Teh Jackal: 20 Years of YouTube and the Secrets to Successful Branded Content
On YouTube’s 20th anniversary, it’s essential to celebrate the creators who built its history.THE The Jackal with 1.2 million subscribers to the channel, are an unusual Italian example of how creativity, born almost for fun, can transform into a real asset for growth and innovation.
Today, YouTube creators represent the key for every brand that wishes to establish an authentic and lasting dialogue with its audience. Actually, 98% of consumers trust the opinion of creators on YouTube more than on social media.1
In this interview, the founder Ciro Priello and the manager anna Manzo tell us about the evolution of The Jackal and reveal to marketers the secrets for a successful branded content.
Elisabetta Taverna: 20 years of The Jackal, but also of youtube.Ciro, tell us how you started making videos and why on YouTube.
Ciro Priello: We started making videos almost for fun. Simone, Francesco and I were a group of kids from the province of Naples, we didn’t play football and this hobby quickly became what brought us together, occupying our afternoons after school.
The arrival of YouTube in italy was a real revolution for us. Before then we projected our contents at the institute assemblies,or loaded them onto USB sticks that we passed around among friends. YouTube was the means to share for the first time, with a perhaps immense and unexpectedly large audience, an expressive and creative need that we had been cultivating for some time, in Simone’s garden with the camera stolen from my father. Today we can say that it all started ther, a real crossroads.
Taverna: How has your approach changed in these 20 years?
Priello: Everything was constantly evolving: a mix of creative needs, professional growth, but above all evolution of the platform and demands of what was a market in total construction and definition.
From videos made for fun, with a small budget and improvised production solutions, we studied, trying to improve our contents by aiming the bar higher and higher.
The Jackal’s entry into the Ciaopeople media group allowed us to structure ourselves into what we are today: a 360° video production company, where content is conceived, written, produced and distributed.
The arrival of brands and specialization in the branded entertainment sector has allowed us, over the last ten years, not only to create impactful and valuable content but to increasingly structure ourselves, welcoming professionals from all over italy who now work with us.
Taverna: How have you seen the platform change in these 20 years?
Priello: I remember that the interface…
How Brands Can Successfully Collaborate with Creators
the choice of a business partner should align with your values and identity.
Taverna: Have you noticed a change in how marketers work with creators over time?
Manzo: Yes, things have definitely changed. As platforms like YouTube have grown and given creators more visibility, being a creator has become a real profession. Branded entertainment is now a common part of digital advertising.
In the past, marketers frequently enough tried to dictate the message. Now, they’re more likely to share the campaign details and let creators develop the content. This lets creators communicate in their own voice, which can lead to better engagement because the message feels more authentic to their audience.
Taverna: What advice would you give brands looking to work with creators?
Manzo: Think of a creator as more than just someone to appear in your ad. They are a media outlet. You need to respect their identity to get the most out of the partnership. Creators are experts in how to connect with their audience. Trying to force them to do things their way won’t work and could even damage your brand’s reputation online.