Make room, YouTube. There’s a new creator-focused Upfront in town.
The content industry has gotten used to seeing YouTube at the Television Upfronts, where it uses its annual advertiser presentation, Brandcast, to tell marketers why they should buy ads against its vast trove of creator-generated content. Now Spotter has joined the fray, too, with its own event before Upfronts season officially begins. The creator services and catalog licensing company hosted its own Upfront at The Glasshouse in New York City tonight, bringing together 150 creator industry and marketing executives to hear what Spotter-partnered creators are up to.
Featured creators included some of YouTube’s top makers and execs from their companies: MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Kinigra Deon, Ryan Trahan, Rebecca Zamolo, Jordan Matter, The Try Guys, Sam & Colby, Pierson, Drew Binsky, Airrack, The Royalty Family, and Michelle Khare all took the stage (either in person, on camera, or via sizzle reels) to talk about upcoming projects.
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As Spotter President Nic Paul put it, the idea here was to “[give] marketers a clear path to building authentic, impactful connections with audiences at scale.”
Creators were able to tell execs from companies like Amazon, Disney, Shopify, Uber, and Airbnb about their content, their audiences, and why developing long-term partnerships with them (not just one-off video sponsorships) is a smart move.
Here’s what some creators shared…
- MrBeast plans to relaunch his gaming channel MrBeast Games, and for his main channel is planning new adventure and competition series, celebrity collabs, athlete collabs for sports content (a burgeoning niche), and a new behind-the-scenes series (which debuted after his 100-people-in-circles video earlier this month)
- Kinigra Deon and her production company are partnering with Kevin Hart and his company Hartbeat to release Deon’s first feature-length film
- Jordan Matter and his daughter Salish have partnered with Sephora to launch their own skincare brand, Sincerely Yours
- Ryan Trahan is expanding his brand JOYRIDE (which is Target‘s #2 top-selling candy) to Whole Foods and Kroger locations across the U.S.
- Dude Perfect is filming content with WNBA star Caitlin Clark; is also filming a new series, Dude Perfect VS, with major sports all-stars and Olympians; is planning a new tour, the Dude Perfect Hero World Tour; and is planning Trick World Championship 2 (which, of course, is ripe with spots for sponsors)
- Rebecca Zamolo is launching back-to-school programming that’ll run across all seven of her channels from July through September
- The Try Guys are rolling out new seasons of Phoning It In and Without a Recipe, plus a new series, Try Every Day, debuting this summer
- Sam & Colby will drop a horror collab, We Took 10 YouTubers to a Haunted City, this summer
- and finally, Pierson plans to spend a month on an island with the world’s largest suitcase
This Upfront was Spotter’s very first external event featuring its partner creators. Nic Paul, Spotter’s President, said the goal was to “[give] marketers a clear path to building authentic, impactful connections with audiences at scale.”
To help with that, it shared some stats illustrating how engaged its partner creators’ audiences are:
- 53% of viewers who watch Spotter’s partner creators watch over two hours of YouTube content daily
- 49% of Spotter creator audience members start out viewing sessions by seeking out specific creators and/or new content from their favorite creators, versus 26% of YouTube general viewers (who instead start their viewing sessions from the homepage or from linked videos)
- 51% of Spotter creator watchers say YouTube is “a more influential touchpoint” in their purchase decisions than social media and streaming ads
- 66% of Spotter creator viewers said they’re more likely to support brands that support their favorite creators
- 70% of Spotter creator viewers discover new brands from those creators, versus 54% who discover new brands through TV/streaming and 42% who discover new brands from other websites
Basically, creators who work with Spotter are making a bunch of cool content, and their audiences are engaged with that content.
“This was our first external event with our Creator partners, and we’re thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response,” Aaron DeBevoise, Spotter’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Our goal was to bring Creators and brands together—and we did that by showcasing how data, innovation, and engagement are shaping the entertainment industry. Creators are leading culture and changing how audiences engage with content. Spotter Showcase provided brands with a deeper understanding of what drives attention and how to create a meaningful, lasting impact in the creator space.”
