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To your favourite newsletter, The Business of YouTube, brought to you by Paola Marinone and Bengü Atamer, founders of BuzzMyVideos and previously at YouTube and Google. We are bringing our exclusive insights from 20 years of experience leading strategy at YouTube and Google.

The Icon vs. The Institution: Deconstructing the YouTube Playbooks of Neymar Jr. and Santos FC

The core difference between the Neymar Jr. and Santos FC YouTube channels lies in their central focus. Neymar Jr.'s channel is a personality-driven brand platform, designed to give fans a curated, behind-the-scenes look into his life, career, and commercial partnerships. It’s about building the "Neymar Jr." brand beyond the football pitch.

Santos FC's channel, "SantosTV 7K," is an official club media outlet. Its primary goal is to serve the club's dedicated fanbase with comprehensive team-related content, from match highlights and training ground footage to player interviews and live broadcasts. It functions as the digital stadium and press room for the club's supporters.

Views Comparison

Views Analysis:

• Both channels experienced their largest spike of the year in February (★).

• SantosTV had a second massive spike in July (☆), likely corresponding to another key period in the Brazilian football calendar.

• Neymar Jr.'s channel outside of the February peak shows very low, flat viewership, whereas Santos maintains a high baseline throughout the year.

Detailed Comparison of Content and Strategic Analysis

1. Content Strategy & Tactics

Neymar Jr.: The Global Icon's Documentary

• Strategy: To present Neymar Jr. as a global superstar, focusing on high-production value content that showcases his lifestyle, major career moments, and brand endorsements (e.g., Puma). The content is less frequent but more event-driven and polished.

• Tactics:

  • "Behind the Scenes" & "Vlog" Style: Many titles include "Behind The Scenes," offering an exclusive feel. This creates a personal connection, making viewers feel they are part of his inner circle.

  • Episodic Content: The "Neymar Jr's Week" series creates a consistent format that fans can anticipate.

  • Career Milestones: Videos like "700 Jogos de Neymar Jr Como Profissional" (700 Professional Games of Neymar Jr.) serve to cement his legacy.

Santos FC: The Digital Home for the Fans

• Strategy: To be the ultimate content hub for everything related to Santos FC. The strategy is built on high-frequency, in-the-moment content that keeps fans engaged with the team's day-to-day activities.

• Tactics:

  • Match-Centric Content: A significant portion of their content revolves around matches: "GOLS" (Goals), live match broadcasts ("AO VIVO"), and post-match analysis.

  • Training & Access: "Treino" (Training) videos and press conferences ("Coletiva") provide fans with a deeper level of access to the team and its preparations.

  • Club Heritage: Playlists like "ÍDOLOS" (Idols) and videos about the club's history ("109 years of Vila Belmiro") reinforce the club's legacy and emotional connection with its supporters.

Future Content Strategy Suggestions from BuzzMyvideos!

For Neymar Jr.:

1. Embrace YouTube Shorts for Skill & Virality: Neymar is globally renowned for his skills. A dedicated Shorts strategy focused on quick, visually stunning skill challenges, trick shots, or training clips could be massively successful.

   • Example Content: A series called "#NeymarSkills" where he performs a move in slow-motion, or a "#BeatNeymar" challenge encouraging fan participation.

2. Introduce "Raw & Real" Content: To complement the polished documentaries, add a more authentic, lower-production-value series. This could be a weekly or bi-weekly vlog shot on a phone, showing his daily routine, pre-game thoughts, or post-game reactions. This increases upload frequency and builds a deeper, more relatable connection.

3. Launch an Interactive "Reacts" Series: Create videos where Neymar reacts to his most iconic goals, famous matches, or even fan-made tribute videos. This is a popular YouTube format that leverages existing content while providing his unique personal insight.

4. Activate the Community Tab for Direct Engagement: Start using the Community Tab immediately. He could post polls ("Which was my best goal this month?"), share exclusive photos from training, or ask questions to make his 5.35M subscribers feel more involved.

For Santos FC:

1. Produce a "Hero" Documentary Series: While the day-to-day content is excellent, investing in a high-production, cinematic documentary series following the team for a season (or focusing on the journey of a new signing or a "Menino da Vila" prospect) could attract a wider audience beyond the core fanbase.

2. "Inside the Academy": Leverage the club's famous reputation for developing young talent ("Meninos da Vila"). Create a dedicated series that follows the U-17 or U-20 teams, showcasing the next generation of stars. This reinforces a core part of the club's brand identity.

3. Develop Tactical Analysis Content: After important matches, create short (5-10 minute) videos that break down key tactical moments. Use on-screen graphics to explain formations, pressing triggers, or a brilliant piece of play. This caters to more dedicated fans and positions the channel as a source of deeper football knowledge.

4. International Fan Focus: Create content specifically for the global audience. This could include adding English subtitles to major videos, or a monthly segment called "Santos Around the World" that features interviews with international fans or highlights the history of foreign players who played for the club.

2. Personal vs. Football Club Differentiation

3. Content Formats, Titles, and Length

• Content Formats:

  • Neymar Jr.: Primarily relies on highly-edited vlogs, documentaries, and branded content. There is less "raw" or live-streamed content.

