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For years, marketers have been asked to choose between building their brands and driving results. At Brandcast 2026, we made the case that choice is over, because YouTube is where you get both. The night brought a fresh slate of creator-led shows, the latest AI innovations, and new opportunities for brands across the journey. That adds up to a new era of opportunities for marketers.
As YouTube CEO Neal Mohan summarized, “The modern marketing playbook has been rewritten. How you build a brand and deliver performance has shifted. And … YouTube is at the very center of it all.”
A new era of creator-led entertainment and impact
Entertainment has a new center of gravity. Creators have become the force pulling audiences into the moments, conversations, and shows they care about. You can see that shift in the fact that 83% of viewers in the U.S. say that YouTube is the video platform they find most entertaining.1 According to a survey conducted by Kantar, 73% of surveyed Gen Z viewers (ages 18 to 28) in the U.S. say that they prefer watching content from their favorite creators over studio-produced shows or movies.2
The trust our audiences place in us is the most valuable currency on the internet. It’s an opportunity that only exists here.
At Brandcast, we heard from YouTube creators across the worlds of sports, podcasts, cooking, and more as they launched an exclusive slate of shows available for sponsorships on YouTube. We heard from Kareem Rahma about his new season of “Keep the Meter Running,” Alex Cooper’s upcoming Unwell Network launches including a Met Gala docuseries, “Before the Steps,” and more.
YouTube creators Ashley Alexander and Adam W took the stage to share their own partnership stories and highlight how brands can make the most of collaborating with creators on YouTube. As Adam W put it, “The trust our audiences place in us is the most valuable currency on the internet. It’s an opportunity that only exists here.” It’s an authentic approach that scales, allowing YouTube creators to build communities who invest their attention and take action.
As part of a brand collaboration with Jimmy John’s, YouTube creator Adam W takes his date to the sub shop for an unexpected romantic dinner.
Beyond exclusive sponsorship and creator partnership opportunities, we also announced a new way for brands to tap into content that creators have already shared. When a creator tags a brand’s product in their video, brands can use Affiliate Partnerships Boost to help drive more sales. This brings together the authenticity of YouTube creators who have actually used a product with the scale and measurement capabilities of our ads solutions.
A new era of brand building
The personal relevance and cultural appeal of YouTube have brought together a massive audience on YouTube. According to Nielsen, YouTube reached over 244 million people aged 18+ across devices in the U.S. in November 2025, which is 91% of the adult population.3 That’s much more than a simple reach opportunity.
When creators and their communities come together at that scale, they become a true force in culture. YouTube is where both the biggest cultural moments and the creator-led conversations around them happen.
Brands can also build moments of their own, like product launches, seasonal pushes, and brand anniversaries. We just announced Custom Sponsorships, which uses AI to dynamically surface videos tailored to a brand’s moment, and an enhanced Masthead, with a custom content shelf lets brands curate content to match their message.
A new era of results
People come to YouTube with intent, whether they want to be entertained, learn something new, or decide what to buy. We see that intent in the billions of searches happening on the platform every day. This creates a massive opportunity for brands to show up naturally, when people are already looking for answers. As Sean Downey, president of Americas & Global Partners at Google, explained, “Our AI is working with some of the most important signals on the planet: what people actually want to watch on YouTube and what people are actually asking Google for.”
Brands that increased investment in Demand Gen along with other AI solutions saw 32% better year-over-year revenue growth than those that didn’t.
Brands are seeing that advantage coming to life with Demand Gen, as improvements in the second half of 2025 drove, on average, a 30% increase in conversions or conversion value.4 And brands that increased investment in Demand Gen along with our other AI-powered solutions, like Video reach and Video view campaigns, saw 32% better year-over-year revenue growth than those that didn’t.5 For marketers, that is a chance to create, capture, and convert demand within a single campaign.
Shopping is also part of that journey. YouTube is the No. 1 platform customers choose when they need help making both quick6 and complex purchase decisions.7 That’s true on mobile and in the living room. Connected TV conversions are up over 200% year over year,8 and we’ve just announced Buy with Google Pay on connected TV. This two-click checkout solution to turn watching into buying on the biggest screen in the house.
We also shared a second way that we’re deepening the shopping opportunity on YouTube. Since we launched Google’s Commerce Media Suite last year, over 30 major retailers have joined in. We announced that we’re now collaborating with Costco and Dollar General to give marketers a simple way to unify their shopper and brand campaigns in Display & Video 60, while showing results down to individual product-level sales across more retail partners.
Join your customers in the YouTube era
Brandcast 2026 highlighted YouTube’s unique role in turning creator-driven connections and culture into growth opportunities for brands. With Upfronts coming to a close, it’s clear that marketers don’t need to choose between building brands and driving performance. They can get both in one place: on YouTube. With AI-powered solutions to streamline the consumer journey and to deepen that opportunity, marketers can make YouTube part of their full journey strategy to meet their customers in this new era.
Find more highlights from Brandcast on LinkedIn, our YouTube channel, and X. Sign up for Re:View for the latest on marketing, creator-led culture, and more.
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