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Some brands that have worked with the YouTube star David Dobrik are cutting ties in the wake of an Insider investigation into a former member of his Vlog Squad creator group.
Brands like EA, Dollar Shave Club, and HelloFresh confirmed they were no longer working with Dobrik.
13 brands confirmed to Insider they were no longer working with Dobrik.
Here were a few examples:
HelloFresh: "We can confirm that we are no longer working with David Dobrik or any member of the Vlog Squad and do not have any plans to work with them again in the future. "
Chipotle: "We take the allegations related to David Dobrik and the Vlog Squad very seriously, and we do not have any future initiatives planned together."
Honey: Honey said it was "no longer working with him."
Brand partnerships have become many top creators' main source of income, and losing deals could have a strong effect on Dobrik's overall influencer business, which encompasses platforms like YouTube, Instagram (14 million followers), and TikTok (26 million fans).
Lissette Calveiro is a micro influencer and frequent Clubhouse moderator. Courtesy Lissette Calveiro
Clubhouse is stirring up interest in the influencer-marketing industry and now has over 2 million users.
Influencers are swiftly finding ways to make money using the audio-only app. So far, influencers said they have primarily made money on Clubhouse through sponsored rooms, event planning, and tips through third-party services like Cash App.
Sydney Bradley spoke with creators about early sponsorships and how much money they were charging:
Instagram "micro" influencer Lissette Calveiro said her starting rate for a sponsored Clubhouse room was $1,000.
Calveiro has about 56,000 Instagram followers and about 4,000 Clubhouse followers.
That rate typically includes a 60-minute Clubhouse room on a relevant topic, up to five panelists, and at least four mentions of the brand (as well as in the title).
YouTube has begun to release its TikTok competitor, Shorts, to users in the US.
The app is rolling out a set of features that let users create and share short-form videos.
I spoke with the product lead for YouTube's Shorts on how it works:
The US rollout includes new creation tools that are designed to let users film and share vertical videos that are under 15 seconds long.
Users can find Shorts on the homepage within a carousel ("shelf") of short videos, under long-form videos, and in the subscriptions tab if they subscribe to a particular creator.
YouTube plans to continue to improve the feature so that it can be a place where creators can make money, reach new audiences, and build sustainable businesses.
"I think it's important for us to build this with creators and with viewers and even more music-industry partners," the product lead said. "We're just getting started."
Kaitee Daley was promoted to VP of social media at ESPN last month. Melissa Rawlins/ESPN Images.
ESPN was No. 2 among brands that added the most TikTok followers in the past year (behind only Netflix).
Dan Whateley spoke with ESPN's VP of social media Kaitee Daley and on-air talent Omar Raja who broke down its TikTok strategy.
The social team monitors trends, studies metrics, and compares video performance to other platforms:
ESPN now has around 14 million followers on its main account and over 1 million fans on its Spanish-language account, ESPN Deportes.
The company pays close attention to what everyday users are doing on the app, and knows that participating in day-to-day trends is a key to building an audience.
Most of its videos feature game highlights (such as dunks), behind-the-scenes posts from on-air talent such as Omar Raja, or funny - or athletically impressive- user-generated videos.
Insider reporter Lindsay Dodgson spoke with 13 former employees of the YouTube giant Fine Brothers Entertainment, and contractors, who said they experienced or witnessed sexism.
They alleged incidents at pitch meetings and sexist comments from some in management in 2018 or earlier.
On YouTube, FBE has attracted 30 million subscribers, and in June 2020 it raked in 300 million views a month.
An FBE spokesperson said the current leadership team "had no direct knowledge" of many of the allegations.
