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Lorem ipsum ergo sum this is a caption blurb about the article.
Title of the piece
Lorem ipsum ergo sum this is a caption blurb about the article.
Title of the piece
Lorem ipsum ergo sum this is a caption blurb about the article.
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20 november 2020
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SPONSORED BY YOUTUBE ADVERTISING
By Nick Carson
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about what the UK loves
to watch on YouTube
Google internal data, U.K., June 2020 vs June 2019
Google internal data, U.K., June 2020 vs June 2019
Google internal data, U.K., June 2020 vs June 2019
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On YouTube, there is something for everyone, and when it comes to fashion, beauty and style, the content on the platform serves every taste. What’s more, the trends in what people watch on YouTube are influencing both the creative and strategic direction that brands and agencies take in their campaigns. In particular, they are attracted to the authenticity of creators’ videos.
According to Nadja Lossgott, executive creative director at AMV BBDO, YouTube provides a unique opportunity for brands if the message is pitched right. “What’s great about YouTube [and its creators] is the authenticity,” she says. “There is a structure, but there’s an honesty to it. It’s more like a trusted friendship. As a consumer, you feel you know [the creators] a lot more.”
“That authenticity can’t really be bought, and that’s a wonderful thing,” continues Lossgott. “We all as consumers have our bullshit-meter, that gut instinct. That’s incredibly important.”
Made.com recently shifted much of its media spend from TV to YouTube. According to chief creative officer Jo Jackson, the wealth of data available on content trends can not only influence the creative – it can also help get a creative idea green-lit in the first place.
“It’s vital that we’re providing relevant and timely content for our consumers, and search terms that are trending on YouTube can inform a single article, or a whole quarter of content for us,” reveals Jackson.
In fact, popular searches on YouTube during lockdown – such as ‘extreme room makeovers’, ‘DIY room decor’ and ‘small room makeovers’ – helped contribute to the launch of MADEover, an ongoing collaboration with YouTube creators to transform their home environment using Made.com’s products in a style that reflects their personality.
“A lot of YouTubers have millions of views, but their physical environment – our window into their world – doesn’t always look as cool and influential as they are,” she observes. This is where MADEover is helping them out. “We’re starting with beauty [creators], then will go across to home DIYers. YouTube is the perfect place for us to find people on our wavelength.”
As a YouTube content vehicle, MADEover perfectly expresses Made.com’s brand purpose: ‘Design Your Happy Place’. “Celebrating individual style is a big part of that,” Jackson continues. “We have a whole range of stuff; you pick what’s relevant to you.”
MADEover launched in September 2020. The first collaboration with beauty YouTuber Shantania Beckford has received over 38,000 views (see video below), more than double the average for Beckford’s previous 10 posts, according to Made.com. Launched in mid October, the second collaboration with Manal Chinutay has achieved over 20,000 views.
While there are powerful opportunities for brands to partner with YouTube creators to amplify their message, creators need space to be their authentic selves – and discuss topics that interest their own followers.
For some brands, the lack of a script could be a turn-off but there is a balance to strike. “You need confidence in your product, but you also need a brand personality and a position in people’s minds that flows with that,” explains Made.com’s Jackson. “If your brand is very rigid and formulaic, this kind of collaboration doesn’t work.”
Asos’s Mooney believes this applies to Gen Z audiences in particular: “If they get a sniff of something that feels a bit ‘ad-y’, they don’t like it,” he explains. “They rebel against it.”
Whether they’re fronting video ads or organic content, talent will be more relatable when they can be frank and honest and can let their personalities and lived experiences come to the fore.
“There’s a sense of interactivity on YouTube that you don’t have in other places,” explains AMV’s Lossgott. “With broadcast [TV advertising], you might feel you know the person, but they’re unattainable. It doesn’t feel like a reciprocated relationship.” Giving talent the freedom to talk candidly helps build an emotional connection, with the potential for more meaningful conversations that go much deeper than simply just fashion or beauty.
Radio and TV presenter Clara Amfo, featured alongside Andrew Scott in ‘This Is My YouTube’, highlights YouTube creator Shalom Blac, whose popular beauty tutorials offer a platform to share her lived experience as a burn survivor and her journey to restoring self-esteem.
Mental health is another growing concern, especially during the pandemic, and people are turning to YouTube to better understand the topic: in fact, UK watch time of videos related to mental health has tripled since 2019.
Running on YouTube and other channels, AMV BBDO’s recent #WombStories campaign for Bodyform responds to this trend by empowering real people to be vulnerable, giving them a platform to talk frankly about the daily challenges they face – including how their mental health has been impacted by the pandemic.
“Bodyform helped create a space for previously unspoken truths, deep emotions and poignant experiences to be uncovered and openly talked about, both in private between friends and on public forums such as YouTube,” explains Lossgott.
