ON YOUTUBEINTEGRATIONBRAND

INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO

C O N T E N T S

SMALL CHANNELSMEDIUM CHANNELSLARGE CHANNELSELITE CHANNELS

WHY BRAND INTEGRATION ON YOUTUBE?

TYPES OF BRAND INTEGRATION DEALS

WHAT DO YOUTUBERS THINK OF BRAND INTEGRATION?

THE EASIEST POINTS OF ENTRY FOR STARTING A DEAL

COMPENSATION: PRODUCT, EXPERIENCE AND MONETARY

MAINTAINING AUTHENTICITY WITH BRAND INTEGRATION

STEP-BY-STEP: A PROCESS FOR SUCCESSFUL BRAND INTEGRATION

THIS VIDEO BROUGHT TO YOU BYPRODUCT MENTIONCUSTOM CONTENTMULTI-PLATFORM CAMPAIGNPRODUCT DESIGN

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WHYBRAND

INTEGRATION ON

YOUTUBE?

YOUTUBERS ARE WAITING

FOR YOU

BRANDAWARENESS

YOUTUBERBRAND

YouTubers want to work with brands. At major

conventions like VidCon and Playlist Live, an ongoing

theme of panel discussions feature elite YouTubers,

and representatives from Multi-Channel Networks

(MCNs) talking about the brand integration deals they

have done.

In the audience are smaller YouTube channels eager

to rise through the YouTube ranks and make it big

enough for a brand to want to work with them.

Working with brands is a badge of honor for many

channels, especially those who have their sights set on

becoming professional YouTubers.

Many channels have joined MCNs, where they are

groomed on how the business of being a YouTuber

works, all in the hopes of making brand deals easier

to come by. A common example of this training is

learning about how to make brand safe content.

Channels even make sure to include a business e-mail

in their About tab on YouTube so that if a brand does

find their video, making contact is easy.

All of this translates into an army of YouTubers, already

talking about products, ready and willing to talk about

yours.

Brand integration is when a brand pays to be part of some-

one else’s content. Brand integration deals are popular for

boosting awareness, sentiment and engagement with a

brand.

Brand integration is also a good tactic for brands that

aren’t used to doing their own production, brands with

niche products, brands looking to expand their audiences,

tap into new markets, drive traffic to their own channels,

or associate themselves with being cool and forward

thinking.

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WHAT IS BRAND INTEGRATION?

#3 CUSTOM CONTENT

5 TYPES OFBRAND INTEGRATION DEALS ON YOUTUBE

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When your brand sells products that a certain community

on YouTube naturally talks about, this integration works

very well. The YouTuber will include your product, cover

details about your product, and frequently links to buy

said product or coupon codes for said product, in a video

with other, unsponsored products.

YouTubers are always innovating in the ways they can

interact with brands, and brands are encouraged to inno-

vate in the ways they work with YouTubers. The kind of

content that is made in brand integration deals changes

quickly because of the evolving space, the acclimation of

talent to working with brands, and changing tastes on the

platform.

These 5 examples are intended to serve as guidelines, and

are structured on a scale from easiest to most challenging

to pull off successfully.

work with products that the brand sells. They usually

manifest in the creative by the YouTuber saying some-

thing very similar to, “This video is sponsored by/brought

to you by Netflix/Audible/etc.”

Audible does a lot of these kinds of deals, which resemble

something between sponsorships and product mentions.

Audible doesn’t have a script that must be followed by

everyone, but most YouTubers will mention similar things

about the brand. They will talk about an audiobook they

like at the moment, show the link to audibile.com/chan-

nelname and mention that if a user signs up for Audible

through that link, they get their first audiobook for free.

MentalFloss, a fact show hosted by John Green, is

frequently sponsored by Audible in this manner.

#1 THIS VIDEO BROUGH TO YOU BY...

