By Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times
Before the make-up line, the book deal and the product endorsements, Michelle Phan was just another girl trying to make it big on YouTube. She rose to fame with her viral video tutorials, sharing make-up tips and emulating looks inspired by Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and Barbie.
YouTube star Michelle Phan poses for a portrait with her L’Oreal makeup line at Ipsy Studios on July 22, 2014 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Jabin Botsford/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
First came the fans. Then came the brands — then the money. Between her cut of YouTube advertising and various side deals, Phan said she will pull in more than $1 million (Dh3.67 million) this year.
“I’m no longer just talent,” the 27-year-old said while applying make-up recently in a Santa Monica studio, a pile of beauty products strewn across a table in front of her. “It’s a business.”
The most successful online video creators have become more than just small-time digital celebrities. They now operate like one-man or one-woman corporations, touting their own merchandise, starting companies and signing deals with major brands, which have propelled them to greater stardom outside the YouTube realm.
At teen retailer Aeropostale, shoppers can buy clothes and home decor designed by 18-year-old YouTube phenom Bethany Mota. Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders for a cookbook by Hannah Hart and a coming-of-age novel by Zoe Sugg, both YouTube personalities.
Television commercials
Brittani Louise Taylor — a bubbly L.A. actress whose online comedy sketches and music video parodies have garnered 1.6 million YouTube subscribers — has appeared in a television commercial for Ford and online videos for Pepsi and Kodak.
“Any company that has money is approaching YouTubers,” said Taylor, 30.
Once known for cat videos and other one-off viral fare, YouTube today hosts thousands of uber-successful video creators who regularly post original content — humour, product reviews, how-to tutorials, music videos — on their own channels. Devoted fans subscribe to their favourite stars so they can tune in as soon as new videos are posted.
That has upended the way viewers, particularly those in the prized younger demographic, watch content: YouTube now reaches more US adults aged 18 to 34 than any cable network, according to Nielsen.
With those massive online followings comes influence and a shot at serious wealth.
Lucrative star
Phan, who began posting make-up videos in 2007 and now has 6.8 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the site’s most lucrative stars.
Her beauty tutorials were so effective — one, in which she copies Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance make-up, has been watched 46 million times — that they were amassing more views than the professional videos posted by cosmetics giants.
Soon Lancome was asking Phan to create and star in videos for the make-up brand’s YouTube channel. Over three years, four of Lancome’s top five YouTube videos that drove the most new subscribers to the channel featured Phan.
A couple of years later, Lancome’s parent company, L’Oreal, decided to offer Phan the chance to create her own make-up brand: em michelle phan. It was Phan’s “one of us” approach that sold L’Oreal on working with her, said Roseanne Fama, vice president of brand and product development for em michelle phan.
“She talks to you like a big sister, your BFF, someone who is more approachable than a professional makeup artist,” she said.
Relatable
Viewers often relate better to YouTubers than A-list Hollywood megastars.
“The whole YouTube generation has opened up the field,” Fama said. “You can tell who has authentic and true natural talent.”
Em michelle phan launched last summer exclusively on the brand’s website. A few weeks ago, Phan announced that Amazon’s luxury beauty store would begin carrying the line.
That’s not all. Phan also founded Ipsy, a $10-a-month beauty bag membership subscription. She’s writing a beauty book, Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style and Success _ Online and Off, which will go on sale in October.
In autumn, she’s launching a digital lifestyle network dedicated to discovering new talent, mentoring the next wave of YouTube stars and building their brands.
Read the full article by Andrea Chang from Los Angeles Times.