  • Santos FC: Utilizes a wider variety of formats including live streams of matches and press conferences, short highlight clips, training montages, and interview segments.

• Video Titles:

  • Neymar Jr.: 

    • Often in English or a mix of Portuguese and English, signaling a global audience.

    • They are often evocative and personal (e.g., "Blessed," "The Neymar Jr. Institute collection").

  • Santos FC: 

    • Almost exclusively in Portuguese, targeting a local Brazilian audience.

    • Titles are descriptive and functional (e.g., "GOLS E MELHORES MOMENTOS" - Goals and Best Moments, "COLETIVA DE IMPRENSA" - Press Conference).

• Video Length:

  • Neymar Jr.: Varies significantly, from short clips under 2 minutes to longer-form content over 10 minutes, depending on the story being told.

  • Santos FC: A mix of very short goal highlights (around 1-3 minutes) and very long live streams (often over 2 hours).

• Upload Frequency:

  • Neymar Jr.: Less frequent and appears to be tied to specific events or marketing campaigns. The screenshots show uploads ranging from weeks to months apart.

  • Santos FC: Very high frequency, with multiple uploads per day or every few days, especially around match days.

4. Thumbnail Analysis

Neymar Jr.:

• Style: Cinematic and high-quality. The images are professionally shot and color-graded.

• Text: Minimal to no text on thumbnails. The focus is entirely on the power of the image.

• Images: Dominated by close-ups of Neymar Jr. himself, often showing emotion (laughing, focused, celebrating). This reinforces the personal brand.

• Design: Consistent branding is visible through logos like "NJR" but the visual style is more varied, reflecting the content of the specific video.

Santos FC:

• Style: More template-driven and informational.

• Text: Heavy use of text overlays to convey information quickly (e.g., "AO VIVO," "GOLS," player names).

• Images: A mix of action shots from matches, player portraits, and graphics featuring the club crest.

• Design: Strong, consistent branding. The "SantosTV" logo is present on most thumbnails, and a clear visual system is in place for different content types (e.g., a specific template for live streams).

5. Playlists, and Community Posts Analysis

Playlists

Neymar Jr.

• Current Strategy: Organizes by projects, series, and time periods.

• Suggestion: Create a "Career Highlights: The Best Goals & Skills" playlist. This single, constantly updated playlist of pure, short-form spectacle is a high-demand, high-share piece of content that could consistently draw new viewers to the channel.

Santos FC

• Current Strategy: Organizes by competition, content type, and players.

• Suggestion: Introduce a "Behind the Scenes & Vlogs" playlist. While current content covers the product (matches/goals), this playlist would capitalize on emotional investment and offer a more personal connection to the team and players (the human element).

Community Posts

Neymar Jr.

• Current Strategy: Absence of a "Posts" tab.

• Suggestion: Activate the "Posts" tab immediately and use it for polls and Q&As. A massive fan base thrives on direct access. Simple polls or text-based Q&A announcements are low-effort, high-return ways to engage the audience, drive traffic to new videos, and foster an active community.

Santos FC

• Current Strategy: Actively used for photos, match-day updates, and text announcements.

• Suggestion: Use "Posts" to run weekly fan-submitted photo contests or memory polls. While excellent for functional updates, dedicating some focus to user-generated content (like "Fan Photo of the Week") can significantly boost engagement and create a stronger sense of shared community ownership.

What Can They Learn from Each Other?

• What Santos FC can learn from Neymar Jr.:

  • Higher Production Value for Hero Content: While the high-frequency content is excellent, creating more cinematic, documentary-style features on key players or historic moments could attract a broader audience.

  • More Personality-Driven Storytelling: Create mini-documentaries or "day in the life" features on current players to build their individual brands under the Santos FC umbrella.

• What Neymar Jr. can learn from Santos FC:

  • Increased Frequency and Rawness: Incorporating more frequent, less-polished content like training clips or Q&As could make his channel feel more current and authentic.

  • Use the Community Tab: This is a major gap. He could use it for quick updates, asking fans questions, sharing photos, and creating a more direct line of communication.

  • Live Streaming: A live Q&A session or a live stream from an event could generate massive engagement.

Collaboration Potential:

Easy win for both channels: Use YouTube’s Collab Feature!

Given Neymar Jr.'s history with Santos FC, a collaboration would be a natural fit and highly effective.

• "Return to the Roots" Documentary: A high-production documentary co-produced by both channels, where Neymar Jr. revisits Vila Belmiro, meets the current squad, and reflects on his time at the club.

• "Passing the Torch" Skills Challenge: A video featuring Neymar Jr. and the current "Meninos da Vila" (the club's young talents) in a skills challenge.

• Charity Match or Event: A collaborative live stream of a charity event or match involving Neymar Jr. and Santos FC legends and current players.

Want to discuss how to shape your strategy, talk to us.

Watch the latest episode of The Business of YouTube podcast, featuring Kike Levy from NFJ Sports & Media, previously at Meta and Twitter Sports.

Changing the Business of Sport: How Kike Levy and NJF are changing the game, starting from Volleyball

🚨 New masterclass: The Ultimate Playbook: YouTube Shorts for Sport

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