Pod#138 - YouTube Panel 2021 - Business Roundup feat. Irfan, Kazi, Gul & Nazar

Back again with another annual YouTube roundup, this is the YouTube Panel for 2021. We're joined by Kazi Akber, Irfan Junejo, Nazar Syed & Gul Zaib to talk about the year that's just passed in their YouTube lives. How their year went in terms of growth, what the brand scene was like, what is the state of the community and more.   

Things discussed in this episode:  

00:00 Intro

01:28 Small talk and setting up the discussion

2021 summary:

04:04 Irfan junejo: tried to make a comeback, YouTubers getting mugged in Karachi, equipment downgrades

06:21 Teeli: COVID slowed down early quarters, Q4 got super busy, even brands appreciate consistency

12:09 Irfan agrees there is significantly increased branding spending, and audiences also seem more accepting of this

14:08 Nazar/Vaguely Familiar: defining a Pakistani vs global audience, rebranding the podcast, does their relatively smaller size prevent guests from coming?

20:52 Kazi: losing his studio, taking a break, audience accepting the concept of conversations, brand deals

Brand environment:

28:03 Gul/Teeli: brands seem more aware of the sort of content Teeli makes and how best to integrate their aims with the product

35:04 Irfan: only perhaps 20% of brands really care about the product, all others just care about the views his face can bring regardless of content nature

37:38 Gul & Irfan: appreciating native vs digital advertising, are brands moving spend from TV to digital creators?

41:34 Kazi: people have approached him for sponsored conversations with guests, would he be open to pre-decided questions p1rovided by the sponsors?

48:34 Irfan & Gul: brands treating creators as employees vs collaborators

52:05 Kazi: Is there a financial feasibility angle with his vlogging channel?

56:12 Podcasters can/should have personal brands and associated content that will push the popularity of their podcasts

Community:

1:00:21 Does Teeli consider themselves as part of the wider YouTube community or is that only for individual creators?

1:03:37 Irfan thinks generic “collabs” aren’t happening and that’s a good thing, but also that the YouTube scene seems stagnant in terms of new faces and innovation

1:07:19 Kazi thinks that if people can get over themselves and be more PR-savvy, more nuanced and intertextual collaborations are now possible

1:11:08 We all talk about a perceived lack of innovation and new entrants, Irfan & Gul mention brands being aggressively conservative in what they will support

1:14:04 We try and figure out why Teeli does not have several full-fledged competitors

1:18:34 Do people (big, small, individuals, companies) in Pakistan understand how YouTube works?

1:28:00 Lightning round 2022 plans

1:30:26 Outro  

LINKS: 

Irfan Junejo: https://www.youtube.com/IrfanJunejo 

Kazi Akber: https://www.youtube.com/KiyaKaheGaKazi 

Nazar Syed: https://www.youtube.com/TheBrodcastPodcast 

Teeli: https://www.youtube.com/Teeli  

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