“The more we share, the more we learn from each other and the more we help each other,” she adds. “YouTube provides that platform for sharing, but also for debate. That’s sometimes scary, but it’s often invigorating to see people take up a cause and fight for it.”
In the fashion sector, UK watch time for designer clothing videos has tripled since last year. But as well as high-end labels, YouTube also offers an accessible platform for brands of all shapes and sizes in the sector – from mainstream to luxury – to engage consumers directly. Whichever part of the market they serve, fashion and beauty brands are trying to balance the aspirational tone they have mastered with the candid relatability that YouTube excels at.
In ‘This Is My YouTube’, for example, Andrew Scott is particularly impressed with how exclusive physical events such as London Fashion Week translated into the digital realm, democratising their appeal in the process.
“If everybody’s got the same vantage point, there’s a fairness to it – it makes that journey feel a bit smaller and more possible,” he points out. Amfo agrees: “If you’re a kid in a small town, it offers that bit of hope to someone with aspirations to get into the industry,” she adds.
Indeed, YouTube provides an accessible window for anyone to indulge their particular fashion and style passions from the comfort of their own home. Data reveals how sneaker-heads in particular are doing so in increasingly large numbers, with UK watch time of sports shoe videos on YouTube increasing by over 80% in the last year.
Taking note, Asos runs a series called Sneakers In 60, curating the most exciting new releases for its YouTube audience. “Those kinds of franchises are fun and energetic, and they do stimulate sales,” reveals Mooney.
Level the playing field for all
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Although currently hosted natively on creators’ own channels, MADEover will eventually run as a paid media campaign on YouTube. As Jackson points out, this is an initiative that can run and run: “We’re not short of product, and YouTube isn’t short of creators,” she smiles. Five more collaborations are planned before the end of 2020, featuring YouTubers from the UK, France, Benelux and Germany.
Other brands are embracing the opportunity to celebrate individual consumers’ sense of style, rather than broadcasting their own view of what’s on-trend at any given moment.
Asos, for example, runs a YouTube series called ‘How To Style’, hosted by its own team of in-house influencers. As brand creative director John Mooney points out, the sheer scale of the online retailer’s offering – nearly 100,000 products – lends itself to a more democratic, inclusive approach to fashion.
“As well as our in-house brand, we sell 850 to 900 other brands,” reveals Mooney. “So, we need to flex our creative muscles to allow certain styles to surface.” As such, the individuals fronting the videos consciously represent a diverse range of ‘style tribes’ and aim to provide more general fashion advice rather than prescribing specific items. Asos tracks sales figures relating to each ‘tribe’ to check which tactics work best and tailors its YouTube content accordingly.
Brands have the opportunity to tap into the ‘thrifting’ mindset with longer-term brand loyalty in mind – encouraging their audience to upcycle and refresh big-ticket items rather than buying more, a trend that Asos has tapped into.
“The thing you want for the new season may already be in your wardrobe,” explains Asos’s Mooney. “If you were to bleach it or dye it, cut it or sew it, you can actually get that kind of garment without having to buy new. It’s not just smart; it’s the way things are. Gen Z are heavily tuned into these conversations, and I think we’d be called out if we weren’t too.”
Whether it’s about inspiring people with new products, encouraging them to bring the best out of old ones or exploring deeper subjects like mental health, fashion and style-focused content on YouTube is seeing huge growth in watch time, and brands and agencies alike are riding this wave. Asos, Made.com and AMV BBDO have identified a rich opportunity to use these trends, and emulate the authenticity of YouTube creators, to effectively reach audiences they care about through their advertising campaigns and organic content strategies.
According to Lossgott, when it comes to engaging audiences on YouTube, they key advice for brands in any sector is to offer something that they can’t turn away from. “In the end,” implores Lossgott, “please entertain me.”■
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While consumers are turning to YouTube to inspire their next fashion purchase, they’re also using the platform to help preserve and maintain their existing wardrobes. In ‘This Is My YouTube’, self-confessed trainer obsessive Amfo shares a favourite YouTube video that demonstrates how to clean your trainers to restore their box-fresh glory.
How Asos and Made.com engage style lovers on YouTube
As the popularity of fashion and design-focused videos on YouTube continues to rise, brands are finding deeper, more meaningful ways to reach consumers
AMV BBDO’s and Bodyform’s #WombStories videos allow real people to talk about daily challenges
Shantania Beckford’s collaboration with Made.com as part of the brand’s MADEover series on YouTube
Andrew Scott and Clara Amfo discuss their favourite fashion trends in ‘This Is My YouTube’
Asos curates a YouTube series called Sneakers in 60, which highlights the newest trainer releases
Build authentic connections
Champion individuality
By Steve Hemsley