Q&A with Ben McOwen Wilson, director YouTube EMEA on Nike, Euros, live-streaming and walled gardens

I’m not sure it’s always been true in the mind of the public, or press, that YouTube is the home of sports entertainment. We’re not out there competing for live sports rights. But what you notice is that there’s an enormous amount of sports content available and on our platform the conversation on sports content extends beyond the game itself. And that conversation happens in video and it drives the excitement around an event like the Euros. Nike has been able to tap into that in a really smart way; in a way that’s fascinating for a football fan with the cameos but also something that’s able to appeal to beyond that hard core football fan. Even pre-season we had Man City live-streaming on YouTube while they were out in the US. We’ve seen the clubs, leagues and federations use our platform as a way to engage with fans and build out that relationship.

Nike has worked out that in order to be part of that conversation you need to create great branded creative that plays to that platform. I am prepared to bet that the view through time on that ad is phenomenally strong - it’s perfect for our platform because it hooks you in at the start and keeps you with it the whole way thought and that’s what works.

The only indication we take of how good a piece of content is how well it’s able to hold a user’s attention and that sets us apart from television or anyone else who’s trying to make a play in digital video. They might be interested in the number of people who have been fooled into pressing play or only watched part of it. But we’re interested in the people who chose to watch and watched all the way through. And Nike have done a brilliant job buy recognising what that audience wants.

It had over 9.6 million views within 24 hours. Can you share any metrics around how it’s performed? How much is organic reach and how much has been paid for?

I can look at those numbers but I wouldn’t be able to share them. What I can say is there was paid media involved and on our platform the ads that end up being truly iconic- be it Van Damm splits or Dove Sketches – have combined paid and earned media. In 24 hours, to get to nine million views, there is a huge amount of earned in there.

Are you seeing more brands design TV spots for YouTube first?

The really smart brands have been doing that for a few years.

How do you see it complementing TV?

Again, the smart brands and agencies have been very much seeing it as a complementary media but a lot of broadcasters have also been doing it. Like James Cordon in the US [Carpool Kareoke] or Graham Norton in the UK making masses of content available before it goes out. Brands are now thinking about which bit belongs on air and when video can engage in a much deeper conversation.

Google came out with research suggesting 80 per cent of budgets need to go into YouTube, which ruffled the feathers of some in the industry. What does Nike’s success with ‘The Switch’ do for that argument?

I was at ITV for six years before and YouTube is hugely respectful of what TV delivers to the viewing audience. We don’t view ourselves as a replacement but a very strong complement. The ruffle of the feathers was unfortunate but what we see is the two media working very well together. Broadcast has a 24 or 48 hour window to think of, but if you’re a fan then you are thinking about things weeks before. So I think we haven’t seen all that Nike will do but we believe there will be all kinds of different formats of that ad all driving back to [YouTube]. What’s exciting to see a brand and an agency recognise that digital first is the right way for today.

And how do you see Live-Streaming fitting into brand’s media plans?

It’s about data. BT [..] ended up with a very accurate view of who’s watching live European football and who didn’t watch it on TV. As targeting goes, that’s [gold dust]. As more people get smarter about what you can do with 360-degree video you’ll see it become an exciting opportunity for brands to be associated with.

BT Sport recently spoke about the details of its YouTube partnership and compared it to other platforms trying to leverage Live Streaming (namely Facebook) which are not as readily willing to hand over data. Do you feel that gives you an edge in the market?

The whole space at the moment is very exciting for creatives, consumers and brands. From our point of view our focus is about giving them a platform that’s robust and reliable where they can livestream from anywhere in the world. Live-streaming for us has always been a huge part of the strategy but people only now have devices to do it in a really compelling way. We’re going to see more exciting formats and creative ideas on what you can do. I’m not going to talk too much on competition but our platform is designed for everybody. I don’t sit here trying to pick the winners.

Walled gardens can be applied to data but they can also be applied to audiences and tools, devices and preferential treatment. And YouTube is not a walled garden on any of those points.