Royal Caribbean has pulled marketing funding for television ads in lieu of sponsoring two new series from teen-centric YouTube network AwesomenessTV.
For its part, AwesomenessTV has produced two shows for Royal Caribbean, the first of which will premiere on July 6.
"YoMuscleBoi's Royal Caribbean Adventure" follows AwesomenessTV star YoMuscleBoii as he cruises around the Caribbean, doing things like riding a Royal Caribbean ship's surf simulator and trying his hand at the world's longest zip line over water.
The second series is a scripted show called "Shipping Julia." Premiering August 3, the six-episode series will tell a Romeo and Juliet-style love story set during a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Royal Caribbean senior vice president of marketing, Carol Schuster, confirmed the company did re-arrange some of the funds, "We did take money from our TV budget to do this." There's no word on how much but Schuster did characterize it as a "sizable investment."
So why did Royal Caribbean invest in a teen-centric YouTube channel? Teenagers influence their parents, Ms. Schuster said. "Teens are our sweet spot from a guest perspective," she said. "They really get the most out of our ships."
AwesomenessTV's network of YouTube channels attracted 7.98 million U.S. desktop unique viewers in May, according to ComScore.
AwesomenessTV had another edge in getting Royal Caribbean's attention. DreamWorks Animation bought the company for $33.5 million last May with earn-outs that could add another $95 million to the deal.
