Inspiration
As someone who watches YouTube regularly with my family — from MrBeast to Dude Perfect — I noticed something strange: creators make most of their money through either YouTube ads or merchandise, yet their merchandise rarely reaches beyond their core platforms. There’s little collaboration with external brands and barely any off-platform marketing. It seemed like a missed opportunity — creators with millions of fans weren’t fully tapping into their audience’s interests. That’s what inspired me to build Scepter: a personalized, AI-powered email marketing platform that helps creators better engage with their audience and increase revenue through smarter, culturally aware product recommendations.
What it does
Scepter is an AI-powered email marketing platform that helps creators send hyper-personalized product recommendations to their fans. Here’s how it works: 1. Creators connect their social platforms — YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Threads, etc. 2. Scepter analyzes audience interests based on data from these platforms (using APIs and user-permissioned logins). 3. Creators upload products they want to sell — via CSV or direct input (e.g., shirts, snacks, digital items). 4. Fans authenticate via social logins on the creator’s site — Spotify, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. 5. Scepter uses tools like Qloo’s Taste AI to understand each fan’s cultural interests and generate ultra-specific emails with product suggestions tailored to each individual user.
The result? More meaningful engagement, better conversions, and untapped revenue from fans who feel like creators actually understand them.
How we built it
Frontend: Built using Flask, with user registration/login and creator dashboards. Backend: Python-based server that manages OAuth2 flows for YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram; securely stores access tokens; and coordinates data analysis. AI layer: Integrates with Qloo’s Taste AI API to infer cultural preferences and map those to merchandise along with Deepseek. Email engine: Automatically generates and sends tailored emails with product links, discounts, and more — all dynamically based on user behavior and tastes. CSV ingestion: Custom parser to allow creators to upload product catalogs easily.
Challenges we ran into
OAuth authentication across multiple platforms is complex. Each service has its own rules, limitations, and scopes — and some (like Snapchat) limit access to user data significantly.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Got the entire flow working — from creator onboarding to personalized email delivery. And building it in a very short time.
What we learned
How OAuth2 flows differ between services and how to creatively extract value even with limited API data. The nuances of email marketing — from technical aspects (SMTP, HTML/CSS formatting) to psychological ones (what kind of subject lines and content actually convert).
What's next for Scepter
1)Onboard real YouTubers and creators to start testing and refining recommendations. 2)Expand into SMS and call-based marketing, creating a multi-channel engagement suite. 3)Support for more creator types: Not just YouTubers, but Spotify artists, podcasters, indie filmmakers, newsletter writers — anyone with a fanbase.
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