Joe Bartolozzi’s Gen Z Cred Nets Brand Cash On YouTube

Nearly all of the most-watched YouTube pages in the U.S. among Gen Z audiences are individual creators, and not media companies. But that doesn’t close the door for brand involvement at all, and may actually open it wider for those collaborations.

Data from Tubular Labs reveals that Joe Bartolozzi was the top U.S. YouTube page among 13-to-24 year-olds by 100 million minutes of watch-time.

• Bartolozzi’s humorous long-form videos have fueled a year-over-year increase of over 300 million minutes watched, and even recent months have seen him climb by 100 million alone from December to January.

His wins aren’t limited to just watch-time, either. Bartolozzi has also translated that into work with a variety of major brands.

• In the last nine months, he’s had videos sponsored by advertisers like DraftKings and Chime. And because all of his videos are over seven minutes long – and some uploads run well over an hour – it provides ample opportunity for sponsor integration where Shorts may not always be able to fit.

As it gets increasingly difficult to reach Gen Z audiences, Bartolozzi’s approach may show one example of how that door is not necessarily closed at all. It just looks different than what brands may be used to.