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STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Hi, I'm Steph.
And this is "View in 2 Creator Sessions," our series
interviewing YouTube creators about the content they make
and how they work with brands.
Today we'll be chatting with Josh Sinel from Storybooth
about how YouTube is a platform driven by its users--
a videocracy.
Let's dive in.
Hey, Josh.
Thanks for coming to LA.
JOSH SINEL: Thanks for having me.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Can you tell us
a little bit about Storybooth?
JOSH SINEL: Sure.
Storybooth is a platform we designed
that takes real stories from young people
in their own words, with their own voices.
We select the ones we think make the most sense,
animate them, and post them on our channel, Storybooth.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: And why did you guys start it?
JOSH SINEL: We looked around at the media
that we saw all these young people consuming.
And we saw a lot of sugar-coated stuff,
a lot of perfect worlds we didn't think
were really very accurate or authentic,
or we saw really prescriptive content
that seemed to be talking down to this generation.
We wanted to create a space where this content was really
raw and authentic and real and not sugar-coated.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: When you set out to make the content,
what's your goal?
JOSH SINEL: We're very mission-driven.
Our goal is to leave the audience in a better place
than they were when they came.
There's a lot of boxes to check when you're
launching a channel like this.
And one of them was, is it going to do that?
Is it going to have this impact that we so desperately want
it to have?
And we get comments back that, really, we've saved,
we've printed.
"This story saved my life"-- stuff like that.
That's what really--
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Gives you chills.
JOSH SINEL: Yeah, it's what makes us
do this stuff again and again.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: And we talk a lot about YouTube
as a videocracy.
It's a place where the content that gets made for the platform
is really driven by what users are asking
for-- views, data, comments.
How does that relate to your community?
JOSH SINEL: Well, in a very basic way,
we source the stories directly from this community.
So not only is it aspirational somehow--
maybe my story will be chosen--
but you know that these things are top of mind.
We can see the volume of them.
We understand that if we're getting
10,000 stories about one topic, it's probably
a pretty important topic.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: And they're involved
in every step of the way, from the merch
that you guys are making.
JOSH SINEL: Yeah.
Yeah.
We leverage this audience.
They respond to polls like nothing we've ever seen before.
And we ask them everything.
What color T-shirt do you guys want?
What products haven't we thought of that you might want?
What stories do you want to see more of?
And they tell us, which is amazing.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: When you're looking to source the ideas
and you're deciding on which stories to create,
what are some of the factors that you're looking at?
JOSH SINEL: Well, of course, we're looking at that volume.
And is there a concentration somewhere in that volume
that we can identify?
But we're also looking at what's going on in the world
and what we see happening and ideas we have
about what these young people may need to see or want to see.
And we're trying to get very current, too.
So when something as tragic as Parkland happened last year,
we got stories.
And we chose a story and published it.
So I think we also have found that we can really be very
current with this audience.
And this audience is very tuned in.
They want that.
They want to understand and share these experiences
while they're happening.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: So it is an art and a science.
And it sounds like you're taking the data,
but then you're also thinking about what's timely,
what's happening in the world.
And then on an everyday level, what are these young people
going through at school?
And what are the stories that you can tell that remind them
that they're not alone?
JOSH SINEL: That's absolutely right.
And look, that was a catalyst for the whole beginning,
was to let young people know that whatever
it is they're going through, they're not
going through it by themselves.
And I think we see that in the community.
We see that in the engagement.
We see that in the numbers and the views.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Yeah.
So it is a very emotional connection.
And you're talking a lot about sensitive subjects.
When we get into working with brands,
how do you weave a message into Storybooth content that
feels authentic and still delivers
on the emotional connection?
JOSH SINEL: I think the keyword is
to have sensitivity to what the story is
and what the audience is looking at.
And you can't crowbar a brand into it.
It has to really occur.
So I think context is really important.
Does the brand make sense to the story?
And then having a light touch--
I think this audience is really sensitive to how hard they're
being sold versus how invested a brand is, actually
talking to them.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Yeah.
So it's about that brand walking the walk,
in terms of the values that the audience has and showing them
that the brand has the same ones.
JOSH SINEL: Right.
And to us, that's the key, is if a brand can show the audience
or be there with the audience at a time
when they can say, we care about this, too, we're with you--
to us, that's the most powerful message a brand can deliver
and the most effective.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: And you've done that
with brands like PetSmart.
JOSH SINEL: Yeah, PetSmart was a great example,
because talk about an emotional connection,
we have a great rescuing abandoned kittens story.
And it really brought itself up to an emotional sort
of crescendo and, at that moment,
was the perfect moment to bring PetSmart in.
Now, contextual-- this young storyteller
has to go to the pet store to get all these supplies
to care for these kittens.
So we had her go to a PetSmart.
It just made perfect sense.
It didn't feel at all forced.
And then at the end, to go back to
that "brands care about what you care about" being a really
strong message, our end card just
said, "PetSmart cares about you and the pets you care for."
It worked.
Yeah, it was great.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: So last question--
do you have any advice for brands
who are looking to connect with viewers on a deeper
level in this space?
JOSH SINEL: I think brands have to look at creators
a little bit differently.
It's not just sort of a one-way broadcast medium
now, where it's just a megaphone.
It's really a place to be with and connect with the audience.
So if brands start using creators more like a bridge
to get to the audience, I think that's a much better way
than just using them as sort of an amplifier to turn up
the volume on the message.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Yeah.
And also, as a consultant, because you
guys have so much information about this audience and insight
into what makes them tick.
JOSH SINEL: That's really important, too,
is that I don't think anybody knows these audiences better
than the creators who are literally working
with them every day, with the audiences,
to give them the content they want.
So if brands could tap into that knowledge in a more formal way,
I think they'd learn a lot more about their audience, for sure.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: Thank you so much for coming.
JOSH SINEL: Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
STEPHANIE WENDELIN: And thank you
for watching this creator session.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe.
And don't forget to check out Storybooth on YouTube
for more real stories, animated.
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