January 2026
How Brand Strategy Impacts Business Growth
Sami Kassir
YouTube Growth Lead, Viewconomy
Introduction
If you’ve been told “attention spans are dead”, the UK data says otherwise. In YouTube’s Global Culture & Trends Report 2025, the UK section highlights something genuinely useful for anyone building a channel or investing in YouTube: long-form has been thriving alongside the rise of short-form.
Zooming out, the UK’s top trending topics list reads like a mix of blockbuster franchises and internet-native culture: Squid Game, user-generated Roblox experiences, “brainrot”, and collectible-driven memes like Labubu.
The top creator list is also revealing because it’s not “UK-only creators”, it’s who gained subscribers in the UK, which includes global giants and shows how competitive UK attention is.
So what does that mean for you in 2026? UK audiences will happily give you 30 to 60 minutes of attention when the topic matters, the packaging is clear, and the video earns trust. The opportunity is not “pick Shorts or long-form”. The opportunity is building a system where Shorts helps discovery, and long-form builds loyalty.
The UK surprise: long-form explainers are winning (with deep impact)
The report calls out an “unexpected growth of long-form video” in the UK, arguing that widespread fears about dwindling attention spans do not match what’s actually happening on YouTube.
One example is Gary’s Economics (Gary Stevenson). The report notes that his videos are rarely below 30 minutes, and that he uses simple, pared-down aesthetics often associated with the Shorts ecosystem, but delivers long, timely explainers that help viewers navigate a turbulent political world.
That combination matters: approachable visuals, serious depth.
It’s not just explainers either. The report highlights creators who began with short-form style content and expanded into long-form because the audience appetite is there. Madeline Argy rose through short, pithy takes, then started regularly publishing content running 40+ minutes, unpacking topics like imposter syndrome and toxic masculinity, with a significant portion of her growth arriving in the last year.
Niko Omilana’s content is often close to an hour, using levity to explore big societal issues while giving the topic enough space to land.
The takeaway for UK creators and brands is simple: depth is a growth strategy. Long-form is not a “podcast-only” lane. It is a format advantage if you can hold attention with structure, clarity, and trust.
Benefits of Personalized Marketing
Short-form is still exploding. But the UK pattern in the report suggests something more strategic: creators are using short-form reach to support long-form retention, not replace it.
What tends to work in the UK right now is a clean “promise” up front (title/thumbnail/hook), then a real delivery. The report specifically points to long-form that provides nuance and depth, almost as a reaction against surface-level information.
This is important for brands too, because most brand content fails on YouTube for one reason: it looks like it was made to be watched for 15 seconds.
If you’re building in the UK, consider this operating model:
Use Shorts to introduce the topic, the character, or the tension (fast discovery).
Use long-form to finish the story, show the proof, and build trust (deep loyalty).
Keep the visual language modern and simple (Shorts aesthetics), but do not simplify the substance.
That is how you stop chasing views and start building a repeatable audience engine.
A practical UK YouTube playbook for 2026
Here’s a simple way to apply the UK insights from the report to your channel or brand this year:
Pick one long-form pillar that earns trust. Explain a complex world simply (like the long-form explainer pattern the report highlights), or take a big topic and make it accessible through story and personality.
Build repeatable formats. Viewers return for clarity: “I know what I’m getting, and it’s worth my time.”
Package like a modern creator, not a corporate channel. Clean visuals, clear stakes, fast hooks, then depth. The UK report explicitly notes this “Shorts-style” simplicity inside long-form winners.
Use UK culture signals without becoming trend-chasing. The UK trending topics list is heavy on global franchises and internet-native phenomena (Roblox experiences, brainrot). Use these as references or entry points, not as your whole identity.
Measure what matters: retention, returning viewers, and repeatable series performance. A “viral” video that doesn’t create returning viewers is a sugar hit.
The UK audience is not short on attention. It’s short on patience for content that wastes time. The creators and channels that win in 2026 will be the ones that combine strong packaging with real substance, and treat YouTube as a system, not a slot machine.