#2 PRODUCT MENTION

The Travalo perfume atomizer is a great example of

product mentions on YouTube. The example video above

is from the channel From Head To Toe. She includes a link

for 20% off a purchase from Travalo in the description

and includes a disclaimer saying, “Thanks to Travalo for

providing the perfume atomizer in this video!”

These kinds of videos will start costing more for brands

because they require more work from YouTubers. Brands

hire a YouTuber to do both the development and produc-

tion of a video, in their own style, expressly for your brand.

Custom content can range from a video devoted to your

brand, to remixing branded content, to a whole series of

videos.

General Mills has had a great YouTube strategy for a while

now, and they are only getting more acclimated to every-

thing the platform is capable of, including custom content.

On the ZEFR Blog, we have posted about their owned

media, with regards to their Cheerios ads, twice.

In addition to their prowess in creating and posting videos

to their own channels, General Mills has worked with A Brand can sponsor a video, especially if it is a video that

targets the audience the brand wants, but doesn’t actually

Click play to watch any video!

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#5 PRODUCT DESIGN

YouTubers that work in the product space have started to

team up with brands to work on product design. One nota-

ble example of this is the Bethany Mota collection for

Aeropostale. Aeropostale is a clothing brand that caters to

the same demographic as Bethany Mota’s, aka MacBar-

bie07, audience. In a deal between the two of them, Betha-

ny Mota was brought on to help design and curate a collec-

tion she thought her fans would like. This deal, in addition

to being a multi-platform campaign, involved quite a bit of

work in the physical world, including a bus tour.

Bringing YouTubers into more traditional elements, like

product design, or, if you work in media, putting them as

guests on traditional shows, has happened a handful of

times. StyleHaul had 5 of their top Beauty Gurus on

Sisters Tracy and Stefanie of EleventhGorgeous, a channel

signed with StyleHaul, did a multi-platform campaign with

Secret Deodorant, including videos on their own channels,

being part of 30-second spots for Secret’s channel, posting

to their Instagram, a takeover of Secret’s Instagram and a

photo contest to send the pair of them to the winner’s

city/hometown for a 48-hour adventure.

YouTubers in brand integration deals to expand their

branded video and reach new audiences. They worked

with John D. Boswell’s channel melodysheep, with MCN

Machinima, to remix older Lucky Charms commercials

into something new. The resulting video caters to

Boswell’s audience of remix fans while also serving as a

contemporary, yet timeless, piece of branded content for

Lucky Charms. The video has 1.3 million + views. Chief

Marketing Officer for General Mills noted that this

collaboration drove a 42% sales lift in a week for Lucky

Charms.

#4 MULTI-PLATFORM CAMPAIGN

These require more time and effort from YouTubers

because they not only open up their YouTube channels for

a brand to get a spot, but they take up space their other

social networks too. These kinds of deals might include

Instagram photos, tweets, and status updates. They could

require videos existing on more than one YouTube

channel, like a main channel, a vlog channel, and a brand’s

channel. These might even include making television spots

as well as YouTube videos.

Neff, Jack. "How General Mills Is Creating a Content Factory." AdAge, April 1, 2014. http://adage.com/article/special-report-digital-conference/general-mills-journey-tv-dependency-content-saavy/292420/ (accessed April 2, 2014).

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TRY THIS DEAL IF...

...if you are new to brand integration deals on YouTube, want to work easily with multiple YouTubers, or if what you sell is more of a service than a tangible good.

THIS VIDEO BROUGHT TO YOU BY1

...if what you sell is a tangible good that has a community on YouTube like, food, beauty, fashion, sports, video games, books, film and tv. These work best for seasonal products at a good price.

PRODUCT MENTION2

...if you are willing to spend a bit of money and your brand is looking for content that is more evergreen. These kinds of videos are likely to get discovered by someone searching for your brand.

CUSTOM CONTENT3

...if you are willing to spend money on your YouTube strategy and are targeting an audience tied to a particular personality and want your campaign to span over a longer period of time.

MULTI-PLATFORM CAMPAIGN4

...if you think that a YouTuber’s style and taste is so compelling that bringing them in to make an impact on production will make the products better.

