We need to talk about YouTube
Jordan Guiao, a research fellow at The Australia Institute s Centre for Responsible Technology, suggests it might be time to hit Pause on YouTube and smash that subscribe button on scrutiny.
March 2, 2021 8:00
by JORDAN GUIAO
YouTube is a huge deal. Consumers love it, kids love watching random toy unboxings in it, brands love the reach it gives. But it’s also full of crap, ranging from the wasted ad spend on irrelevant videos, to the serious, really disturbing crap, like terrorist content and violent mob glorification, to conspiracy theorists and medical misinformation.
I get it. We would really rather prefer to ignore the bad stuff. We love the easy reach, the potential for virality, and the fact that it’s the most easily embeddable video player in the whole Internet. YouTube is after all the second most popular social network after Facebook. It’s also the second largest search engine after Google. So where the audience goes, we go.
Video
Nishma Robb, director of brand and reputation marketing at Google UK, chairs this year’s judging panel for The Drum Awards for Marketing. Here she explains her optimistic predictions for marketers in 2021, the importance of equality, and shares advice for effective, relatable storytelling. You can watch the full interview above.
The Drum: We have heard so much this has been a year like no other for marketers. What s your assessment of the industry s response?
Nishma Robb: The marketing industry has demonstrated incredible resilience. The pandemic amplified challenges we were already facing, but we didn’t become hyper-critical or defeatist. Rather we found optimism and growth through solidarity. I’ve seen real progress, which is remarkable when we’re all feeling stuck.
Marketers from Uber, TSB, Direct Line and more share key trends for 2021
Marketers from a host of brands highlight the trends that will impact marketing and their role next year.
Keith Gulliver, head of brand, content, transformation and social, TSB
“Mass personalisation will become more of a reality. Although I cringe when I hear it because it feels like one of those things I’ve heard over and over again for so many years and no one has ever effectively delivered it, it feels like from a tech point-of-view it’s there. Now, it’s more about how culturally do you deliver it effectively?