12 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW

SOCIALS GOT TALENTBrands and content management agencies are increasingly reaching out to social media talent.

At the top of the scale are Zoella and Alfie Deyes. Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, is a 24-year-old video blogger from Brighton, UK. While Zoe vlogs about anything from beauty to fashion, her boyfriend, Alfie Deyes, is the face behind PointlessBlog, the vlog that documents his life.

So far, Zoe has had 330 million views of her videos overall, with each video receiving between 1.2m and 2.5m views. Her YouTube channel currently has 4.8m subscribers and Alfies audience is not too far behind with 3.5m subscribers and average views of around 1m per video.

In comparison, the viewership of the biggest US TV network, NBC, is just 12.2m per week. And Zoes talents dont stop at her YouTube channel. Her debut novel, Girl Online, was released in November 2014 and broke the record for highest first-week sales since records began.

Cost-effective targeting. As the size of these new audiences gains the attention of top

As social media audiences now far exceed the readership and circulation of traditional media, todays brands need to think, act and work like social media talent agencies.

Professional vloggers and bloggers now dominate the world of media consumption as todays digitally addicted generation is more likely to watch the latest vlog from their favourite celebrity or personality, rather than some of the most popular TV shows.

This 20-something audience, fondly named Generation Z, is becoming the biggest marketing segment in the world. In the US alone, it contributes $44 billion to the American economy and is rapidly challenging traditional media-buying models.

And the Gen Z market is even more crucial in the Mena region, where it makes up roughly 65 per cent of the population.

Global social media stars. Self-made social media stars are making a global impact.

brands, dynamic marketers have pricked their ears and carved out new strategies to work with these personalities. This has led to a whole new industry and the creation of a new marketing model.

Now, as products are strategically integrated into vlogs and blogs for a fee, the most successful British beauty vloggers are earning in excess of $100,000 per month. They have become celebrities in their own right, such as Pixiwoo (make-up artists Samantha and Nic Chapman), who have more than 200m views on YouTube. With the biggest TV audience reported at 37.8m for the 2014 NFL play-off and a cost of a 30-second ad in this spot reported at $1m, brands are flocking quite fast to this more cost-effective and engaged audience.

Brands in hands with social media talent. Global brands now have a deeper under-standing of this new age of consumer habits and the influence these vloggers have on the products that are purchased. Brands need to

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OCIALS TALENT TALENT T

Brands and content management agencies are increasingly reaching

social media talent.

FOR EVERY CLIENT, WE STARTWITH RESEARCHING TOP INFLUENCERS IN THEIR INDUSTRY. OUR OUTREACH TEAMS IN JORDAN, DUBAI AND SOUTH AFRICATHEN REACH OUT TO THEM AND PITCH OUR CLIENTS CONTENT

4.8 MILLIONSUBSCRIBERS

3.5 MILLIONSUBSCRIBERS

ZOELLA ALFIE

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At the top of the scale are Zoella and Alfie Deyes. Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, is a 24-year-old video blogger from Brighton, UK. While Zoe vlogs about anything from beauty to fashion, her boyfriend, Alfie Deyes, is the face behind PointlessBlog, the vlog that documents his life.

So far, Zoe has had 330 million views of her videos overall, with each video receiving between 1.2m and 2.5m views. Her YouTube channel currently has 4.8m subscribers and Alfies audience is not too far behind with 3.5m subscribers and average views of around 1m per video.

In comparison, the viewership of the biggest US TV network, NBC, is just 12.2m per week. And Zoes talents dont stop at her YouTube channel. Her debut novel, Girl Online, was released in November 2014 and broke the record for highest first-week sales since records began.

Cost-effective targeting. As the size of these new audiences gains the attention of top

brands, dynamic marketers have pricked their ears and carved out new strategies to work with these personalities. This has led to a whole new industry and the creation of a new marketing model.

Now, as products are strategically integrated into vlogs and blogs for a fee, the most successful British beauty vloggers are earning in excess of $100,000 per month. They have become celebrities in their own right, such as Pixiwoo (make-up artists Samantha and Nic Chapman), who have more than 200m views on YouTube. With the biggest TV audience reported at 37.8m for the 2014 NFL play-off and a cost of a 30-second ad in this spot reported at $1m, brands are flocking quite fast to this more cost-effective and engaged audience.