PRODUCT DESIGN5

Project Runway, and Michelle Phan worked with L’Oreal

Group to develop her own line of makeup.

While YouTubers are starting to fully develop merch

strategies, others are going into the product business by

starting their own lines. And, an elite few are working

with established brands and making decisions about

products and impacting final cuts of media.

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WHAT DO YOUTUBERS THINK

OF BRAND INTEGRATION?

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YouTubers want to do brand integration deals, but only if

they are excited about both the brand and the deal

presented to them.

Brand integration deals are one of the revenue streams

that an increasing amount of YouTubers are choosing to

do, and getting the opportunity to do. While not all brand

integrations have gone easily, as evidenced by a panel at

VidCon 2013 called “The Art of Saying No” where players

in the space detailed some of the rockier brand integration

deals they had done or brokered, many result in lasting

relationships between YouTubers and Brands.

In Frontline’s most recent documentary on media culture,

Generation Like, teenagers are asked to define the term

“selling out” to no avail. Where previous generations were

concerned with working for “The Man” or losing a sense

of identity, branded culture is increasingly incorporat-ed

into identity.

This is not to say that working with brands is always seen

as a positive. Authenticity to one’s personal brand is still

vital when doing brand integration deals, because

ultimately a brand is buying the audience of someone

else’s brand. Only a small part of the engagement that

follows is between the audience and the sponsor. It is so

much work for a YouTuber to build up their personal

brand, and to decide what works and doesn’t work for

their channel, that to risk their hard earned and engaged

audience for a brand that comes across as anything other

than natural is seen as a bad business move.

Tyler Oakley, currently signed to Big Frame, has worked

with brands like Pepsi, MTV, Taco Bell, E!, NBC, Warby

Parker, Virgin Mobile, and Audible. Once one brand got

involved with him, others followed suit, but for Oakley, he

won't work with just any brand. He spent years building up

his personal channel to what it is today and knows that the

whole YouTube community has done the same.

Nikki Phillippi is a Beauty Guru who likes brand integra-

tions when they are for products she already knows and

likes. If she is unfamiliar with a product, she requests that

the brand send her a product to try and then makes a

determination about working with the brand. She says she

turns down about 90% of the brand integration deals that

make it to her inbox.

[Nikki Phillipi] says she turns down about 90% of the brand integration

deals that make it to her inbox. I N G R I D N I L S E NT Y L E R O A K L E Y

F L E U R D E F O R C EA M A N D A S T E E L E

...many brand integration deals result in lasting

relationships between YouTubers and brands.

Tyler, Oakley. "On Working With Brands." Meet Tyler Oakley, YouTube’s Self-Proclaimed “Peter Pan”. PBS Frontline February 18 2014. Web, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/media/generation-like/meet-tyler-oakley-youtubes-self-proclaimed-peter-pan/. 4

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Nikki, Phillippi, "� What Is A YouTuber?! =)," Web, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdFCXntm50.3

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Fleur De Force, another StyleHaul Beauty Guru, spoke

briefly on the subject of brand integration for her million-

aire’s interview with Tubefilter. When asked how she

chooses what brands to work with she responded, “It’s not

really a decision, I just know which brands I like, and natu-

rally talk about anyway. If a brand approaches me that

doesn’t ‘fit’ into that, then it’s clear that it’s not a natural

collaboration.”

At VidCon 2013, Kassem

G, Philip DeFranco and

representatives from

MCNs did a panel called

“The Art of Saying No” in

which they cautioned

YouTubers about brand

integration deals, and

some of the red flags in

deals. If brands give shot

lists or scripts up front in either ideation or development,

it is a sign that the brand is not ready for the platform and

won’t be easy to work with.

YouTubers caution against brands who treat YouTubers

like actors for hire, because working with brands that don’t

understand a YouTuber’s personal brand, jeopardizes that

YouTuber’s audience, and by extension, that YouTuber’s

ability to make money in the future. The work produced

for those brands often comes off as inauthentic, and as a

result, underperforms.

