The news: WPP Media and YouTube are expanding their partnership to bring non-public YouTube video and creator data into WPP’s AI system WPP Open, per a press release.

• The partnership will give WPP Media access to detailed YouTube creator data, allowing it to better match clients with YouTube creators that will drive improved campaign outcomes.
• WPP Media’s aim is to address fragmented media buys in the creator economy, while giving brands access to a more scalable and measurable growth driver.

Addressing problems: The creator economy is rapidly growing and taking a bigger slice of marketing budgets. As audiences turn to influencers en masse for purchase recommendations, advertisers are looking to invest where consumers are spending time and engaging deeply.

But historically, creator marketing struggles from a lack of standardized systems. Marketers face challenges in vetting creators to find partners best aligned with their brand.

• Measurement remains a barrier in proving the effectiveness of creator partnerships. The strategy doesn’t offer formal frameworks for measurement, and ROI analysis is a top struggle for brands who work with creators.
• And even as the vast majority of marketers utilize influencer marketing to some extent, these partnerships often fail because of a challenging discovery and selection process. Finding creators is a top barrier for 32% of marketers, per the Interactive Advertising Bureau, leading to major inefficiencies and inconsistencies between brand and influencer messaging.

WPP Media and YouTube’s expansion addresses all of these issues: Advertisers now have a system to pick the right YouTube creators more accurately; measure the impact of campaigns more rigorously; and access better infrastructure for campaign planning and execution.

For WPP, the move is also defensive as WPP Open has yet to attract substantial business. A fresh stream of data and partnership with a platform of major advertiser interest will give WPP a leg up in an area it’s been struggling to evolve.