researching creators. Sharing these insights though doesn't just give brands you more visible, it also makes you much more likely to land a deal. And we see creators who share channel insights received over two times more brand

[18:41] Search tools compared to creators that didn't. So, it's very much worth your time. Get your phones out, do it today. The second thing that that you should do share your video performance. So, when you create content for a brand

[18:55] organically, you can enable something called brand partner access. This lets brands boost your organic content as a paid ad with Creator Partnerships boost. improves their performance. The numbers here are also massive. So, Creator

[19:10] Partnerships boost drove an average 30% increase in awareness lift across both video reach and video view campaigns, which is a staggering uplift. Plus, on top of that, enabling brand partner access actually means that you can sync

[19:23] your performance metrics directly to the brand's Google Ads account. They love screenshots, they can go directly into the platform and see how things are deals. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, turn on channel

[19:37] insights, enable brand partner access. Grace, any more for any more? >> While we're sharing these like do immediately tips, download your YouTube media kit in the partnerships tab of the earn page.

[19:49] earn page. >> Yes, it's all it's all gift to you all. first ever Brand Deal Dash Live. >> Thank you so much for coming. Thank you

[20:01] >> Brand Deal Dash Live. See you in a bit. Cheers.