Report – Making it Happen with YouTube

Posted on: Tuesday 05 July 2016 11:56pm by Simon Bor

A workshop all about making it happen online? It’s over to YouTube…

Takeaways

• Innovate, do not imitate. Trends online are fleeting, so create content that’s authentic to your brand.
• YouTube has tremendous revenue potential, which requires experimentation by creators to figure out what works for them and resonates with audiences.

Detail

For this year’s Making it Happen with YouTube workshop, the participants gave three minute pitches with advice for existing vloggers, and how they could increase their presence over the year ahead. Before the practical workshop began, the participants were given advice from YouTube and a panel of producers.

Cedric Petitpas, YouTube’s Strategic Partner Manager for Northern Europe, had two key messages for would-be content providers. Firstly, to innovate, not imitate. By the time you identify a trend, it’s too late – you should be the next trendsetter. Secondly, connect and listen to your audience, embracing your failures as well as your successes.

Next, Kate Rushworth, Creator Strategist, Kids and Learning, gave an overview of the history of YouTube’s children’s content. In 11 years, it moved from a place for family video, through providing a platform for broadcasters and producers to upload clips and content-related mainstream broadcasting, to educational videos and new content such as the nursery rhyme format ‘Little Baby Bum’, and the self-explanatory ‘Cosmic Kids Yoga’.

Hema Bajaj, a Strategic Programming Manager for YouTube Kids, described the importance of creating content that is entertaining, enriching and exploratory, sparking curiosity within kids. She told the participants that content providers should seek to inspire, with a positive message through diversity, freshness, relevancy, quality and effect.

YouTube’s Francesco Miceli then introduced a panel of producers, who were on hand to share their YouTube experiences.

Ben Anderson of BBC Worldwide Digital Studios releases a film a week of new content relating to the ‘Planet Earth’ series. By presenting some films himself, he can save costs. His aim is to up this to three a week, without a rise in his budget.

Maddie Moate is the presenter of ‘Planet Earth: Unplugged’, as well as a new CBeebies show. She also has her own YouTube channel and describes herself as a one-woman band, going out on location with three cameras then editing everything herself.

As established producers, Pelle Ferner of Ruta Ett and Marc du Pontavice of Xilam Animation have existing libraries to exploit. Marc said that producers have to find new ways of financing new YouTube content, including revenue sharing with artists. Pelle has bought back the rights to international dubs for his projects and thinks that you have to go to where the audience is, revenue coming from the brand as a whole.

And a final thought from BBC’s Ben Anderson was that YouTube broadcasting has an fantastic future, and he was excited about where it’s all going to get to in the end.