Brands in hands with social media talent. Global brands now have a deeper under-standing of this new age of consumer habits and the influence these vloggers have on the products that are purchased. Brands need to

think like talent scouts; seeking a good, natural fit between themselves and their social media influencer. They effectively need to nurture this talent, help them succeed further, and build relationships with them.

This concept can most simply be likened to scouting for social talent. Like the many talent reality shows The X Factor, American Idol and Arabs Got Talent brands need to run their own talent-finding exercise by scouring blogs, reading news sources, listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos: all with the sole purpose of identifying people to partner with, who can drive demand for their products or services.

And, like a talent agency, marketing and brand managers need to help and support their talent to increase the scale and reach of their audience.

According to a recent study Google conducted with Ipsos MediaCT, two out of three US consumers watch online travel videos when thinking of taking a trip. Some brands

help their brand advocates by providing materials or training to help them improve their vlog or blog. Camera equipment and online marketing training and mentoring are examples of how a well-established brand can work together with a vlogger for mutual benefit. This strategy has been used to massive success by the action camera brand Go-Pro, where YouTube has become a haven of daredevil video stunts featuring Go-Pro cameras.

Catching on in the Middle East. Blogging in the Middle East has witnessed a surge as individuals go online to voice their opin-ions and content marketing agencies build portfolios of regional bloggers and vloggers.

Even though audiences are not as large as those for US- or UK-based social person-alities, the impact and influence of some local personalities is growing.

UAE-based beauty blogger and vlogger Huda Kattan has 33,000 Twitter followers

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4.8 MILLIONSUBSCRIBERS

3.5 MILLIONSUBSCRIBERS

1.7 MILLIONSUBSCRIBERS

300.000SUBSCRIBERS

ZOELLA ALFIE PIXIWOO HUDA KATTAN

300.000SUBSCRIBERS

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14 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW

I GET A LOT OF ENQUIRIES FOR AMBASSADORSHIPS, BUT I DONT LIKE ANYTHING TO JEOPARDIZE WHAT I CAN OR CANT WRITE ABOUT- HUDA KATTAN

and more than 300,000 YouTube subscribers, with some videos having 500,000 views.

Brands are catching on as well, with Unilevers Vaseline appointing Kattan as its brand Ambassador.

I get a lot of enquiries for ambassador-ships, but I dont like anything to jeopardize what I can or cant write about, says Kattan. They (Vaseline) actually told me I could write freely about any other brands this is always a MUST for me. I agreed.

FooDivas Samantha Wood writes restaurant reviews and has a no-freebies policy. She says: I do not accept PR invitations in return for reviews. However, I do have a number of other sections culinary travel, food features, celebrity chef interviews and gourmet shops where I work with PRs to discuss content. As for marketers, FooDiva also has a number of advertising/ sponsorship opportunities, where I work with a companys marketing team to build and run promotional campaigns.

Nurturing and reaching top influencers. Sekari MD, Lee Mancini, says: We are working towards building a portfolio of social talent and are rebuilding our con-tracts to emulate a talent agency contract. We work on their behalf, helping to take fledgling social profiles and we mentor them to become more professional, help them increase their profile and audience and then promote them to brands. A brand can contract them on a long-term basis or for a short campaign. However, we always recommend a long-term relationship.

Mancini adds: For every client, we start with researching top influencers in their industry. Our outreach teams in Jordan, Dubai and South Africa then reach out to them and pitch our clients content. This is now an integral part of our link-building process as we use influencers to amplify our clients links, thus providing social signals to Google; the resonance will also culminate in more people posting the content.

D I G I T A L

Lee ManciniSekari MD

30kfollowers for Huda

Kattan, a localblogger

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Nurturing and reaching top influencers. Sekari MD, Lee Mancini, says: We are working towards building a portfolio of social talent and are rebuilding our con-tracts to emulate a talent agency contract. We work on their behalf, helping to take fledgling social profiles and we mentor them to become more professional, help them increase their profile and audience and then promote them to brands. A brand can contract them on a long-term basis or for a short campaign. However, we always recommend a long-term relationship.

Mancini adds: For every client, we start with researching top influencers in their industry. Our outreach teams in Jordan, Dubai and South Africa then reach out to them and pitch our clients content. This is now an integral part of our link-building process as we use influencers to amplify our clients links, thus providing social signals to Google; the resonance will also culminate in more people posting the content.

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