For the first time ever, YouTube is launching an advertising campaign to promote three of their Sbrightest starsT beyond YouTube.com.
logger Zoella, 24, is set to present on Radio 1 and has launched her own beauty range.
For the first time ever, YouTube is launching an advertising campaign to promote three of their “brightest stars” beyond YouTube.com .
In a move that may raise eyebrows in the television and advertising industries, Google, who own YouTube and is the biggest seller of advertising in the world, are returning to more ‘old fashioned’ methods of raising brand awareness, including buying air time on television.
YouTube’s marketing campaign will go beyond the computer screen and onto our televisions and streets in a bid to make vlogger Zoella, the light-hearted The Slow Mo Guys and news source Vice News the next big thing.
YouTube’s flagship channels have struggled to gain the same levels of brand awareness as traditional television shows such as Mad Men or The Great British Bake Off, even though these digital channels have millions of viewers.
"When you compare our stars to someone who is a star on TV, their awareness was built through broad [advertising] campaigns on television and billboards," reflects Content Chief Robert Kyncl in an interview earlier this year.
In Spring 2014, YouTube acted upon this and took an on-and-off screen advertising drive to Chicago and New York, anchoring their campaign around chef Rosanna Pansino and beauty vloggers Michelle Phan and Bethany Mota. Billboards, subway wraps and magazine adverts featuring the three women were used, as well as meet-up events with the stars.
The marketing drive appeared to go well, as least in YouTube’s eyes. With brand awareness of the stars reportedly going up 20% in three months, a YouTube spokesman said: “We are really pleased with how the US campaign went.”
Following a similar strategy in the UK, YouTube will be placing 30 second TV spots against shows such as The X Factor.
Additionally, the digital powerhouse is buying space in newspapers and on billboards, as well as on bus and tube station posters across London.
YouTube will also be placing their adverts on more familiar ground. Web adverts will be appearing on Glamour, The Guardian, Wired and Sky Sports – as well as on YouTube itself.
Becoming a household name
The choice of talent that YouTube is placing in the forefront of its advertising campaign may surprise some people. With the exception of The Slow Mo Guys, both Vice News and Zoella are already on their way to becoming household names and not necessarily in need of a dedicated marketing push.
YouTube describes these content creators as their “brightest stars”, who have built loyal audiences across the world and it is this existing audience that is in YouTube’s sights.
"We chose three of the most popular stars in Britain across a range of categories, from fashion and life advice, to science and tech, to news and documentaries and who have made significant inroads in developing their channel to great heights," explains a spokeswoman for YouTube. She continues: "We also believe that shining a spotlight on some creators also helps the YouTube ecosystem, by encouraging people to discover more and subscribe to new channels."
Ben McOwen Wilson, YouTube Partnerships Director, adds: “YouTube stars are not only entertaining us through their quirky videos and updates but building long lasting relationships with their fans.”
It is to these fans that YouTube hopes to "demonstrate the opportunity for people to become content creators".
YouTube's "ecosystem" generates more than six billion hours of video each month across the world but with YouTube’s revenue from video advertising predicted to rise by 39% this year , it will need to accumulate as much high quality content as possible. This is evidently something that the platform is working on, as indicated by Google’s Matt Brittin who, speaking at the RTS London Conference, said: “[YouTube should] focus on making great content.”
Who are they?
Zoella
Zoella, 24 (real name Zoe Suggs) regularly attracts 12m viewers from around the globe (compared to the 8.4m viewers of the Downton Abbey fifth series premiere). Very much the ‘every girl’, Zoella offers advice, fashion and beauty tips as well as a virtual, one-way friendship.
Now a presenter for Radio 1, soon-to-be author and with her own beauty range, Zoe has come along way from the blog that she began in her bedroom in her parent’s Wiltshire home.
Vice News
According to YouTube, more people log on to Vice News than regularly tune into the Six O’Clock news on TV.
VICE News, which tends to cover less traditional news agenda, has had over 100m views since it launched just six months ago in March 2014. With reporters, presenters and production teams from 35 foreign bureaus, led by VICE founder Shane Smith globally and Head of News Kevin Sutcliffe in Europe, VICE News is often seen reporting for traditional news outlets as well as on their own channel.
The Slow Mo Guys
The Slow Mo Guys have used the latest camera technology and a good sense of humour to exploit a lighthearted niche. Gav, 26, and Dan, 26, do a variety of “experiments”, film it in slow motion and have an infectious level of fun.
By Sanya Burgess