The two franchises—along with a third launched last fall called Sports Seriously—rarely, if ever, feature news content.

Humankind, along with permutations including Animalkind, Womankind and Militarykind, follows a classic formula: aggregating feel-good videos, which can become viral sensations on TikTok and attract tens of millions of views. 

Humankind also thrives on YouTube, which has incentivized creators to use its Shorts product by amplifying its visibility, as well as Instagram.

Likewise, Problem Solved brings a proven formula to a new platform, meeting the needs of younger users navigating the challenges of everyday life.

“News and information are core to USA Today,” said executive director of video content Cathy Kononetz. “Kind speaks to good news, and Problem Solved offers service journalism.”

Expanding deal size and improving brand awareness

The franchises offer a blend of entertainment and service journalism, and their explosive growth has helped introduce young audiences to the USA Today brand, at least obliquely.

They also drive traffic to the USA Today website, which hosts dedicated verticals for the franchises and their various spin-offs, although the publisher wouldn’t share specifics.

Primarily, though, the franchises let the Gannett direct sales team offer vastly more eyeballs to advertisers, combining the views driven by Humankind and Problem Solved on social media, the USA Today website and CTV channels. 

“These multi-video assets have been appealing because they allow for quick, robust storytelling like never before across the social space,” said Jessica Dooley, the U.S. social practice lead at Mindshare.

Recent sponsorship clients include Amtrak, which ran a branded campaign against Problem Solved, and Ultimate Kronos Group, which sponsored the editorial franchise Women of the Year, including a series of Womankind videos.

And thanks to cross-promotion, the Content Ventures team now has a total of 15 brands across the major social platforms. 

The feel-good content makes the franchises an attractive, brand-safe proposition for advertisers, and the reach gives Gannett a valuable asset when pitching to clients. 

“We have some advertisers that return to us year in and year out just for these franchises, and that is terrific,” Gutman said. “They have become yet another tool for our sales team.”