YouTube Superstar Kevin Nalty on Branded Video Success

The biggest challenges to brands finding success with online video is not money or ideas; it’s lining up all the various departments within a company.

That’s what Kevin Nalty, a YouTube star, told me during an interview at the Digitas New Front event in New York last week.

“The big thing is getting their own organizations in line,” he said, including the advertising, IT, public relations, legal and other departments in a company on board.

With more than 800 YouTube videos that have been seen more than 74 million times, as well as deals with brands such as Mentos, Coca-Cola, Cox Communications, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, Nalty brings both the web celebrity status and the brand connections to his new post.

“The reality is brands are desperately trying to enter into the conversation in a way that goes beyond advertising,” he said.

Until this spring Nalty was a marketing executive at Merck.  He left  to consult.  Last month he was tapped to be chief strategic officer for Hitviews, an online matchmaking firm that connects Web stars with brands to create videos with product integration.

Today, Hitwise announced a deal with Fox to create branded online content to promote two programs.

Daisy Whitney, Senior Producer