At YouTube Day, hosted by VuePlanner × Google at Google NYC on October 16, 2025 industry leaders came together to discuss how brands can unlock YouTube’s full-funnel potential through creators, creative, content and AI-powered performance.
Across every conversation, one theme emerged: agencies are shaping the future of video marketing by connecting creativity, strategy, and measurable outcomes on YouTube.
Helping Brands Make Creator Connections
Aimee Wasserman, from Google, kicked off the day by unveiling updates to the Creator Partnerships Hub (formerly BrandConnect), YouTube’s enhanced platform for connecting brands and creators. The tool streamlines discovery, collaboration, and campaign measurement—making creator partnerships more effective and efficient.
Agency takeaway: The Creator Partnerships Hub gives agencies a smarter way to build authentic, high-impact collaborations. Partnering with a YouTube-certified partner like VuePlanner enables teams to activate these opportunities strategically and at scale.
Meet Gen Alpha — The Future Audience Has Arrived
Emily Twomey, from Razorfish, shared insights on Gen Alpha, the first generation raised entirely in the creator era. They’re mobile-first, socially conscious, and already influencing family purchasing decisions.
Agency takeaway: Reaching Gen Alpha means meeting them where they live—within creator content. Authentic storytelling and adaptable creative built for YouTube’s diverse formats will help brands earn their attention and trust.
Retail Media Meets the Creator Economy
Aditi Rajvanshi from Portal A, Karen Bennett from Jellyfish, and Patrick Doyle from InMarket discussed how creators are emerging as performance drivers within retail media. They bridge entertainment and commerce, moving audiences from inspiration to purchase.
Agency takeaway: The creator economy and retail media are converging. Agencies can turn influence into measurable sales by tying creator storytelling to shoppable moments and offline impact.
YouTube and the Next Generation of Sports Fans
Arjun Kalyanpur from Code and Theory and Drew Muller from House of Highlights explored how sports fandom is evolving beyond live broadcasts. On YouTube, highlights, commentary, and creator storytelling fuel year-round engagement.
Agency takeaway: YouTube is the home of modern sports culture. Brands can connect with fans through contextual content and premium environments that drive attention and affinity.
The Right Creator for the Right Brand
Creators Jordan Selleck, Nicole Rafiee, and Josh Stanley, joined by Alexis Hurwitz from AG1, discussed how authenticity drives performance. When brands allow creators to maintain their voice and creative freedom, the results are more credible and impactful.
Agency takeaway: Creator alignment matters more than scale. The best partnerships are built on shared values, not follower counts.
Is Creative Scoring the Missing Link in Creator Investment?
Our very own Jeremy Stewart, Jonathan Savitch from Sundogs, and Aimee Wasserman from Google explored how AI-driven creative scoring can evaluate and predict what resonates before campaigns go live.
Agency takeaway: Creative scoring helps agencies make smarter creative and investment decisions—reducing risk, improving quality, and ensuring every piece of content is built to perform.
Featuring the Aruba Tourism Case Study: Leveraging AI Creative Intelligence to Predict Success on YouTube
Samantha McGarrigle from Deep Focus and Jeremy Stewart from VuePlanner highlighted the Aruba Tourism campaign as a case study in predictive creative intelligence. By comparing two creative flights—“Rejuvenation” and “Aruba Loves You Back”—the team proved that higher predictive scores consistently correlated with stronger completion rates and engagement.
Agency takeaway: Creative intelligence is now a performance advantage. By leveraging AI frameworks like VuePlanner’s CreativeVue and Google’s ABCD model, agencies can forecast creative success and ROI before a single impression is served.
YouTube, CTV, and the Video Mix
Jeremy Haft from Cadent, John Cobb from VuePlanner, Reid Steinberg from ICON International, and Kevin Cahn from Kepler discussed how YouTube complements, rather than competes with, other video channels. Together, YouTube and CTV create a unified ecosystem for brand storytelling and performance.
Agency takeaway: YouTube delivers the reach of CTV with the precision of digital. Contextual alignment and premium content—such as live sports—allow agencies to design integrated video strategies that drive results across screens.
AI Is Driving Full-Funnel Performance
To close the day, Sanae Ohta from Google showcased how Demand Gen campaigns use AI to link upper- and lower-funnel objectives, turning creative excellence into measurable conversions.
Agency takeaway: Demand Gen helps agencies predict intent, tailor creative, and deliver ROI across every stage of the funnel—proving how YouTube connects brand storytelling to real business outcomes.
The Takeaway
YouTube Day underscored that creativity and performance are no longer separate disciplines. Agencies are leading this evolution by using AI, contextual precision, and creator-led storytelling to drive meaningful business growth on the world’s largest video platform.
Want to go deeper?
If you want to learn more about any of the topics discussed during YouTube Day, reach out to our team today.