zoella - industry

Question 1

zoella and advertising - how do you get advertising on youtube?

Answer 1

the YouTube Partner Programme enables creators w/watch time of 4,000 hours in the past 112 months and a minimum of 1,000 subscribers to generate money through their content by running ads alongside
this is then shared between YouTube and creator

Question 2

zoella and advertising - how can ads be displayed?

Answer 2

banners at the top or side of the homepage, overlay ads which are placed on top of a video and can be clicked off, or video ads which can appear before, during or after the video (a non clickable six second video ad is called a bumper ad) approximately 80% of Zoella’s online videos (on YouTube) start with a mandatory advert – some cannot be skipped with a click

Question 3

how does advertising target audiences?

Answer 3

targeted to match tastes, interests and browsing history of users
frequently matched by the use of algorithms micro targeting potential consumers or data harvesting their details / information to be later used to create advertising strategies to better market to them

zoella’s advertising promotes cosmetics and beauty brands, fashion labels and homeware stores, falling in line with the lifestyle she promotes through her online presence

Question 4

what else does zoella advertise?

Answer 4

Zoella is also a patron to many charities (including Oxfam, Cancerchicks, etc) theses are advertised through many of the channels promoting her brand

Question 5

sponsorship & merch - how does zoella generate money through sponsorship?

Answer 5

zoella is paid to review, endorse or promote particular products or brands
can have a significant effect on sales, encouraging companies to pay bloggers and vloggers substantial sums of money
zoella often uses her ‘Hauls’ videos to review specific shops (such as Matalan, Primark, New Look, etc) or brands (such as Pizza Hut, Marc Jacobs, etc)

Question 6

what merch/products does zoella have?

Answer 6

zoella has various merchandise which sells both online and in physical retail, including her own range of beauty products and fragrance, and ‘lifestyle’ products aligned to her fan base (such as phone cases, stationary, journals, diaries etc)
part of the brand recognition process, which would include familiar icons such as her image, logo and slogan
the publishing of her four ‘ghost-written’ novels act as a form of synergy as these can also promote her blog/vlog and vice versa

downloadable apps also act as synergy, linking all the different platforms and outlets (The key to all this is digital convergence

Question 7

technological change - what does online provide?

Answer 7

online provides the most accessible way to reach an audience; uninhibited by schedules, language (using subtle options), culture (those who frequent sites like YouTube are aware of the multicultural patchwork of its disourse) etc Zoella’s vlogs appeal to a Global Village (Marshall McLuhan) where the world is metaphorically ‘smaller’ due to this ‘shared understanding’

Question 8

technological change - how has it influenced media products?

Answer 8

changed the way media content, such as Zoella’s blogs and vlogs, is made public without a ‘gatekeeper’ to allow what is seen or what is prohibited

vlogger can simply produce and distribute a video, via a file sharing site, by means of a mobile phone, digital video camera or webcam and access to the internet

zoella is her own ‘gatekeeper’ as demonstrated by the variety of editing techniques and effects (jump cuts, time lapses, etc) used in her videos, to draw attention to its amateur aesthetic

Question 9

livingstone and lunt

Answer 9

Zoella’s Blogs/Vlogs regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) – the CAP Code states that paid-for content (adverts, advertorials, sponsored content) must be clearly signposted/referenced

Zoella must also comply with the consumer protection laws of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) stating that all adverts / endorsements be fully evidenced or fined

Zoella must adhere to YouTube’s ‘Community Guidelines’ – Zoella should produce suitable content for all ages, and therefore advertiser – friendly or face demonetization

Zoella (or the employees responsible for the maintenance of her channels nowadays) self regulates much of her content

Question 10

hesmondhalgh cultural industries

Answer 10

YouTube’s content is now dominated by large scale (no longer amateur?) media producers like Zoella – a move that undermines, to some extent, its original purpose as a peer to peer life sharing platform that celebrated everyday user generated content