At the heart of Binging with Babish’s meteoric rise from a hobby cooking series to a $20 million media brand is a fundamental principle: protect audience trust at all costs. This was the message delivered by Andrew Rea, the creator behind the popular YouTube channel, at ADWEEK’s Social Media Week in New York.
Rea emphasized the critical distinction between merely paying for eyeballs and paying for genuine attention. ‘When you work with creators, you can pay for eyeballs, or you can pay for attention—and there’s a big difference,’ Rea stated in conversation with ADWEEK editor-in-chief, Ryan Joe. ‘You can have five million people incidentally see your ad, or people deeply engage with it because they trust the creator.’
This creator-first philosophy is the cornerstone of every brand partnership on the channel. Binging with Babish has collaborated with a diverse array of brands, including Lionsgate, Squarespace, the National Pork Board, and Hulu. The channel has become known for its unique approach to brand integrations, where maintaining creative control is non-negotiable for Rea.
Strategic Brand Collaborations
Rea’s insistence on retaining creative freedom has enabled Binging with Babish to take unconventional risks and deliver content that resonates with its audience. For instance, while promoting ‘John Wick 4,’ the channel recreated duck fat fries from ‘John Wick 2,’ a creative decision that both honored the film and engaged viewers.
In another collaboration, Rea partnered with Hulu and Maker’s Mark to create cocktail integrations inspired by Hulu’s original series. ‘If the ask becomes too big or the product becomes the entire point of the video, we’ll walk away,’ Rea explained, underscoring the importance of serving the audience’s interests first.
Taking Creative Risks
This creative freedom also means Rea isn’t afraid to take risks. He recounted an instance where his team produced a spoof Alexa commercial for an espresso brand, releasing it without prior approval from the brand. ‘They were surprised, to say the least,’ Rea joked. ‘But they loved the response and the engagement it drove.’
Interestingly, Rea’s candid approach has attracted sponsorships even from companies whose products he has critiqued unfavorably. ‘We’ve actually gotten sponsorship requests from companies whose products I’ve rated badly,’ Rea noted. ‘I try to be constructive, not mean, and I guess they appreciate that.’
Understanding Brand Fandoms
A key element of Rea’s strategy is understanding the fandoms surrounding brands as much as the brands themselves. He cited episodes built around cult favorites Buc-ee’s and Costco, neither of which were sponsors at the time. ‘Costco keeps the hot dog at $1.50, and their CEO said, ‘If anyone raises the price, I’ll kill them,’’ Rea shared. ‘That creates a passionate audience, and we want to tap into that.’
By focusing on what audiences love and integrating brands in a way that feels natural and authentic, Rea has turned Binging with Babish into a case study of effective influencer marketing. ‘If it doesn’t serve the audience first, it doesn’t work,’ he concluded.
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Note: This article is inspired by content from https://www.adweek.com/social-marketing/binging-with-babish-andrew-rea-creator-advertising-social-media-week/. It has been rephrased for originality. Images are credited to the original source.