Profiling Zoella — What would you do with 11 million followers?
Profile: Zoella
When I was in middle school, while feeling like a complete shamble of pubescent awkwardness I seeked for older role models that would be able to educate me on fashion and how to apply makeup. My rather shallow knowledge of fashion took me to sites like Elle and Vogue, however didn’t find much appeal or relatability to lanky adult looking super models wearing layers of foundation. I couldn’t afford any of the products that were suggested in the beauty section and the fashion pages were filled with spreads like “5 outfits from office to night out” or a creative editorial piece called “Leader in Leather” featuring woman in designer leather outfits. I wanted to learn basics like how to use brushes or how to curl my hair, so I searched the net. When I found Blogger, I was over whelmed by the amount of information and I found myself becoming obsessed particularly with one British blogger. I looked up to her and I would check her page daily in excitement to see if she posted anything new. 12-year-old me didn’t know this at the time but the blogger I just so happened to stumble upon was to become one of the most successful vloggers in 2017, with 11 million subscribers Youtube with an estimated yearly income of £300,000. Her name was Zoella.
Who is Zoella
She may not be the mother of dragons but Zoe Sugg aka Zoella is the older sister to many awkward tween and teen fans around the world who admire her life and listen to what she has to say. She has grown into a “Youtube Mega Star”. While feeling unsatisfied working a retail job and an apprentice at an interior design firm back in 2009, Sugg started a Zoella the blog. In hopes to over come her anxiety and step out of her comfort zone, she began to make videos on Youtube. Her first proper video was the one where she filmed 60 things in her bedroom to give viewers a sneak peek into her life. Sugg continued to make videos on topics ranging from fashion, makeup as well as Q&A and Youtube challenges. She began to network — collaborating with other Youtubers and creating strong friendships off screen, resulting in a supportive Youtube-clan that would elevate her to a new level of internet stardom.
She is not just popular and idolized but she is a genuinely influential figure to her young fans. In fact recent surveys have shown that Youtube personalities have more trust and influence on fans than celebrities. Variety’s 2015 study suggested that teenagers’ emotional attachment to YouTube stars is “as much as seven times greater than that toward a traditional celebrity”. Zoella as well as her vlogger boyfriend Alfie Deyes were listed in 2015’s Debrett’s 500 most influential people along side Stephen Fry and personal finance expert Martin Lewis in the New Media section.
Key Drivers for her success
Authenticity
Zoella’s very ordinariness — her relatability, her openness and the feeling like she is could very well be your friend — is what makes her so appealing and successful. Although there is a certain level of privacy she keeps hidden from her 11 million followers, she invites the audience into her life with bubbliness and warmth that entices the audience to want to keep watching. Some of her vlogs are laid back and mundane snapshots of her life, like walking through the supermarket or lying in bed just talking to her boyfriend. The vlog format is especially effective on Youtube as they are talking to the camera, thus directly interacting with the viewer and creating an intimate experience
Battling with social anxiety from when she was a teenager, she explains her panic attacks to those who might not understand how they might feel like and shares worlds of comfort for those living through it now. In 2014 she was named as the first “Digital Ambassador” for Mind, a mental health charity. Zoella will never be able to personally interact with her 11 million followers on Youtube, however she uses relatability with the viewer with her likeable uplifting personality that keeps existing viewers to check in on her and new viewers to get excited.
Collaborations
I mentioned earlier about Zoella’s Youtube-clan which has lead to her large success. Notable Youtubers include Louise Pentland, Tanya Burr, Alfie Deyes, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan who all have a huge following of their own. It’s not just by accident that these vloggers appear in each others videos. It is a tactic that results in exposure for both parties, therefor the success of one vlogger also reflects on the other. By constantly appearing in collaborations, fans get excited and are interested in seeing how these two distinct personalities feed off of eachother in a group dynamic. A great earlier non-Youtube example of this collaboration success is when That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Hannah Montana did a collaboration episode called That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana. The highest grossing and most popular shows on the Disney channel collaborated on one special episode, creating buzz and excitement amongst fans of all three shows.
Off Platform
Zoella has grown an empire from her career on Youtube however continues to expand her realm by exploring other formats and capitalizing from various side businesses. She has made various TV appearances as well as featuring in magazine spreads.
Sugg signed a three-book deal with Penguin Books in 2014 and debut novel, Girl Online, was released on 25 November 2014 and as of December that year was the fastest selling book of the year. As well, the novel achieved “the highest first-week sales for a debut author since records began in 1998,” with 78,109 copies sold.
She also has a beauty line, Zoella Beauty, that features a collection of accessories, bath and body products, as well as home fragrances. These products are sold exclusively on sites Feel Unique as well as Superdrug.
Although she does not have merch on her Zoella blog, Sugg and her brother Joe Sugg have recently started a collaborative sibling merch line called Sugg Life, featuring clothing, phone cases, posters and calendars. To my surprise, the site is incredibly minimal with only about a handful of pictures of the Sugg’s sporting the merchandise. However most of the items are marked sold out and the @sugglifeshop on Instagram which only has 4 posts within the past 4 months has a whooping 103k followers. Do not underestimate the power of the modern Youtuber star!
Consistency
On Zoella’s primary channel, a new video is uploaded at least once a week. She currently has 337 videos uploaded and this does not include the number of video appearances she has made on other vlogger accounts. On her secondary channel More Zoella, her vlogging page she posts roughly every week or every other week. Youtube blogging is her full time job and with a 11 million fan base a day doesn’t go by without an update on her various platforms. Snapchat and Instagram serve as great fillers for days when she doesn’t post on Youtube as it satisfies the fans with new content but without the hassle of creating a full video (usually around 15–30mins).
Conclusion
Millions of teens know Zoella. The final key to her success is the fact that she creates exclusivity for her young viewers that older generations don’t get. Her content divides fans from non-fans, by repeating inside jokes, revisiting past videos or taking in questions or requests from fans. Older generations may not understand Zoella’s quirkiness and how a twenty-something year old can hold such influence on millions of teenagers. I wonder if the generation watching Zoella now will continue to grow with her as she might get married, have kids and so forth. I have seen other Youtubers like It’s Judy Time that began from being a makeup and fashion guru channel that has slowly over time evolved into a mommy/family style vlog that serves for an older demographic. Youtube vloggers have created a sense of community and asylum for their viewers, sharing positive messages through entertainment and inviting them into their own lives. In Zoella’s case, the internet changed an average small town girl into one of the most influential people in the entire world.