3THE EASIEST POINTS

OF ENTRY FOR STARTING A BRAND INTEGRATION DEAL

These channels are likely still doing YouTube as a hobby.

They may or may not be with an MCN, and depending on

the kind of channel and aspirations of the talent, are less

likely to have a traditional manager or agent.

The easiest point of entry for channels in this bracket is

directly going to the talent themselves. Channels at this

stage are probably new to working with brands in any

formal way. If there is something particularly awesome

about a YouTuber, because they either already love your

products or they are reaching the exact niche audience

your brand caters to, then these channels would likely be

flattered by your brand reaching out to them.

Making deals with these channels likely occur with the

individual or small production company the individual

works with. There might even be a redirect to an MCN, but

more on that situation in a moment.

SMALL CHANNELS (0-10,000 SUBSCRIBERS)

These channels are likely considering, or transitioning to,

or are in the process of becoming full time YouTubers. In

this bracket, many of these channels will be signed to

MCNs, and the musicians, film-makers, writers, directors,

producers and other more Hollywood oriented content

creators are working on making a serious push towards

leveraging YouTube to achieve creative and professional

goals.

Players in this space are going to be the YouTuber, their

MCN, and potentially, traditional talent managers, publi-

cists, and even talent agents. Channels of this size are

beginning to seriously be approached by brands. Some-

times these channels are secondary channels from

personalities that have a stronger following elsewhere.

The easiest point of entry for a brand looking to work with

a YouTuber is likely the YouTuber themselves. From that

point of contact, it is likely that as a brand, the deal will be

redirected to their representation, usually the MCN if

they are signed with one, as this is one of the primary func-

tions of MCNs (to facilitate and broker deals between

brands and YouTubers).

MEDIUM CHANNELS (10,000P-100,000 SUBSCRIBERS)

Channels at this point in their growth, are making money –

potentially enough of it to pursue YouTube as a full time

career. They understand their value to advertisers

LARGE CHANNELS (100,000P-1,000,000 SUBSCRIBERS)

If brands give scripts up front ...

It is a sign that the brand is not ready for the platform .

“

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Fleur, DeForce. "YouTube Millionaires: Fleur DeForce Feels “Approachable And Relatable” http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/03/13/fleur-de-force-youtube-millionaires/4

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and they have cultivated a community around their chan-

nel. YouTubers of this size have likely been on the platform

for a while and know more about what it means to be on

YouTube than most anyone else.

The easiest point of entry still might be the YouTuber

themselves. The chain of communication, if all of these

players exist for the channel, goes as follows: publicist,

MCN, manager, agent. Publicists like working with brands

for the exposure. MCNs broker deals between their chan-

nels and brands and have experience in the space. The

talent might have a traditional manager who helps in

making the best business decisions with the

the right brand for their channel to be working with.

The easiest point of entry might be the MCN, rather than

the YouTuber level, unless the conversation is public and

social. Engaging with these channels through a brand’s

social media is a good first step, as is contacting their MCN

if they have one (which most, but not all do), or their man-

ager or publicist. There is a much higher likelihood at this

point that the channel also has formal representation in

the form of an agent.

opportunities already presented to the talent. Those are a

brand’s best secondary points of entry to working with a

YouTuber. If talent has an agent, the involvement of the

agency is, usually contingent upon the deal.

These channels need to be won over. They are famous,

have options, make money, and know their value. Even

though these channels have covetable reach, it is still

important as a brand to consider if they are the right chan-

nels for your brand to be working with and if your brand is

ELITE CHANNELS (1,000,000+ SUBSCRIBERS)

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POINTS OF ENTRY: WHAT TO KNOW FOR THE DEAL

What are they doing there?

Easiest Point of Entry...

What are they doing there?

Easiest Point of Entry:

What are they doing there?

Easiest Point of Entry:

What are they doing there?

