Today’s marketers are facing a fundamental challenge: how to move beyond interrupting the content people love, and instead earn an authentic place within it. As we explored at Brandcast 2025 in Sydney, the formula for YouTube marketing effectiveness includes tapping into culture to build lasting audience connections. This evolution presents a vital opportunity for brands to earn credibility and drive real growth. Here’s how you can embrace five emerging cultural trends, and build them into your brand’s YouTube strategy.
1. Total transparency: Take your customers behind the scenes
The concept of behind-the-scenes (BTS) content isn’t new. But on YouTube, the trend has evolved from quick, curated glimpses into immersive, real-time experiences. Australian and Kiwi businesses are discovering the power of live streams and unscripted formats to enrich their brand story, spotlighting the people and passion behind their products. This move towards transparency helps audiences make more informed purchase decisions.
Take Sydney-based candy shop Sticky, which has amassed over 662 million YouTube channel views in the last year by taking audiences directly onto their factory floor.1 They use a mix of mesmerising Shorts and interactive live streams to showcase their craftsmanship.
How to put transparency into action: Move beyond the pre-recorded factory tour. The real opportunity lies in interactive formats that foster direct engagement. Host a live Q&A with your head designer, live stream the creation of a limited-edition product, or capture visually-satisfying BTS content.
From long-form storytelling to attention-grabbing Shorts, YouTube’s multiple formats give you creative freedom. By embracing unscripted moments, you can build a level of trust and transparency that complements your traditional ads.
2. Let’s get real: Honest convos and yap seshes
In an era of information overload, brand authenticity has become the ultimate currency. On YouTube, a new generation of Australian creators are establishing themselves as trust icons by embracing vulnerability and honest conversations. In fact, according to a survey by MTM, 84% of surveyed viewers in Australia say they regularly return to watch content from specific creators on YouTube, outperforming the average of other online platforms.2
Through casual vlogs, sit-down podcasts and "yap seshes" filmed during everyday activities, creators are building deep, genuine connections with their communities. These unscripted, stream-of-consciousness style dialogues make content feel more like a chat to a friend than a wide-reaching broadcast to a follower.
This relatability provides a powerful and authentic backdrop for brand integrations. Outdoor goods retailer BCF partnered with popular YouTube creators like Bridey Drake, who invited viewers to tag along on a shopping trip and shared unfiltered thoughts through YouTube Shorts.
The brand authenticity worked. BCF experimented with a Video reach campaign, comparing a standalone horizontal brand ad to one that appeared alongside two creator-led Shorts. The ad with Shorts achieved 36% more reach at 54% lower cost per impression.
How to go unscripted: Lean into the heightened authenticity of creator-led conversations. Consider how your products and services fit into the real, everyday moments of your audience. By leveraging unscripted and personality-driven discussions with brand-aligned creators for your marketing, you can move beyond simple product placement and become part of a genuine and trusted dialogue.
3. Beyond the pitch: Tap into sports fandoms
In sports, the most passionate fans are often found beyond the final whistle — and YouTube is their home. The content created around a sporting match is often larger and more enduring than the event itself. From deep-dive podcasts and match predictions to humorous mid-match player lip readings, YouTube creator content prolongs the lifespan of in-person events and fosters vibrant online fandoms.
One example is the Australian Open. Videos with “Australian Open” or “Aus Open” in the title received 35 million views in the past 12 months from August 2025.3
People come to YouTube in these big moments around sporting events to go deeper than they can on other platforms. In fact, according to a survey by Ipsos conducted in Australia, 55% of Gen Z (online 18-24 year olds) agree they would prefer to watch creators breaking down a major event rather than the event itself.4
How to find a pre-built sport fandom: Brands have an opportunity to enter these digital clubhouses on YouTube, engaging with audiences in a sustained and meaningful way. By partnering with fan-led channels and niche sports creators, you can tap into pre-built passion and insert your brand authentically into the ongoing content created around the events that matter most to your target audience.
4. Bite-sized learning: Blend education and entertainment
As Australians and New Zealanders navigate a rising cost of living, they’re increasingly turning to YouTube to break down complex topics, like finance. A new wave of educational entertainment offers short-form learning through engaging visuals, simple narration, and conversational explanations that help audiences make sense of industry-specific concepts.
This approach is proving incredibly effective on YouTube. According to a survey by Kantar conducted in Australia, viewers are 2.5X more likely to choose YouTube when they want to satisfy their curiosity about a subject, compared to other video based platforms. And they’re finding everything from podcasts to bite-sized learning, thanks to creators like Chris Kohler who answers questions like “What’s a Tariff?”. In fact, videos with “tariffs” in the title received over 80 million views in Australia in H1 2025, as compared to 4 million views in H2 2024.6
How to rally around educational content: Even in traditionally formal and complex industries, there’s an opportunity for brands to build an engaged audience by providing genuine value through accessible content. You can tap into creators’ existing followings by sponsoring content from industry-informed YouTube channels. This helps develop greater online credibility by connecting audiences with a consistent and trusted voice.
5. The new frontier: Collaborating with virtual creators
One of the most innovative trends emerging from Australia is the rapid growth of virtual creators, or VTubers. With their online persona represented by a CGI avatar, these creators engage with fans through gaming live streams, original music and a wide variety of other content formats on YouTube.
By affiliating with global VTuber agencies, Australian creators are elevating their local culture and cultivating massive international fandoms from their home base. And the growth in this space is explosive.
Virtual creators’ influence is also extending beyond niche communities and into the mainstream, reaching wider audiences from international markets — appealing to brands willing to step into a new world of creator collaboration.
How to embrace the versatility of virtual creators: VTubers present an immersive and innovative advertising opportunity to connect with highly-engaged, vibrant online communities. Collaborations can extend beyond simple sponsorships into creating virtual merchandise, in-game activations, or co-branded content, allowing brands to reach a broad and tech-savvy audience in a space that’s defining the next wave of creator culture.
Earning your place in culture
The message is clear: the future of brand-building isn’t all curated ads, but about actively and authentically participating in culture. By embracing YouTube trends like transparency, leveraging creator trust and engaging niche fandoms, Australian brands can forge deeper connections and drive unparalleled results.
For more Brandcast highlights from Sydney, explore why the future of video is on YouTube, see how YouTube boosts campaign effectiveness, and get tips from a creator on building authentic partnerships.
