Michael Hoy - Branded Content and Short-Scripted Reel
Dear Kitten
Dogs Re-Create NBA All-Star Events
First Car Vs. First REAL Car
What If Everyday Was Like An All-Inclusive Resort
Pet Confessions with Hill’s Pet Nutrition and The Pet Collective
Your Puppy's First Year In 60 Seconds
Breaking Traditions
Branded Content
Branded Content is a marketing strategy where brands fund or create entertaining, educational, or informative content to build brand affinity and awareness, rather than directly selling a product. It focuses on storytelling that aligns with brand values, often utilizing partnerships with influencers, creators, or publishers to foster authentic, long-term consumer engagement.
My short-form original branded content has garnered over 300 million views on social digital channels, and over twenty mentions on the YouTube Ads Leaderboard listing the "top ten ads that people choose to watch."
I have been recognized with several awards, most notably for "Dear Kitten" a BuzzFeed branded original in partnership with Purina® Friskies® as the #1 top ad by a YouTube content creator in 2014, winner of the Digiday Best Creative Award in 2014, a 2015 Webby for Best Branded Content, and a nomination for "favorite YouTube ad of the past decade" from Google's YouTube. Dear Kitten went on to be translated into several languages for international distribution, broadcast as a regional Super Bowl Commercial, and launched a franchise universe with multiple installments and spin-off episodes.
Scroll down to see DEAR KITTEN and more branded content featuring dozens of top global brands.
DEAR KITTEN
Director, Videographer, Editor, Writer, Creative Producer
A BuzzFeed Branded original in partnership with Purina® Friskies® DEAR KITTEN released on the BuzzFeedVideo YouTube channel on June 5, 2014 and literally became an overnight viral sensation.
Story: Cat welcomes Kitten into the home, but not without a few ground-rules and wisdom to live by.
DEAR KITTEN was watched organically over 9 million times within the first two days of release. This release was prior to any digital branding regulations including branded signifiers. It was partly due to the organic success of this video that digital branded content now requires these identifiers.
DEAR KITTEN was translated into several languages including Spanish, French and Russian.
The success of DEAR KITTEN launched a franchise universe, including sequels and character spin-offs, became a regional Super Bowl commercial, was mentioned over 400 times in the press, and is one of the most decorated branded content YouTube videos of all-time.
In collaboration with Dee Robertson, Ze Frank and Laurenne Sala, DEAR KITTEN went on to be the #1 Top Ad by a YouTube Content Creator, won a Webby Award, a Digiday Award, and was recognized as Ad Week's Hottest In Native Advertising, and a Favorite YouTube Ad Of The Past Decade.
At the time in the digital branded content landscape, the success of DEAR KITTEN proved the reach and value of "Native Advertising" and helped pave the way for the future of digital marketing and custom branded content as we know it today.
You can watch ALL of the Dear Kitten videos in timeline order HERE.
TOP PRESS
FOR DEAR KITTEN
silver award winner
2026 the DRUM AWARDS
branded content
PET CONFESSIONS
Editor
Winner of the Silver Award for Branded Content, 2026 The Drum Awards Marketing Americas. I had the pleasure of editing this piece working with both user-generated content as well as professionally captured content directed by Dee Robertson.
The below is an excerpt from the awards nomination page.
"Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s 2025 'Pet Confessions' campaign, developed by Trusted Media Brands (The Pet Collective and People Are Awesome) in collaboration with Burson.
Rooted in a creator-led video series, “Pet Confessions” explored the concept of pet parent guilt, reassuring owners that while they may feel they’re not doing enough, their pets are simply happy to be by their side.
The campaign stood out by combining heartfelt storytelling, including surprise “love letters” from pets to their owners, and personalized content to create a deeply relatable and actionable experience.
Distributed across social, streaming, and digital platforms, the videos garnered over 1.1MM views and exceeded all performance benchmarks, resonating deeply with pet parents.
'Pet Confessions' successfully transformed a universal emotion, pet parent guilt and the fear that we’re not doing enough for our pets, into a celebration of the unconditional love, setting a new standard for how Hill’s engages its audience."
MINI TAKES THE STATES | BUZZFEED + MINI COOPER
Lead Creative Producer / Director
MINI Takes the States is a biennial road rally and community event where MINI owners gather to drive scenic backroads across America. This road rally was created to celebrate the MINI community, and explores some of the most scenic roads and beautiful areas of the country.
In 2014, MINI COOPER rallied its owners to drive 5,142 miles from San Francisco, CA to Boston, MA. 500 MINI owners committed to motor the entire rally, some driving all the way from east to west, just to participate in the entire journey. Other MINI owners joined for single or multiple legs of the rally, joining near their local areas and sometimes motoring for several days.
Across 18 States over 15 days, MINI COOPER hosted an event in each stay-over city, including a reception, entertainment, food, and drink. No major Interstate highways were taken, only scenic rural routes. On any given day, one might see hundreds of MINI COOPER cars rallying across the United States.
BuzzFeed was selected as the sole content provider for the event, both covering the rally in real-time and publishing pre-produced content, as well as content created during the rally on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. BuzzFeed produced a slew of custom original co-branded BuzzFeed + MINI COOPER videos to reach the BuzzFeed audience on the BuzzFeed Video YouTube channel, highlighting the ethos of the MINI COOPER brand and its owner community.
Along with Dee Robertson the executive creative producer of the project, I had the privilege of being the lead creative producer and director on the ground throughout the entirety of the rally. Over 5,142 miles we captured and published over a dozen polished videos, instagram and facebook posts, and engaged followers and non-followers around the world, introducing them to MINI COOPER culture.
This comprehensive campaign involved a strategic release of pre-planned content, on-the-fly unscripted content and editorial posts, all published on Buzzfeed O&O digital platforms, as well as social media. This campaign far exceeded target goals for reach and engagement, and MINI COOPER honored Buzzfeed (and me) with the coveted MINI Bulldog Award.
To this day, this is one of the most fun, exciting and awesome adventures I have experienced in my life, despite my weeks of exhaustion that came to follow. YOLO amirite???
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MORE OF My branded content
BuzzFeed Branded Videos - Director