Easiest Point of Entry:

Likely still doing YouTube as a hobby Considering or are in the process of becoming full time YouTubers.

Making money and potentially

pursuing YouTube as a full time career.

They are famous, have options, make

money, and know their value.

The YouTuber themselvesThe YouTuber themselves The YouTuber themselves, theiragent or manager

Straight to the MCN, or with socialmedia

SMALL CHANNEL MEDIUM CHANNEL LARGE CHANNEL ELITE CHANNEL

“

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4COMPENSATION:

PRODUCT, EXPERIENCE & MONETARY

Compensation for a YouTuber’s time is to be expected, and

depending on the size and experience level of the channel,

that compensation is most commonly in goods, experienc-

es, or cash. As the platform grows and subscribership on

the platform grows, it becomes easier to reach 100,000

people through a single YouTuber. It is around that mark,

the 100,000 subscriber mark, where YouTubers tend to

professionalize and turn to YouTube as a full time job and

with that, comes the desire to make enough money to be

on the platform full time.

for channels that review products, and sending swag (hats,

t-shirts etc.) with your logo on it is a good first step in

product compensation for emerging channels.

Product based compensation is discussed a bit in

Generation Like by skateboarder and young YouTube

prankster, Steven Fernandez from Compton, California.

He talks about getting sponsored by brands. Fernandez

knows getting gear from brands was a good start for him,

acknowledged, that for his purposes, making a meaningful

career to help support his family, he needed to be thinking

beyond product compensation.

Product compensation needs to be coupled with the same

level of creativity that YouTube audiences have come to

expect from their favorite innovators in the digital spaces,

because these innovators need to be thinking about the

videos they will make. Simply mailing products is a great

first step to spur more media creation from fans, but there

is more that can be done.

Coupling product compensation with an experience

makes the product more compelling.

the same. In the gaming community it has been par for the

course that gamers get flown to advance premieres of

games, play them early and film them for their YouTube

channels, but there is a push towards more than experi-

ences alone. Experiences must exist along with payment,

depending on the success of the channel.

With experienced YouTubers who have worked with

brands time and time again, the experience of getting a

game early is not enough. Full time YouTubers have to pay

bills and sustain their lives, which, at a certain point,

requires more from sponsorship and integration, either in

payment or creativity.

The creativity and spontaneity of experiential compensa-

tion can inspire YouTubers to film and post videos about it

because it is interesting, however, part of this trade off, in

spontaneity is that much of the time, YouTubers aren’t

obligated to do anything.

Experiential compensation works best when the YouTu-

ber you are working with is genuinely a huge fan of your

work/stuff/etc. Vanessa Del Muro, the Head of Talent and

Channel Development at StyleHaul, commented on expe-

riential compensation, noting that the more stoked an

COMPENSATION

Sending products for consideration is the first foray into

product compensation. However, since this does not

typically go through the same deal structure, as experien-

tial or monetary compensation, YouTubers are not always

obligated to say nice things about the products.

YouTubers on the rise, in early stages of professionalizing

tend to be the target audience for product based compensa-

tion. Sending products for consideration is most common

PRODUCT Brands have sent YouTubers to vlog from or make videos

about red carpet events, sports games, conventions etc.

Depending on the size of the channel, this can be in addi-

tion to monetary compensation, product compensation,

both, or neither.

YouTubers are realizing their potential to earn money

from their YouTube videos and by working with brands at

an increasingly faster pace. As more YouTubers do make

money, that inspires exponentially more who want to do

EXPERIENCE

YouTubers are realizing their potential to earn money from their

YouTube videos and by working with brands at an increasingly faster pace.

"Generation Like." Frontline Recorded February 18 2014. PBS. Web, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/.5 7

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influencer is about the product before the deal, the more

swayed they will be to do something just for the experi-

ence of it.

In this example, from March 2013, YouTuber The Syndi-

cate Project, gets sent a countdown clock. Of course his

natural reaction is to film the whole experience. When the

clock goes off, a Hummer pulls up to his house, men in

uniform knock on his door and he is presented with a crate.

