There are a lot of brands on YouTube, and many of the companies behind those brands have created branded YouTube channels where consumers can view video content related to those brands. Sometimes the content is informative, sometimes it’s entertaining, and sometimes it’s promotional. The following branded YouTube channels are included in this list of branded YouTube channels to benchmark not for the content of their videos but rather for the design and use of brand identifying elements in that design to make the channel unique and representative of the brand promise.
1. Disney Parks YouTube Channel
The Disney Parks YouTube channel includes the colors and graphics you’d expect from the world’s most popular family vacation destination, but it’s included in this list for the great use of links in the top navigation bar and the design of those links that make it very clear where visitors will go if they click on them. These are the destinations you’d expect visitors to be most interested in going to after viewing the Disney Parks’ video content.
2. Kraft Foods YouTube Channel
The Kraft Foods YouTube channel is included on this list because of the two navigation bars of links at the top of the page, which take visitors to a variety of useful information. Also, the content in the Kraft Foods videos is incredibly useful and includes recipes, cooking demonstrations, and more, all of which are appropriate matches to the Kraft brand promise.
3. Old Spice YouTube Channel
The Old Spice YouTube channel is included in this list for one reason — excellent use of a viral and hot marketing campaign to draw viewers, recognition, and conversations.
4. Verizon Wireless
The Verizon Wireless YouTube channel is included in this list for its great use of the brand’s color palette and the fact that the channel highlights a product that is currently very popular — the Droid. The link in the top right corner of the page gives visitors access to more product details. Also, visitors can scroll down the page and view videos by category rather than simply browsing through them by date as most YouTube channels are set up. This is a great way to deliver relevant content to specific segments of Verizon Wireless’ broader audience.
5. Harley Davidson
The Harley Davidson YouTube channel is included in this list for its visually appealing link graphics in the page header as well as for the use of the categorized video slider features that enables visitors to self-select the types of videos they’re interested in before they even scroll down further to see the more traditional YouTube channel layout and features.
6. Pepsi Refresh
The Pepsi Refresh campaign is very popular, and the Pepsi Refresh YouTube channel is included in this list for its seamless integration with the overall campaign as well as the great use of color and graphics that are very recognizable for the Pepsi brand. Also, the YouTube channel is a great example of one that encourages comments, conversations, sharing, and subscriptions as part of Pepsi’s larger social media marketing initiatives.
What branded YouTube channels do you think are good enough to be benchmarked? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
