Heading into YouTube’s Brandcast on Wednesday, Sean Downey, president of the Americas for Google, wants ad buyers to walk out with one idea cemented: YouTube is the future of media, and creators are the front door.
“What I hope you find is that brands want to be attached to culture and community in a really authentic way,” Downey told ADWEEK. “There was a trend for a long time that held that the future of branding is social. I think the future of brand is trust.”
That thesis is showing up in the platform’s pitch through an expanded slate of creator-buying tools.
Over the last year, YouTube has rolled out creator takeovers, channel slates that preview upcoming creator content for brands, and YouTube Creator Partnerships, which pair advertisers with creators at scale. According to Downey, brands running Creator Partnerships on Shorts see roughly a 30% lift in conversion.
In a conversation with ADWEEK ahead of Brandcast, Downey also spotlighted Shorts’ scale, why he believes the branding-versus-performance tradeoff is a false choice, and how podcasting is showing up on stage even if it’s not the headline.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
