YouTubers are always innovating in the ways they can interact with brands, and brands are encouraged to innovate 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.

1. ON YOUTUBE
INTEGRATION
BRAND
INTRODUCTORY
GUIDE TO

2. C O N T E N T S
SMALL CHANNELS
MEDIUM CHANNELS
LARGE CHANNELS
ELITE 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 BY
PRODUCT MENTION
CUSTOM CONTENT
MULTI-PLATFORM CAMPAIGN
PRODUCT DESIGN
1
2
3
4
5
6

3. WHY
BRAND
INTEGRATION
ON
YOUTUBE?
YOUTUBERS
ARE WAITING
FOR YOU
BRAND
AWARENESS
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.
1
WHAT IS BRAND INTEGRATION?

4. #3 CUSTOM CONTENT
5 TYPES OF
BRAND INTEGRATION
DEALS ON YOUTUBE
1
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!
2

5. #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).
1
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.
3
1

6. WHAT DO
YOUTUBERS THINK
OF BRAND
INTEGRATION?
2
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.
INGRID NILSENT Y L E R O A K L E Y
FLEUR DE FORCEAMANDA STEELE
...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
2
Nikki, Phillippi, " What Is A YouTuber?! =)," Web, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdFCXntm50.3
3
2

7. 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.
3
THE 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 .
“
“
Fleur, DeForce. "YouTube Millionaires: Fleur DeForce Feels “Approachable And Relatable” http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/03/13/fleur-de-force-youtube-millionaires/4
5
4

8. 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
therightbrandfortheirchanneltobeworkingwith.
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 brandis
ELITE CHANNELS
(1,000,000+ SUBSCRIBERS)
6
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, their
agent or manager
Straight to the MCN, or with social
media
SMALL CHANNEL MEDIUM CHANNEL LARGE CHANNEL ELITE CHANNEL

9. “
“
4
COMPENSATION:
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
5

10. 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
6

11. MAINTAINING
AUTHENTICITY WITH
BRAND INTEGRATION
5
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,“Trustthetalent.Especiallybigbrands.The30second
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
thatinorderformessagestobesentauthentically,itisimper-
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.
ThereareothertacticsYouTubersusetomakebrandintegra-
tions more authentic. For some, this means full disclosure.
The Beauty Gurus and sisters of EleventhGorgeous do this
well.Theyarealsoconscientiousabouthowfrequentlysingle
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
alwaysmakingcontentontheirownaswell.Asachannelthat
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
9
7
8
9

12. YouTuberscertainlyaren’topposedtobeusingproductsthat
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
workswithTacoBellisagreattactictomaintainauthenticity.
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
frequentlythanothers,saying,“Ifyouareinthebeautyspace
itisaloteasiertogetawaywithbrandsandproductsbecause
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.”
“
“
10
Filipelli Lisa, (VP of Talent at Big Frame), interview by Levine Meredith, March 10, 2014.10
9
10

13. 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!
YouTuber
Calling
11

14. 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
abouttheperformanceofthevideo(s)andotheragreedupon
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 AND
REPEATYouTubers 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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15. WANT
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CheckOutallof
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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.
About the Author
Design and Illustration by Michelle Blackshire

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