Village Gamer

Furthering its growth as a multiplatform content leader, Shaftesbury has partnered with millennial agency Youth Culture to launch new digital agency shift2, a co-venture between the two companies. shift2 will create, manage and market digital content targeting Generation C on YouTube.  The new agency will specialize in creating and managing custom YouTube content for brands across reality, how-to and scripted programming. In addition to creating digital content, shift2 will employ proprietary YouTube software to research and develop targeted content-driven campaigns, optimize audience engagement and deliver measurable results.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GgAoPvI6Rk]

“There has been a shift in the way that millennial consumers buy products,” said Kaaren Whitney-Vernon, CEO, shift2. “They research; they compare; they talk; they share; they follow and then they buy. That’s an involved purchase decision. A brand story helps connect the decision path. It’s not about pushing this content out during campaign flights, but about engaging people during the process with a great story. shift2 will create that story.”

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O41lliiCTj8]

Leading content creation for shift2 is Shaftesbury and its award-winning digital division, Smokebomb Entertainment (Totally Amp’d, Backpackers, State of Syn). “Our industry is in a state of flux, and shift2 represents the next stage in our continued growth,” said Christina Jennings, Chairman & CEO of Shaftesbury and Smokebomb Entertainment. “We are taking lessons we have learned from television over the past 25 years, and joining forces with Kaaren to bring that storytelling experience to brands, in a way that isn’t a 30-second spot or viral video.”

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qCiQtaXyo]

shift2’s clients include Vervegirl, Kimberly-Clark and Geometry Global, with more to be announced shortly. The agency will operate out of Shaftesbury’s offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.

With 15 years of experience at the helm of Youth Culture, Kaaren is a sought-after expert who has been instrumental in creating successful brands, including Vervegirl, which remains the top-ranked teen magazine in Canada and is distributed in over 1,100 high schools and online through Barnes & Noble in the U.S. Youth Culture created the highly successful syndicated study, Trendscan, a report on teen lifestyle, providing valuable data for marketing to youth in Canada for more than 35 national and international brands. Additionally, Kaaren served as executive producer of The Avenue starring Gigi Gorgeous, one of the first reality shows on YouTube, which garnered over 2.5 million views and developed a loyal fan following.