It turns out he received an experimental, working proto-

type of a crowdsourced design for the ultimate gaming

helmet, made by UK snack food company, Mattessons, for

their product line of Fridge Raiders.

is the product mention. For channels that already talk

about products regularly, the mention can be a natural

integration deal, and will require less work, therefore

being less expensive than a single video devoted to a

brand.

For videos devoted to a single brand, YouTube has a

suggested rate of $75-$100 CPM, which, depending on

the details lands around a 10 cent CPV, $10,000 for

100,000 views on a video. This however, is a rate,

assuming that the video can reach 100,000+ views,

without necessarily taking into account monetizable

views, complete views, or unique viewers. On the aver-

age this suggested rate is also the going rate for making

a video on behalf of a brand in the style of the original

channel. Channels that have higher production values

and require more people need to cover their production

costs, whereas vloggers, with low overhead, have less to

add in to that rate to cover their time and expenses.

Now, just because this is the the suggested average,

doesn’t mean that deals can’t be struck for more, or less,

than this rate. YouTubers in high demand can command

more.

When paying actual money to a YouTuber for a deal, most

commonly this is done at a cost-per view basis, although

other arrangements can be made. Prices might also fluctu-

ate depending on if the YouTuber can advertise against the

sponsored video or not.

The most common brand deal for products that work natu-

rally with YouTuber style, according to Nikki Phillippi,

MONETARY

The most common brand deal for products that work naturally with YouTuber

style, according to Nikki Phillipi, is the product mention.

“

“

Del Muro Vanessa, (Head of Talent and Channel Development at StyleHaul), interview by Levine Meredith, March 10, 2014.6 8

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MAINTAINING AUTHENTICITY WITH

BRAND INTEGRATION

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We interviewed Lisa Filipelli, VP of Talent at Big Frame,

Zack Boone formerly a Senior Manager of Branded

Entertainment, and Vanessa Del Muro the Head of Talent

and Channel Development at StyleHaul. We asked all of

them about how brands can work to maintain authenticity

in the videos they sponsor, and they all said the same thing:

trust the YouTubers. When it comes to ideation and

development of content, forcing brand vision comes off as

inauthentic, and will ultimately be less successful.

Del Muro at StyleHaul said, “It is about being open and

flexible and listening to what the experts have to say,

because it is a little scary to enter a new space and a new

environment, which YouTube is, and it really about

listening.”

Boone said, “Honestly, the most successful campaigns

have been brands that trust the influencer and give them

the freedom to make the content that they think their

audiences are going to like, because at the end of the day,

influencers know their audiences and brands do not. They

are not paying for a commercial, so they have to give

freedom to the influencer. What is really resonating with

brands is advertising as entertainment. They are buying

engagement and entertainment value that you can’t get with

a commercial.”

Filipelli noted, on the subject of making authentic branded

videos, “Trust the talent. Especially big brands. The 30 second

spot model is not the YouTube original content model.”

It is easiest if Brands approach working with YouTubers the

way that YouTubers approach working with each other,

namely as a collaboration. It is easy to be authentic when

brands are positioned as friends of the YouTuber. Many

audiences acknowledge that in order for them to get the

videos they love from their favorite YouTubers, those

YouTubers need to be able to make a living from their videos.

Thus, collaborations are generally welcomed as a result.

It is also important to understand that this collaborative

attitude towards brand integration deals will help steer

brands out of the territory that contemporary audiences are

growing to dislike, the 30 second spot. Now, commercially

structured and styled content has a place on YouTube, but a

personality’s channel is not it, and trying to make content

that looks like a commercial often comes off as inauthentic.

Every talent manager, and even President Obama knows

that in order for messages to be sent authentically, it is imper-

ative to pick the best messengers and then trust their style.

This trust is what makes brands more authentic on YouTube

and prevents YouTubers from losing authenticity on the

platform. PBS’s Frontline Documentary Generation Like

features Douglas Rushkoff asking teenagers to define the

term “selling out” and they don’t even have a frame of refer-

ence for it.

