• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 20, 2021

Brands are looking to connect with consumers searching for entertaining videos, from cultural moments and music to conversations with celebrities. This movement turned YouTube into the virtual stage for cultural moments in 2020. In fact, the top 10 videos from last year collectively reached 356 million views.

To help brands continue to engage and build audiences, the company announced improvements to its YouTube Select sponsorship program in the U.S. The details were revealed on Tuesday.

Seasonal sponsorships focus on hot trends in culture. This offers a rolling set of quarterly seasonal sponsorships, enabling brands to specifically focus on what is culturally relevant during a particular time of year, such as Summer Wellness and Women in Music during Women’s History Month in June.

Angelina Kim, senior partner and group director at Mediacom, called the change “an important opportunity” to help clients connect with their audience and drive engagement with brands.

“All creatives drove significant increases in awareness and message association,” she wrote in a post.

Mediacom partnered with a client and YouTube to honor women's history through music. The partnership included development of custom creative assets to celebrate women’s history, plus complete share of voice of contextual environments such as Women’s History Month music playlists and the GRAMMYs channel that featured a Women in the Mix special.

Some sponsorships include the Upfront Slate where brands can reach sports fans. NFL Game Day All Access will return to YouTube for a third season this fall. Streaming exclusively on the NFL YouTube channel, it gives fans an intimate look at the full game-day experience, with wired sound from players and coaches.

Advertisers will have the opportunity to sponsor the show for multiple episodes during the regular season as well as the postseason.

Gaming is another opportunity for brands. With 100 billion watch time hours and more than 40 million active gaming channels, YouTube is adding new upfront opportunities with Summer Game Fest, a fully digital and global gaming event. The company is also bringing back upfront sponsorship for The Game Awards.

Then there is the YouTube Greenlight, which brings a group of emerging YouTube creators together to pitch original series ideas based on specific advertisers’ goals. The sponsorship includes a custom creator pitch session, a fully funded creator original series with integrations and paid promotion across YouTube.

YouTube is also celebrating Black Music Appreciation Month with three Black Music Month packages in June.

Each sponsorship includes a high share of voice across relevant playlists like R&B Wave or Essential 00’s Hip Hop, added value components and ownership of top channels like Joe Budden TV.