The YouTube Generation Hits Jackpot

All you young-and-fabulous are in agreement that YouTube is fantastic, right? Owned by Google, it has 20 million users in Britain, making the BBC’s 6.5 million viewers seem small-fry in comparison.

For a handful of young entrepreneurs-turned-tycoons, YouTube just got a lot better. The latest craze to sweep America is headed for our shores. The ‘haul video’, also known as ‘vlogging’ (video-blogging) involves young girls showing off the results of their shopping sprees and uploading the videos to the site. The craze soon took off; as it stands there are 110,000 haul videos on the Tube, some with tens of millions of hits. How are they cashing-in from the phenomenon? Because brands are falling over one another to offer the girls with the most followers sponsorship offers, product deals and magazine spreads.

The vlogging-frenzy was started by sisters Blair and Elle Fowler, from Tennessee. They have achieved celeb-status in the video-haul world, and their videos have been viewed over 75 million times. It must help that Blair is particularly stunning; your stereotypical all-American teen. On her blog Blair describes herself as “just a girl who loves anything makeup, fashion, beauty, pink, or juicy!” It is easy to judge the sisters for their bimbo-esque qualities and their obscenely materialistic attitudes, but they are certainly no fools. At age 16 and 21 they have earned enough through their haul videos to feed a small country. Their popularity is increased by their claim that they genuinely purchase the haul items themselves, without being compensated by brands for promoting their products.



Some of these vloggers, such as Blair, are ‘successful’ enough in their hits that they are approached to join the YouTube Partner Program: Shihir Mehrotra, director of Product Management at YouTube, trawls the site in search of those who have cultivated a particularly high number of followers. Once they become partner they are paid to make their haul videos and receive a percentage of the revenue brought in by the advertisements. Mehrota reveals that “several…are making six figures” annually from the Partner Program. He also states that “some haul videos…compare to major cable channels in views”, which reveals the scale of this new craze.

Not everyone is impressed by the latest YouTube phenomenon. Those old enough to be breathing when Elvis was still alive complain that they cannot keep up with the changing face of social media. In the words of my own father (age 53), “I find Facebook cringe, and what do you call it? TwitTube? It’s even worse”. However, it is those who are whole-heartedly jumping on the social media bandwagon that are cashing in.

Hold on tight, older generations, you’re in for one hell of a ride…

by Christy Thatcher

The scary power of celebrity endorsement

The week that Ashley Cole’s ‘sext messages’ were revealed, I walked past a news stand and adorning the cover of every gossip magazine was Cheryl Cole’s gorgeous, troubled face. Whether we admit it or not, we are all intrigued by the lives of celebrities and relish the moments in which their lives are revealed as anything less than perfect. It is for this reason that the world of the celebrity is an asset to the marketing and PR industries, as more often than not their endorsements guarantee increased sales.

PR’s thrive on celebrity endorsements; one snap of Mrs Becks in a Roberto Cavalli dress and sales instantly soar. A friend of mine who works in PR described celebrities as “a blank canvas for advertising space”. This is proven through L’Oreal Elvive’s campaign featuring Cheryl Cole, the infamous ‘Because you’re worth it’ TV advertisement. In the two months following its first slot value sales rose from about 10,000 to over 250,000. Therefore brands are jumping at the opportunity to use celebrities to endorse their products, even if the celeb in question is considered ‘high-risk’ (one which is not necessarily loved by all such as Lady GaGa).

GaGa is like Marmite, you either love or hate her. Considering her catchiest lyrics consist of, ‘Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah, Roma Roma-ma, GaGa, Ohh la la’, Lady G is doing phenomenally well. She has sold more than 8 million albums globally, and her single Poker Face is the most downloaded track since the download chart began. Considering she is very much in the salad days of her certain to be lasting career, this is an outstanding achievement. On a recent work placement within a national newspaper I realised the extent of the GaGa-madness; there wasn’t a day that went by without my hearing her name mentioned several times. The fact of the matter is whether you love or loath Lady G, she has not only created a pop-star sensation, but an entire brand. Whether she is receiving positive or negative press, everyone is talking about her, which from a marketing perspective is fantastic.

Brands are flooding GaGa with endorsement offers, as she is, and seemingly will stay, very much in the limelight. Take Polaroid for instance, a brand which was pretty much extinct due to the rise of digital photography. Polaroid have made a comeback with the help of Lady GaGa who has been appointed their Creative Director, and have launched the Polaroid 300, ‘the new generation of instant camera’. Arguably, this would not have been possible without her, as teens in particular will now consider a Polaroid as ‘cool’. I personally have always been a fan of the Polaroid, and welcome their return with open arms; after all, vintage is in. My pals are in agreement; one saying ‘’that’s so old school! I think it’s swell”.

Another example of brands jumping on the GaGa-wagon is her controversial music video with Beyoncé, Telephone, which is looking to become one of the most viewed videos of all time. The video itself is teeming with blatant product placement, including large brands such as Virgin Mobile and Diet Coke. Such brands initially received criticism for plugging their products in a music video that has received so much negative press due to it’s x-rated content, but whether or not viewers approve, with record viewing figures the not-so-subtle advertising will inevitably increase sales.

Another medium through which marketing and PR companies are utilising celebrities is social media, particularly Twitter. The recent rise of such networking sites has made celebs far more accessible to the general public, and so brands have seized this opportunity for product placement. Paris Hilton regularly mentions her favourite brands in her Tweets, and the lack of subtly suggest she may be being paid to endorse them. For example; ‘Stopped by and picked up some food at Le Scala. I love the chopped salad there, so good! Then a frozen chocolate ice blended at Coffee Bean.’ With Twitter having published it’s 10 billionth tweet last month, brands would be foolish not to jump on the bandwagon. On that note, follow me on Twitter! @christyemmat.

by Christy Thatcher