Working with brands can be seen as a badge of honor, a true

sign of “making it,” or as a sign of weakness and “selling out”

with the key distinguishing factor being how much creative

control the YouTuber was given in the process. When brands

give respect to influencers, audiences give respect to brands.

There are other tactics YouTubers use to make brand integra-

tions more authentic. For some, this means full disclosure.

The Beauty Gurus and sisters of EleventhGorgeous do this

well. They are also conscientious about how frequently single

branded videos appear on their channels.

Sisters Tracy and Stephanie have done branded videos with

the Ford Fiesta Movement, Cover Girl, Clean and Clear,

Slimfast, Secret Deodorant and many others, but they are

always making content on their own as well. As a channel that

posts three days a week and maintains secondary and tertia-

ry channels, they make sure that their channel is mostly their

content, with occasional branded videos.

Del Muro Vanessa, (Head of Talent and Channel Development at StyleHaul), interview by Levine Meredith, March 10, 2014.7

Boone Zack, (Senior Manager of Branded Entertainment), interview by Levine Meredith, March 18, 2014. 8

Filipelli Lisa, (VP of Talent at Big Frame), interview by Levine Meredith, March 10, 2014.9

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YouTubers certainly aren’t opposed to be using products that

also make the rounds advertising or doing brand integration

deals with YouTubers outside of these deals. Fleur De Force

calls this out in a haul from March 2014 where she picks up

two Travalo perfume holders and says:

Authenticity is also maintained when Brands call back to

YouTubers. Tyler Oakley and Taco Bell have that kind of

relationship. Tyler Oakley in his video titled, “Proof That I’m

Actually God” from April 6, 2012, tells his audience about a

tweet he sent, saying, “I’m protesting @TacoBell until they

“Within 43 minutes of starting a revolution Taco Bell

responded with, ‘@tyleroakley We’re coming out

with a cool, new taco this summer. #HintHint’ which

in turn spawned a media frenzy and then Business

Insider did an article about the tweets, and the

BuzzFeed did an article about the tweets, then

Huffington Post did an article about the tweets.

Now, I do not take credit for much, but girl, I will take

credit for this.”

address the absence of a Cool Ranch Doritos Taco. RT to join

me - together we can demand justice.” Oakley goes on to

describe his contact with Taco Bell, addressing his audience,

saying:

Tyler had been tweeting @TacoBell for a while before

this tweet launched a relationship between Oakley and

Taco Bell. Since that relationship formed, Oakley has

been in videos promoting the new taco, and has gone on

to do more work as a correspondent for Taco Bell.

Oakley has even impacted hiring decisions. In a social

media coordinator job posting from September 2013,

one of the questions for prospective applicants was “Do

you know who Tyler Oakley is?”

Pairing a brand with a YouTuber the way that Tyler Oakley

works with Taco Bell is a great tactic to maintain authenticity.

The relationship between the brand and the talent can grow,

and that growth becomes part of Tyler’s life story, what his

audience tunes into YouTube to see. Tyler also becomes part

of Taco Bell’s story.

Putting some of that call and response between YouTubers

and brands out in public, on YouTube and other platforms,

like Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr grow the narrative of the

relationship

Lisa Filipelli, Director of Talent at Big Frame noted that some

kinds of YouTubers can easily do brand integrations more

frequently than others, saying, “If you are in the beauty space

it is a lot easier to get away with brands and products because

that is what you do, but if you are a vlogger, it is harder.”

“I know Travalos did the rounds on YouTube a while ago, when they were

sponsoring everybody to talk about them, they are not sponsoring me, but I just generally, think they are

awesome.”

“

“

10Filipelli Lisa, (VP of Talent at Big Frame), interview by Levine Meredith, March 10, 2014.10

9

10

This might be the second most

important step, next to making

contact because in this phase of

development and goal setting the details of the deal get

worked out.

