SINGAPORE – October 4, 2013 – A lot of people may think that being a YouTube star is as easy as owning a laptop and a camera, but as six YouTube sensations shared, they have to continuously innovate and collaborate but still stay true to themselves and their fans.
At ‘Backstage with YouTube’ at Spikes Asia last September 16, animation dancer Marquese Scott, beauty vlogger Bethany Mota, husband and wife KPOP critics Simon and Martina Stawski, and music duo Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui shared their success stories and discussed brand integration, content creation, and expanding their subscriber base.
See the Backstage with YouTube photo gallery at the adobo magazine Spikes Asia microsite.
The panel lunch was put together to bring together the best creative minds in advertising with the best creators on YouTube. "The goal is to foster discussion that inspires brands with the stories and insights from YouTube stars who’ve made their name creating for the platform," said the invitation from Google. The panel was presented by John Merrifield, chief creative officer for Asia-Pacific at Google, and former regional creative at large for TBWA Asia-Pacific.
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Scott, called Nonstop by his fans, shared how he went to bed one night after posting a video on his YouTube channel and woke up the next day to thousands of views. The video, a dance interpretation of the popular song Pumped Up Kicks, now has over 94 million views.
"I made it about two years ago, and no I didn’t have any idea whatsoever…I actually thought the video was gonna be bad," Scott shared.
He also said that even as he collaborates with brands, his first priority is connecting to the music.
"If I’m collaborating with the brand, hopefully they give me the freedom to first like the music so I can connect my fans to their products…if I don’t connect to the music, then they’re not gonna connect to it," he said.
The Stawskis also shared that it’s not so much about promoting a brand to their fans, but sharing brands that they actually use.
The couple’s KPOP and Korean culture guide Eat Your Kimchi has been voted best expat blog in Korea, while their YouTube presence has amassed over 745,000 fans across three channels.
"Our audience, they trust us…it’s not even that you’re trying to push a product, it’s that you’re using something that you genuinely like, and then your audience is like, ‘oh my god, I love that too, what are you using?’" Martina explained.
"We like to focus on things that are organically occurring in our video, rather than having something outside of that," Simon added.
For 17-year-old Mota, whose online persona, MacBarbie07 has 4.5 million subscribers across two channels, staying true to her fans is most important.
"When I first started making videos, a few months after, I got emails from companies asking to send me products so I could mention it in videos, but I’m very picky with it. I won’t put something in a video unless I truly love it, because the thing is, the relationship that I have with my viewers, you don’t wanna harm that," she shared.
"Instead of accepting every opportunity that comes, I like to be very strategic about it and only work with brands that I truly love," she said.
< width="250" height="188" hspace="5" align="right" alt="" src="/global//UserFiles/kurt and sam. " />Schneider and Tsui also stressed the importance of having engaging content. The pair’s mash-ups and acapella videos have gained a global audience of 4 million subscribers across three channels, and a massive fan base in Asia alone.
"I think the most important thing is that whether its branded content or normal content, it should both be cool, something that your audience is gonna find fun," shared Schneider, who inked a deal with Coca-Cola.
"With that Coke video, we made music with Coke bottles…it’s something that I maybe would have done anyway, the content is something that I think would have been cool regardless. I think when it’s a video like that, you get more engagement than when you’re just holding a product. It’s better for you, because your audience thinks its neat and they watch it and they share it, and it’s better for the brand because of the engagement," he explained.
Tsui added, "With that closeness and personal relationship with the fans and the audience, they can smell disingenuity from a mile away so I think it’s important that when they’re watching something, the last thought on their mind is that this is a branded kind of sponsorship thing."
Content Creators Forum
Marquese Scott, Bethany Mota, Simon and Martina Stawski, and Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui were also featured at the Content Creators Forum presented by GroupM ESP, also held in Singapore in September.
At the GroupM event, they discussed how their business works with GroupM agency media planners, buyers and clients.
According to Josh Black, Chief Operating Officer of GroupM ESP Asia Pacific, “Events like the Content Creators Forum give us tremendous insights on how we can better integrate our clients into content regionally and add value to the consumer viewing experience. These YouTube Partners are single-mindedly focused on building audiences which, as a business focused on providing content solutions to some of the worlds biggest advertisers, is something ESP is talking to its content clients about everyday.”
The event is now part of an ongoing series that will deliver exclusive content perspectives and access to GroupM agencies and their clients. GroupM ESP employs over 300 content specialists across the Asia Pacific region which spans 13 markets making it one of the largest players in branded content in Asia Pacific.
