YouTubers and how the internet has changed how we share information
When I was a graduate at WHSmith in 2002 every morning I would walk past the PR department, who would be scouring through the daily newspapers to see what was happening and what press stories they could link in to or what their competitors were advertising. On writing this blog about YouTubers I started to think about how complicated that same job must be today with the growth of online, YouTube and social media. The main difference with the internet is we have moved from a one to many communication model (traditional media) to a one to one, many to many communication model (digital media). Word of mouth and peer to peer reviews are more important than ever before as people share news and information.
Social influencers – the new celebrities
Over the past 15 years there has been the rise in the cult of celebrity and over the past 5 years a new group of online celebrities has emerged. These people have often used YouTube and Instagram from the beginning and could be described as social influencers. They are likely to be normal people who have become vloggers (video bloggers!) and they carry a lot of influence. So much influence that top YouTubers in the US were recently invited to the White House to talk about their influence on a new generation and the responsibility this carries.
According to Forbes.com people spend a billion hours a day on YouTube, more than Netflix and Facebook Video combined. This is particularly true of teenagers with 96% of 13 to 24 year olds regularly using YouTube.
Fashion influencers
I was reading a fascinating article in Harpers Bazaar recently about the use of fashion influencers by high fashion brands, magazines such as Vogue and high end retailers. Fashion influencers are women who travel the world and are basically paid to be seen wearing a brand’s clothing and then post images on Instagram. They have huge, loyal followings on Instagram usually because they mix high end fashion with quirky items of clothing they discover on their travels. Essentially, they are brand ambassadors but they also have social power and influence of their own. This glamourous world of fashion and luxury travel seemed a long way from the world of stationery. However, when I started looking at the figures for people vlogging about stationery the stats. were impressive.
Stationery YouTubers
We’ve done some research into YouTubers vlogging about stationery for our Back to School report. On the whole the Vloggers are young women – aged between 16 and 20 (often the same age as their viewers) and they love stationery. They talk with confidence as if they are experts on their chosen products, often relating them to their own experiences of school or college. They either write about what they have bought or do reviews of stores they have visited for their Back to School shop. Sometimes they also do free giveaways.
One of the top YouTube vloggers Zoella has been so successful that as well as her nearly 12 million YouTube subscribers, she also has her own product range. In August 2015 she published a Stationery haul video which received 3,167,985 views, in May 2016 she posted another Stationery Haul – which received 2,458,213 views. She has yet to do a 2017 stationery video but we’re hoping she may do one over the next few weeks! The numbers say everything – in case you are in any doubt – these vloggers have power and influence among their teenage audience, who will often look to their favourite YouTubers for advice before making purchasing decisions.
This year I’ve noticed retailers are sponsoring some of the videos and sending vloggers free products to give away. I’ve also noticed there is a real emphasis on price and getting a bargain when vloggers are reviewing Back to School products, which means there is a bias towards discount retailers.
For further information and analysis on this year’s stationery YouTube Vlogs please pre-order our 2017 Back to School report.