In pre-production, representatives from brands, ad agen-

cies, PR firms, management, and potentially all of the

possible players in this space get to hash out what will

happen. If working with a single YouTuber that has already

come on board, this includes figuring out what the video or

videos will look like, along with if the talent is using other

platforms for promotion.

Deadlines, embargos, legal issues, and KPIs all get solidi-

fied in this phase. The reporting that will be done gets

established in this portion of the process.

Other details to work out in pre-production are with

regards to production. Should the video require work

beyond that of a normal video for the channel, like travel,

props, costumes, a larger production team, etc, this

portion of the process hashes out those details as well.

The best brands go into integra-

tion deals knowing what their

goals are. Whether it is to drive

engagement with the video, clicks to

another video/channel/offsite link, or general increased

awareness from views, brands should understand where

working with a YouTuber fits in with the rest of their digital

strategy.

Deciding what you want also includes having a sense of

which YouTuber or kind of YouTuber you would like to

work with. The best integrations work with YouTubers

who already know and like your products, or would like

your products after using/seeing/playing with them.

Note: A unilateral decision about what the the video will

look like, at this point, is ill advised.

STEP-BY-STEP: A PROCESS FOR

SUCCESSFUL BRAND INTEGRATION

6

STEP 1: DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT

STEP 3: RESPONSE FROM TALENT OF 3RD PARTY

STEP 2: MAKE CONTACT STEP 4: AGREEMENT, IDEATION AND PRE-PRODUCTION

OUR GOALS

Getting individual talent excited

about working with you makes

for an easier sell with the other

parties involved. If you aren’t

sure where else to start with

regards to making contact, the individual YouTuber can be

a great starting point.

Making contact can be to a channel, an MCN, a talent man-

ager, or other third party that facilitates meetings

between YouTubers and Brands/Other YouTubers. Some-

times this step results in a redirect to another party, often

times to a middle person or agency who facilitates deals.

This contact can also include the requests for proposals

(RfP) for the integration, if the brand, or agency is shop-

ping around. The initial contact can include the pitch, if

looking to work with specific,

individual YouTubers.

If you are going through a YouTuber

or their management, then the next step is hearing back

from them with the level of interest from the talent.

If working with a third party company instead of an

individual, step 3 is the response to the RfP.

We’d Love To Work

With You!

YouTuberCalling

11

After all is said and done, and the

agreed upon span of the campaign

has ended, the channel, MCN, agency

that has control of the analytics for the

channel(s) the brand worked with, will submit a final report

about the performance of the video(s) and other agreed upon

content.

Brand integration is a future proofing form of market-

ing, because it doesn’t rely on increasingly skipped

commercials and does help the YouTube and Online

Video communities thrive and grow in a symbiotic

way.

Forming relationships with YouTubers is a way for

brands to grow with YouTubers and audiences. The

first step is to know what YouTubers are saying about

your brand and then work with those that love you to

amplify your brand’s presence on the platform.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you decided that establishing a long term relationship

with a channel is beneficial to your brand, make another

deal.

If you are looking to expand your audience, or reach

different sets of viewers, make a deal with a different

channel or set of channels.

STEP 6: DISTRIBUTION

STEP 7: WRAP UP AND FINAL REPORTING

STEP 5: PRODUCTION STEP 8: RINSE ANDREPEATYouTubers do most of their video

production on their own, or with

their own teams. This step is

usually left up to the YouTuber.

Sometimes brands get to edit the

footage. Re-shooting almost never happens.

If there is more than one video for a single channel, or

videos over multiple channels, production might happen

all at once, or over time depending on what was discussed

in step 4.

This usually happens on the

YouTuber’s channel, after all,

brands are paying to access their

audiences. It is not uncommon for

brands to host the video, or related videos on their own

channels as well. or over time depending on what was

discussed in step 4.

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Meredith Levine is a Los Angeles based Fanthropologist. She has her M.A. from UCLA in Critical Media Studies, where she did research on the the state of fan communities within branded ecosystems.

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