TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Starbucks is making the jump from coffee to content with the launch of its own production studio. (But don’t worry—your lattes aren’t going anywhere.)

BUTTER BELIEVE IT

Can creator-first marketing turn one brand into “the internet’s favorite butter”?

The answer is a resounding yes.

The campaign: Back in April, butter brand Danish Creamery tapped media company Made In Network to deploy a marketing campaign starring 10 top culinary creators (including Babish Culinary Universe, Senpai Kai, and Jeanelleats).

• The result: for a solid month, the companies’ initiative produced some of the most-watched branded content across all of YouTube.
  

• Those videos have now generated over 8 million views, while visits to Danish Creamery’s website have increased by 250% and the brand’s search engine traffic is up over 127%, it tells Tubefilter.

The big question: So, what sparked that success? Were viewers already butter-obsessed or did Made in Network’s marketing strategy make all the difference?

• According to Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Mack, the answer is a little bit of both. While butter wasn’t a hard sell, Made in Network still had its work cut out for it—because as Mack told Tubefilter, “There was no brand being the internet’s favorite butter.”

The strategy: In dissecting the campaign’s success, Mack noted that three tentpoles were key to establishing Danish Creamery as the web’s favorite toast topper:

1. A digital-first approach: Instead of treating digital content as an add-on to traditional marketing, Mack says Danish Creamery planned its entire campaign around creators.
   
   

2. Consistent branding: Made in Network targeted the “broadest possible range” of channels, but it also worked with creators to keep Danish Creamery’s messaging consistent—something it was able to pull off by operating on a TV network-esque model.
   
   

3. Creator control: Danish Creamery Vice President of Marketing Priya Kumar says that giving creators “freedom to experiment” was crucial to the production of “unique and inspiring content.”

The takeaway: Don’t underestimate the power of creator-first campaigns—or the internet’s love of butter.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

VidCon Anaheim is only two weeks away. These Featured Creators will make it an unforgettable occasion:

VidCon is almost here and that means it’s time to start planning your itinerary. But before you do, why not take a minute to meet a few of this year’s Featured Creators? 

With the world’s #1 creator representation agency at their back, these 5 Viral Nation stars are guaranteed to lead VidCon events you won’t want to miss:

😂 Charlotte Dobre 😂
Charlotte Dobre is a professional actor, comedian, and writer known for her reaction videos and social commentary.

🧠 Naomi Hearts 🧠
Naomi is an LA-based trans, indigenous, body positive creator who shares her POV as a thought leader.

🎵 Like Nastya 🎵
Nastya's multilingual YouTube channels are a global sensation featuring children’s songs, educational content, and engaging vlogs. Now—thanks to a partnership between Viral Nation and Ford Models—Nastya’s influence will extend into the fashion world, too.

🧑‍🎨 Audity 🧑‍🎨
Audity Draws is known for her art mashups of popular animated characters and collaborations with brands like Pixar, Disney, and Playstation.

👑 Pinky Patel 👑
Patel is a mom-turned-creator and comedian best known for satirizing internet trends from her glam cave with her signature crown.

From VidCon speaking opportunities to TV appearances, Viral Nation’s industry-leading agents are dedicated to securing career-changing opportunities for creators like you. 

Learn more  →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Beloved YouTuber and “Comicstorian” Ben Potter has passed away. According to his wife Nathalie, the 40-year-old creator died on June 8 following a “sudden accident.” (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Mobile game publisher Voodoo has reportedly acquired BeReal—aka the authenticity-focused app that hit peak popularity in 2022—for €500 million. (Engadget)
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• TikTok isn’t done putting Google through the ringer. Its latest act of war: the launch of an image search tool for TikTok Shop. (TechCrunch)
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• A new YouTube feature will allow creators to A/B test up to three thumbnails per video. The ETA: YouTube says its “Thumbnail Test & Compare” tool will roll out to “all eligible creators” over “the coming weeks.” (The Verge)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Global Top 50: MrBeast breaks another YouTube record

Weekly roundup: The first full week of June included a record-breaking performance from none other than MrBeast.

• Days after snagging the title of most-subscribed channel from T-Series, MrBeast’s primary YouTube hub became the first to score more than 1.3 billion views in a single week (at least, during this decade). Here’s how our latest ranking of YouTube’s most-watched channels shook out:

🥇 The record-breaker: It’s already shaping up to be one heck of a month for MrBeast. In addition to becoming the first hub to cross the one-billion weekly mark in 2024, the Feastables founder (aka Jimmy Donaldson) claimed at least 145 million more views than any other channel in our latest ranking.

🥈 The chart-topping tot: T-Series wasn’t the only Indian YouTube giant kicked out of first place by MrBeast. While the record label lost the title of most-followed channel, Anaya Kandhal was demoted to #2 in our weekly chart.

🥉 The thumbnail aficionado: ToRung rounded out this week’s Top 3 by reeling in viewers with increasingly zany thumbnails and suspenseful Shorts. We can only imagine the kind of traffic the Vietnamese creator will draw after leveraging YouTube’s new thumbnail A/B testing tool.

Check out our full Top 50 list here for more data on chart-toppers and rising hubs.

AMPED UP

AMP is the latest crew of creators to get into energy drinks

The collab: AMP is taking a different approach to the beverage biz. Instead of launching their own brand (a la Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime), the group’s six members are becoming ambassadors for an existing hydration company: Bang Energy.

• That deal is shaping up to be “the largest brand partnership in Bang’s history” (per a press release). In addition to their ambassadorship, AMP members Kai Cenat, Agent 00, ChrisNxtDoor, Duke Dennis, ImDavisss, and Fanum will promote Bang by championing sponsored products and experiences (including activations at the AMP NYC Penthouse).
  
  

• AMP is already putting a unique spin on Bang promotions—and building plenty of hype along the way. In a launch trailer, Bang gives Twitch legend Cenat the ability to dunk balls despite his short stature, Agent 00 gets a better hairline, and Davis becomes Spider-Man.

🥉 The context: In the last two years, creators like Paul, KSI, and Danny Duncan have demonstrated the enormous potential of influencer-made beverage brands—but that doesn’t mean all creators have to launch their own physical products to break into new markets.

• For creators like Cenat (who seems more interested in entering the film industry than expanding into sustainable but unrelated markets), partnering with an established business can provide an equally valuable set of opportunities.

WATCH THIS 📺

Meet the YouTuber elected to the European Parliament

Prankster-Turned-Politician: Fidias Panayiotou’s new position is no joke. The creator’s 2.6 million YouTube subscribers might be used to seeing him pull pranks, but Panayiotou plans to take his role as a Parliamentary representative of Cyprus 100% seriously.

• The YouTuber says he ran for office to stick it to the “nerds” in Brussels (and, more importantly, to get young people engaged in politics). The latter mission seems to be going according to plan: Panayiotou’s run contributed to a 14% uptick in voter turnout over the previous European Parliament election.
  
  

• If the creator hopes to achieve the former goal, he might want to hit pause on filming videos like this one, in which he takes a swing at “the top 100 most dangerous sports.”

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.