Horrible is what the public wants to watch

Melbourne Herald Sun, Thursday September 24, 2015

It's horrible, horrible. For someone who has spent a lifetime trying to create beautiful, stylish images and well-crafted words and messages - to discover that what the world really wants, and hugely embraces - is garbage.

I'm talking here about Web Stars. You know what they are? The rambling spouters of grating speeches and opinions on every subject, from fashion and cosmetics, to bad jokes and worse recipes, all shown with shaky camerawork.

The US gives us personalities like Jenna Marbles, whose rambling concerns about her makeup have won her 15 million subscribers. (Not just lookers - all these have signed on.)

The Fine Bros, who make videos of varied events like kids reacting to "The Harlem Shake", or their recounting the entire Harry Potter tale (all the movies) in 11 minutes. This particular feat won 3.6 million views.

In Australia we have the likes of Jai Brooks, a pimply teenager who wants to be our answer to Justin Bieber - and just might. He's had 100 million views and his records have now been hits in 21 countries.

Australia's number one YouTuber makes how-to videos with a difference: they don't teach you anything. HowToBasic "shows" its viewers how to twerk like Miley Cyrus or rap like Eminem, aided by revolting props such as chicken carcasses, bubble gum and urine. It's ghastly but claims 4 million subscribers - and is said to bring in $1 million a year.

The list is endless, the numbers are baffling. But of course there are those who see the money in them. Up front is Google which owns YouTube and manages the streams of ads you see each time you make a click. The advertisers have learned that this promotion works, so they willingly spend for it out of the advertising budget. Each view of their ad, costs an average ranging between ten and thirty cents. Not a lot - till you see sites with millions of views.

Advertisers can target viewers by age, gender, location or by what types of videos they like to watch. The number of brands running video ads has increased by more than 40% year-over-year, and YouTube's top 100 advertisers have increased in their average spend per brand by more than 60%.

Agencies have emerged, in response to this market. In Sydney, Boom Video has seen enormous growth in five years. They manage a range of vloggers and blogs, from the serious adult categories to the just plain stupid ones. But they all find an audience, as co-founder Spiro Pissam explained: "These videos are authentic, they're varied. Search YouTube in your own time, and you'll find someone you relate to."

They are lively sites, "The key to success is to keep creating new content," says Pissam. They establish feedback with the viewers. He pointed to Michelle Phan, who started giving advice on hair and makeup. She became first with 1 billion views, and 8 million followers - and is now said to be worth $100 million. She has published a book and has her own L'Oriel makeup line.

Google are pouring money into their Web Stars with the kind of advertising you would see for TV and newspapers. A year ago they put one of their heavyweight "foundation team" into the job. Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube and talks the language of the TV executives. In fact that's where she's headed: to pull in a big slice of the world's $300 billion global TV ad market.