On the heels of their historic nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, we launched an episode of our series Watch History with the global girl group KATSEYE. From revealing music videos they starred in pre-debut to the podcasts they watch on YouTube, it’s a very funny and lighthearted episode that fans adored. Eyekons especially connected with their KATSEYE favs following their favorite YouTubers, and with that positive response and the big campaign that we ran across our social media, this was a major moment – the video stands at 2.5 million views
The production of the KATSEYE episode for YouTube Watch History was strategically timed to capitalize on their major breakout moment for the global girl group. To ensure an authentic and engaging segment, the production team conducted in-depth research on the band members to craft original, personalized prompts and games.
For filming logistics, a studio was secured for the shoot in a convenient location near where the members were currently practicing. Despite the challenges of working with big-name talent, the team was able to secure a crucial two-hour filming slot to capture the unscripted, high-quality content.
During the shoot, the team captured B-roll and conducted on-set interviews, which were later used to craft original social content for promotion across various platforms. This bespoke social content was crucial for driving high engagement and awareness, extending the campaign's reach beyond the main video.
The main video was published approximately a month after filming, strategically aligning its release with the start of KATSEYE's tour. Its publication also immediately followed the week of their Grammy Award nominations, successfully maximizing the cultural moment and news cycle.
As a key promotional tactic, the team partnered with SEVENTEEN magazine, leveraging their massive social following to cross-promote the Watch History episode. This multi-pronged strategy resulted in over 3 million views, deep brand affinity, and an increase in requests from other top-tier talent to participate in the series.
We also used the YouTube countdown and watch page premiere for the first time for this series, with concurrent viewers driven to the premiere via an Instagram post – something that was so successful that we have replicated it for every Watch History since.
The YouTube Watch History episode with KATSEYE was a phenomenal success, leveraging the group's Grammy Award nomination for maximum cultural impact. The main video on YouTube amassed an outstanding 3 million views, significantly surpassing internal performance benchmarks.
Its success was amplified by a massive social media push, with unique content across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram generating a combined total of 12 million views. This broad reach translated into exceptional audience engagement, tallying over 1 million positive engagements (including likes, comments, and shares) across all social platforms.
The episode was a hit not just with the audience, but also garnered a really great response and positive feedback from the talent directly, their agency HYBE, and their larger management team.
The comments section was flooded with fan love, with Eyekons expressing how much they felt represented and connected to the candid glimpse into what KATSEYE watches.
This overwhelming positive sentiment validated the series' goal of fostering deep brand affinity by speaking the native, meme-driven language of the platform's users. Ultimately, the episode succeeded in transforming a piece of branded content into a cultural conversation, further solidifying the Watch History series as a crucial touchpoint for connecting with Gen-Z audiences.
